There’s no denying that August was a rough month for pretty much every automaker competing in the U.S. market, but there actually were some signs of life if you looked close enough. Although truck and SUV sales were still significantly down from a year ago, sales rebounded a bit from a month earlier. A full-size truck even managed to nab the top sales spot.
But even with that glimmer of hope, Toyota is not confident that the U.S. market has hit rock bottom quite yet. “It’s hard to say whether the U.S. market has hit bottom,” Toyota Vice Chairman Kazuo Okamoto told Reuters.
Toyota revealed last month that it is using $3.50 as the bottom point for U.S. gas prices, but it is not banking on the price to remain that low indefinitely. In fact, the Japanese automaker foresees $5 gas in the next five to seven years.
As such, Toyota will continue to focus on more fuel-efficient vehicles while it continues to curtail its truck and SUV production.
