The state is often referred to informally as ‘import car central’ and now its official: Toyota dominates the California market with 27% of sales, according to dealer data.
Go deeper with GlobalData
A Los Angeles Times report said that, in its first published look at new vehicle registrations in the state, the California Motor Car Dealers Association found that in the second quarter, Toyota-brand cars and trucks accounted for 23.4% of all sales, followed by Honda at 12.4%.
The strong performance of the Japanese brands put them ahead of total US market leaders General Motors and Ford. Ford was third in California in the second quarter, with a 9.6% share, and Chevrolet followed at 8.2%, the newspaper said.
The dealer group’s inaugural California Auto Outlook report will be published on Thursday, the LA Times said.
It noted that if the Lexus luxury brand was added to the Toyota tally, its April-to-June share of the California market rises to a dominating 27%.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataThe data reportedly surprised Toyota spokesman Mike Michels, who said the company didn’t maintain such up-to-date, state-by-state registration information. “It’s possible that we might have such a robust share for a quarter, but I’d find it amazing if we held it for a full year,” he told the Los Angeles Times.
For the last few years, Toyota’s annual California market share – including Lexus and the youth-oriented Scion brand – has ranged from 18% to 20% but has been growing, Michels told the paper.
Toyota posted a 14.9% national market share for the first seven months of this year, up from 12.8% for the same period in 2005, the report added.
The dealer association numbers, compiled with data from AutoCount, a unit of Experian Information Solutions, indicate that Toyota and Honda are spurting ahead on the strength of their reputations for reliability and fuel economy, analysts told the LA Times.
“Toyota’s been pounding away on fuel economy in its ads, and both Toyota and Honda are brands that nobody criticises you for buying, which is important to many buyers,” George Peterson, president of market researcher AutoPacific, told the paper.
Six foreign brands — Toyota, Honda, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus — accounted for 53.8% of the new passenger vehicles sold in California in the second quarter, the Los Angeles Times said.
Ford’s full-size F-150 pickup, however, remained the leading model in the state, accounting for 3.9% of sales in the first half, and five of the top 10 models were pickups or big SUVs — a testament to California’s love affair with trucks, regardless of what’s happening at the petrol pump, the paper added.
But the F-150 was closely followed in popularity by Toyota’s Camry mid-size car, with 3.8% market share to the end of June, the LA Times said.
