Automotive: Toyota Beats General Motors in 2021 U.S. Auto Sales

They lost to Chevy on the racetrack in NASCAR, but beat them in the showroom.

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp outsold General Motors Co in the United States in 2021, marking the first time the Detroit automaker has not led U.S. auto sales for a full year since 1931.

Toyota sold 2.332 million vehicles in the United States in 2021, compared with 2.218 million for General Motors, the automakers said on Tuesday.

GM’s U.S. sales were down 13% for 2021 – and down 43% in the fourth quarter – while Toyota was up 10% for the year. GM last had lower sales in 2010 at 2.202 million.

For all of 2020, GM’s U.S. sales totaled 2.55 million, compared with Toyota’s 2.11 million and Ford Motor Co’s (F.N) 2.04 million.

GM has been the largest seller of vehicles in the United States since 1931, when it surpassed Ford, according to data from industry publication Automotive News.  Reuters

Editor’s Note: Was this related to the chip shortage experienced by the USA manufacturers because their mental midget managers outsource almost all their key chips to foreign countries to save a few dollars per car?