Shares of Toyota Motor Corp. plunged Wednesday following a major business daily report that Toyota may have trouble meeting global vehicle sales targets.
But Toyota declined to comment on the report, while Senior Managing Director Yoichiro Ichimaru said his company was sticking with its targets for now, including this year’s global vehicle sales goals.
A senior board member at Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said the current global financial crisis could cause another review of Toyota’s global sales target.
Mitsuo Kinoshita said at the Paris auto show on Wednesday that Toyota had global sales targets of 9.5 million units in 2008 and 9.7 million in 2009.
Based on the aggregated intelligence of 115,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool’s free investing community, Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM) has earned a respected four-star ranking. While five-star stocks have been the best performers, our data has shown that four-star stocks still outshine the market by a significant margin and shouldn’t be taken lightly; conversely, low-rated stocks have woefully lagged the market average.
It’s all been very gentlemanly so far. No name calling. No punches thrown.
But a fight is brewing between heavyweights Toyota and General Motors over the way the government should support plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Five races highlight Saturday’s (September 13) Law Enforcement Appreciation Night and Family Night at TOYOTA Speedway at Irwindale. A full lineup of NASCAR Whelen short track races are scheduled including Auto Club Late Models, ACDelco Super Late Models, Vista Paint Super Stocks, Pure Stocks and a trailer race.
Any sworn and civilian law enforcement personnel associated with a Southern California area law enforcement organization will be admitted for free with employment identification or special promotion code. Also, youngsters 15 years of age and under will be admitted for free as part of a Family Night promotion.
Spy photographers have caught the next-generation Toyota Prius hybrid car undergoing testing ahead of its official unveiling at the 2009 Detroit Motor Show.
Although the new car is heavily disguised, the photos show that Toyota designers haven’t made major changes to the petrol-electric hybrid vehicle’s distinctive look. That’s backed up with our exclusive computer generated images (see images).
Utahns are increasingly losing jobs, forking over more money at the grocery store, struggling to pay mortgages — and buying new Nissans.
At a time when overall auto sales are down nationwide, Utah auto dealers have taken a hit, and they’ve had to make changes. Mark Miller of Mark Miller Auto Group in Salt Lake City says vehicle sales overall were down about 10 to 15 percent in August from a year ago. And dealers say Chrysler’s and Ford’s U.S. sales were down further because they make so many trucks and SUVs — vehicles some drivers traded for more fuel-efficient models when gasoline exceeded $4 a gallon earlier this summer.
Despite signs of steadier U.S. auto sales in August, it remains uncertain whether industrywide sales in the largest vehicle market have hit bottom, and conditions next year are unlikely to improve, senior Toyota Motor Corp executives said on Friday.
“It’s hard to say whether the U.S. market has hit bottom,” Toyota (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(TM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Vice Chairman Kazuo Okamoto said at an event hosted by the Japanese automaker for financial analysts in New York.
Toyota Motor Corp says it will start leasing its new fuel cell hybrid next month as part of its efforts to encourage the widespread use of the zero-emission vehicles.
Japan’s top automaker, which has already won strong interest in its fuel sipping petrol-electric hybrids, will lease one of its Toyota FCHV-adv vehicles to Japan’s environment ministry.
TOYOTA has delayed its plans to become the world’s first car maker to sell more than 10 million vehicles annually, the latest sign that global car makers are bracing for a slowdown as robust sales to developing markets fail to offset losses in the crumbling US market.
The Japanese car maker, which is closing in on General Motors as the world’s largest car maker by sales volume, said it aimed to sell 9.7 million vehicles next year, reversing from the target of 10.4 million vehicles it set a year ago.
