[Shiba-Kun]

Tuesday January 11, 1:53 PM
Toyota Corolla remains best-selling car in Japan

(Kyodo) _ Toyota Motor Corp.'s Corolla was the best-selling car in Japan in 2004 for the second consecutive year, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Tuesday.

But Corolla sales last year declined 12.9 percent from the previous year to 173,301 units.

The second-best seller was Honda Motor Co.'s Fit with sales of 149,503 units, followed by Nissan Motor Co.'s Cube with sales of 138,623 units.

Toyota accounted for six of the 10 best-selling cars in 2004. Nissan and Honda each held two spots.

In December alone, the Honda Fit became the best-selling car for the first time in three months, selling 14,838 units.

The following are the top 10 bestselling vehicles for 2004.

Model Maker Sales
1. Corolla Toyota 173,301
2. Fit Honda 149,503
3. Cube Nissan 138,623
4. Wish Toyota 126,531
5. Crown Toyota 116,614
6. March Nissan 102,792
7. Odyssey Honda 97,849
8. ist Toyota 87,923
9. Alphard Toyota 85,953
10. Noah Toyota 77,146

 

[4DoorGs-R2001]

my GF has a 03' "S" :g



i smashed the rear end into a wall though, damn snow in Ma.

 

[spray004]

Now I know why the Big Three don't give a rats ass about selling car in Japan, the best selling car only sells 173K units a year.

 

[dodolaje]

very expensive gas, road tax, and u cant drive that car forever. after certain number of years u MUST get rid the car and change it with new one. I heard they dump those cars to New Zealand dats why the used japanese car there are so cheap. but most of them are still in GOOD condition.

if Big 3 can built someting dat is SO reliable and SO fuel efficient and VERY useful and practical and can park in very tight spot YES they could sell well in asia and europe but i guess they cant...

 

[sombasol]

Now I know why the Big Three don't give a rats ass about selling car in Japan, the best selling car only sells 173K units a year.

better make that 3 of the big 4.

 

[spray004]

better make that 3 of the big 4.

There is no Big 4, its only the Big 3, Ford, GM and Daimler Chrysler.
They are known as the Big 3.

 

[spray004]

very expensive gas, road tax, and u cant drive that car forever. after certain number of years u MUST get rid the car and change it with new one. I heard they dump those cars to New Zealand dats why the used japanese car there are so cheap. but most of them are still in GOOD condition.

if Big 3 can built someting dat is SO reliable and SO fuel efficient and VERY useful and practical and can park in very tight spot YES they could sell well in asia and europe but i guess they cant...

I dont think the Big 3 want to build, there is no real market for them. The Ford Focus used to be or still could be the #1 selling car in the world. The Japanese car market is so small, why waste resources on marketing, designing new vehciles and selling to such a small market? The types of vehicles that sell here in the US are no where near what the Japanese market craves, so why design new vehicles to only sell 170K units a year? Ford sells around 9 times as many trucks in the US. It just not a sensable business move in the eyes of the Big 3.

 

[sombasol]

There is no Big 4, its only the Big 3, Ford, GM and Daimler Chrysler.
They are known as the Big 3.

since Toyota is the #2 in the world, if you want to keep calling it the big 3 Toyota would be one of the 3

 

[spray004]

since Toyota is the #2 in the world, if you want to keep calling it the big 3 Toyota would be one of the 3

Ford is the 2nd largest auto manufacturer in the world, not Toyota. Ford has not released its fiscal '04 revenues, however Toyota had $164B in sales for '04. Ford will not release its 4th qtr sales until Jan 20th, however sales in '03 were $165B and expected to rise. Toyota's revenue for '03 was $128B. Toyota surpased DaimlerChrysler this year in world sales. But when people mention the "Big 3" they are referring to the 3 largest manufacturers in the U.S..

 

[dodolaje]

ford focus best selling?? with the fleet sales?? or without?? check corolla... they sell it everywhere... in asia.. europe america...dunno about the africa continent but i dont see any ford focus in south east asia. and how old is focus?? corolla been selling cars since 60s-70s.

 

[divinewisdom]

Now I know why the Big Three don't give a rats ass about selling car in Japan, the best selling car only sells 173K units a year.

lol. do you realize how much petrol costs outside the US?
plus their streets isnt that big.

its hard for the big 3 to break into that market becuase they dont really have any small cars that can even come close to the corolla and fit.

 

[spray004]

lol. do you realize how much petrol costs outside the US?
plus their streets isnt that big.

its hard for the big 3 to break into that market becuase they dont really have any small cars that can even come close to the corolla and fit.

GM has a lot of brands Japan with cars that are small enough, check out the Opel Meriva. They have the small cars, but there is no real market there. I mean you're trying to sell cars to consumers who for the most parts ride mass transit each day and can't afford a parking spot. Why would any company want to target such a small market? That would be like trying to target left handed lesbian wheel chair bound midgets.


The Focus is sold worldwide as the Corolla is. Focus is sold on every continent. I went to Ford's global website and randomly checked countries and saw Focus listed on whichever country's site I was on. The Corolla could be the best selling car in the world now, but I do remember a couple of years ago that the Focus was the world's best selling car. I found it a little hard to believe considering the length of time it has been on the market, but it came from a trusted source.

 

[divinewisdom]

GM has a lot of brands Japan with cars that are small enough, check out the Opel Meriva. They have the small cars, but there is no real market there. I mean you're trying to sell cars to consumers who for the most parts ride mass transit each day and can't afford a parking spot. Why would any company want to target such a small market? That would be like trying to target left handed lesbian wheel chair bound midgets.


The Focus is sold worldwide as the Corolla is. Focus is sold on every continent. I went to Ford's global website and randomly checked countries and saw Focus listed on whichever country's site I was on. The Corolla could be the best selling car in the world now, but I do remember a couple of years ago that the Focus was the world's best selling car. I found it a little hard to believe considering the length of time it has been on the market, but it came from a trusted source.

i hardly think that Opel will even far any better than a GM brand in Japan.
Even if you look outside the japanese market, lets say the US, who has the best selling small compact? its still the corolla and civic.

the focus lost alot of its luster due to the fact that its plauged with recalls and its has pretty much backwards evolution.

 

[spray004]

i hardly think that Opel will even far any better than a GM brand in Japan.
Even if you look outside the japanese market, lets say the US, who has the best selling small compact? its still the corolla and civic.

the focus lost alot of its luster due to the fact that its plauged with recalls and its has pretty much backwards evolution.

That is true, but I was just giving examples that GM does have compact cars that the Japanese people want, they just choose to focus their sales & marketing resources else where. If you look at the majority of the cars that sell in the Japanese market, I think very very very few of them would actually sell well in the U.S.. China is the next big auto market that American manufacturers are trying to break into. GM has a larger vehicle selection in China vs Toyota, but I'm not sure volume wise who sells more.