General Motors dethroned by Toyota in the USA, after 90 years of reign

by David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (Reuters) – General Motors was overtaken by Toyota last year in US sales after nearly a century of uninterrupted rule in the US auto market.

The Detroit manufacturer saw its sales fall by 13% in 2021 in the United States, and in particular by 43% in the fourth quarter alone, to 2.218 million units when those of its Japanese competitor climbed 10% to 2.332 million .

This is the first time since 1931 that GM has not dominated the annual ranking of auto sales in the United States, according to data from the trade publication Automotive News. That year he had taken over Ford.

The year 2021 was marked by a global shortage of semiconductors, a component essential to modern cars, which has caused manufacturers to focus their efforts on their most profitable models.

GM said on Tuesday that it expects the continued economic rebound in the United States following the COVID-19 crisis to boost passenger car sales this year, which are expected to drop all brands by around 15 million units. in 2021 to around 16 million.

Toyota had modest triumph. “Being number one has never been a goal or a priority,” said senior vice president Jack Hollis, while expressing the automaker’s “gratitude” to its customers. (Report David Shepardson, French version Bertrand Boucey, edited by Nicolas Delame)