Toyota Posts 26.6% Year-Over-Year Gain in January Sales, Nearly Double the Industry Average

January was a good sales month for the auto industry and a great month for Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), with total sales of 157,725 Toyota, Scion and Lexus vehicles, up 26.6 percent from the same period a year ago on a raw volume basis – nearly double the industry average. On a daily selling rate basis, TMS sales were up 21.6 percent.

Toyota Division sales jumped up 26.1 percent on a volume basis, Lexus sales leaped 32.1 percent and Scion sales climbed 38.4 percent.  Industry-wide, sales were up about 14.4 percent over a year ago.

Prius and Corolla led the way in the Toyota Division with gains of 36.5 percent for Prius – the top-selling hybrid’s best January ever – and 32.4 percent for Corolla.  Camry sales continued strong, up 12.7 percent over last January, giving the best-selling car in America in 2012 a strong start in 2013. The all-new Avalon completed its first full month of sales up 50.4 percent while the all-new RAV4, which began arriving at dealerships in January, was up 18.2 percent, and every single truck model posted double-digit gains.

“January was a good start to the year for the industry, and a great start for Toyota,” Bill Fay, group vice president and Toyota Division general manager, told journalists in a conference call today.  “We expect continued stability in the economy to bode well for the industry in the months ahead, with pent-up demand and an influx of new models combining to bring people into dealerships.”

Fay also noted that Toyota’s RAV4 Super Bowl commercial with Kaley Cuoco, a star of the hit TV show, “The Big Bang Theory,” has already generated more than nine million views online in just five days. (The commercial can be viewed by click on http://is.gd/pfnX1B.)

In the Lexus Division, car sales led the way with an increase of 60.7 percent over the previous January, and the new ES continues to sell well, said Tim Morrison, vice president of sales and dealer development. 

“The IS world premiere in Detroit was the really big news for us in January,” he continued.  “The webcast of the reveal on Lexus.com and our Facebook page was viewed by more than 600,000 people around the world, in 99 countries from Albania to Zimbabwe.  Early reaction to the vehicle from journalists, customers and dealers has been fantastic. And dealers can’t wait to get it in their showrooms.”

With great inventories of our recently launched vehicles and more exciting vehicles new to come, Morrison added, we expect the momentum to continue.

courtesy of toyotanewsroom.com