After a rough 2011, Toyota started 2012 off on the right foot by selling 112,266 vehicles in January – marking an increase of 9 percent. However, a new report finds that fleet sales played an important role in that January sales gain.
Toyota typically keeps quiet on its monthly fleet sales, but Bob Carter, Toyota’s sales head, revealed to the Associated Press that the company racked up 24,409 fleet sales last month. Not only is that about 22 percent of Toyota’s total monthly sales, but also a 47 percent increase over the company’s January 2011 fleet sales.
Most automakers tend to shy away from fleet sales as they are less profitable than retail sales and can have a negative impact on resale values, but Carter says the increase in fleet sales will be temporary. Toyota was forced to slash sales to fleet customers following Japan’s earthquake last year and Carter explains that the company is simply increasing sales to satisfy pent-up demand. Carter expects one more month of high fleet sales before the numbers return to normal in March.
Despite January’s increase, Toyota is nowhere near the top in terms of fleet sales. It’s estimated that about one-third of Ford’s 2 million sales in 2011 went to fleets, or roughly 55,000 vehicles per month.
