Toyota Camry To Regain Sales Title

TORRANCE, Calif. December 18, 2002; Alan Ohnsman writing for Bloomberg reported that Toyota Motor Corp.'s Camry is poised to regain the top spot in U.S. car sales this year from Honda Motor Co.'s Accord, as the Japanese automakers dominate in midsize sedans for a sixth straight year.

The Camry, redesigned with more interior space and a bigger engine for the 2002 version, is in the lead with 403,136 cars sold through November. The Accord, whose sales have reached 367,210, ended Camry's four-year reign last year. Ford Motor Co.'s Taurus, the leader for half of the 1990s, has sold 300,447 models.

Toyota and Honda have dominated car sales in the U.S. as General Motors Corp. and Ford, the largest U.S. automakers, focused on more-profitable light-trucks. The Camry and Accord are perceived as offering better value with higher quality than cars from the three biggest producers in the U.S., analysts said.

"Chances of the Big Three blowing these two models out of the segment are close to zero right now," said Susan Jacobs, president of Jacobs Consulting, which studies vehicle and pricing trends for the auto industry. "There's a sense that domestic models don't hold their value and that there's a quality gap."

The Camry still trails U.S. automakers' pickup trucks in sales. Ford's F-Series led with 740,817 through November, followed by General Motors' Chevrolet Silverado at 575,886.

Toyota lowered U.S. prices for the 2002 Camry to a range of $19,800 to $23,700, and added features in the lowest-priced model such as a larger interior, a boost in power for the standard four-cylinder engine to 157 horsepower from 136, an air-conditioner filter system and a six-speaker audio system with CD player.

"Camry's done a great job for us this year," said Don Esmond, senior vice president of Toyota's Torrance, California-based U.S. sales unit. "We never think we own the (midsize sedan) market. From our perspective all the competition, particularly the domestics, are becoming more aggressive with their product plans."

Honda didn't expect the Accord to keep the top-selling position this year because the car is in the final year before its first makeover since 1998, spokesman Art Garner said. The automaker released the redesigned 2003 Accord in September and expects sales next year to benefit from the new version, he said.

The 2003 Accord added standard features such as anti-lock brakes and power windows. The best-selling version, the LX sedan, increased the power of the base four-cylinder engine to 160 horsepower from 150 and added automatic transmission as a standard feature. Prices rose an average 1.4 percent and range from $15,800 to $27,900.

The Japanese automakers' reputation for quality is backed up by an annual survey of new-car buyers. Toyota ranked first and Honda second in J.D. Powers & Associates' latest annual initial quality survey, with the fewest problems per 100 vehicles in the 90 days after a purchase.

Consumer regard for the Camry and the Accord also is reflected in resale values, said Raj Sundaram, president of Automotive Lease Guide, which works with banks and finance companies to determine auto lease rates and residual values.

A 2003 Camry LE with a four-cylinder engine can be expected to retain 48 percent of its manufacturers suggested retail price after three years, and an equivalent Accord will hold 54 percent, Sundaram said. The resale value of a 2003 Taurus may fall by two-thirds, he said.

Resale values of the Camry and the Accord also benefit from relatively low sales to corporate fleets and rental-car companies, analysts said. Used-car buyers perceive vehicles that were owned by individuals to have less wear and tear than those used in fleets, the analysts said.

Fleet customers bought about 14 percent of Camrys sold this year and 2 percent of Accords, the automakers said. Ford relies on fleet demand for more than 45 percent of Taurus sales, CNW Marketing Research analysts Art Spinella said.

Toyota, the world's third-largest carmaker, today said it expects its global sales in 2003, including minicars and commercial vehicles built by its Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd. units, to grow 5 percent to 6.5 million units. The company forecast combined sales of Toyota vehicles and the Lexus luxury brand of 5.79 million, up 5 percent.

While Camry and Accord are the best-selling U.S. cars, demand for the models in Japan, with narrow urban streets and fuel prices more than three times higher than in the U.S., is limited. Toyota sold just 9,281 Camrys at home in the first 11 months of 2002, down 18 percent from a year ago, and Honda reported sales only 17,736 Accords, a 26 percent decline.