Toyota ’s June sales results are in and, as expected, the Japanese automaker experienced a significant drop off. Toyota’s overall June sales were down 11.5 percent, representing the company’s biggest decline of 2008.
The Toyota brand sold 172,981 vehicles in June, down 10.3 percent from June 2007. Toyota’s passenger car sales were actually up 4.4 percent in June – thanks largely to the Corolla sales which were up 30 percent – but a sharp 31 percent decline it truck sales resulted in an overall decline.
Surprisingly, sales of Toyota ’s full-size Sequoia SUV shot up 40.8 percent – to 2,444 units — while the fuel-efficient Prius saw a June sales decline of 25 percent, largely due to battery supply issues.
Toyota’s Lexus division saw an overall sales decline of 21.1 percent, with passenger cars sales falling by 16.6 percent and SUV sales dipping by 27.9 percent. Although selling at a relatively low volume of 631 units in June, Lexus’ thirsty LX 570 posted a sales increase of 230.2 percent.
Toyota’s first half sales totaled 1,240,086 vehicles, down 6.2 from the same period a year ago.
