Toyota overtakes General Motors in the US, end GM’s 89 years at the top of the charts

In a major upset, Toyota has brought General Motors’ 89-year run at the top of the US sales charts to an abrupt halt.

Japanese car maker Toyota outsold General Motors (GM) in the United States for the first time ever last year – and brought an end to an 89-year winning streak by the US automotive giant.

Both Toyota and GM struggled with stock shortages and intermittent production slowdowns during the second year of the coronavirus pandemic, but Toyota was able to better manage the crisis to take top-seller status from General Motors, a title it had held since 1931.

According to US sales figures released by both brands overnight, Toyota sold 2.332 million vehicles in 2021 compared to GM’s tally of 2.218 million. This represents a margin of 114,000, or 4.8 per cent.

Toyota’s most popular model was the RAV4 SUV (pictured above), with 407,739 examples reported as sold.

GM’s most popular models were the Chevrolet Silverado (pictured below) and the GMC Sierra full-size pick-ups – which are twins but sold under different brands – with 778,689 reported sales combined.

GM sales were down by 13 per cent in 2021 versus 2020 across the full range, which it attributed to ongoing stock shortages.

Toyota sales were up 10 per cent over the same period.

Ford is yet to release its sales data for the tumultuous year, however industry experts estimate the Blue Oval brand to slot into third place with approximately 2 million sales.

Australia was the first Western nation in which Toyota achieved market dominance. In 1991 it became the best-selling manufacturer in Australia for the first time, outselling the

General Motors’ now-defunct Holden marque.

Since then, Toyota has led the Australian new-car market for 25 years – including for the past 19 in a row (based on an unassailable lead it had established in November). New-car sales figures in Australia are due out tomorrow.

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