Toyota Once Again Top Seller in U.S.

For the second year in a row, Toyota Motor Corp.'s namesake brand likely will beat Chevrolet and Ford as the top seller in the United States. According to the Detroit Free Press, plummeting SUV sales that came with spiking gas prices earlier this year helped widen Toyota's margin over Ford and Chevy. Through November, Toyota sold 1.8 million cars, 185,200 more vehicles than Chevrolet. Even when excluding Toyota's Scion brand - which sold 109,777 vehicles through November and is included in Toyota brand sales - Toyota leads the industry, with 1.7 million car and truck sales. But don't expect to see Toyota touting its status as America's best-selling brand. "We don't find that it's a very strong motivator for consumers," said Toyota spokesman Mike Michels, who said the automaker is more focused on building customer loyalty and a profitable business. "The feeling is always that if we attend to all the basics, and we happen to rise in the rankings, then that's fine. Then that's just a measure of all the other things that we did." For more on Toyota's #1 seller status, click here.