[bzcat]

I didn't see a December or 2020 year end sales results thread. Nothing really surprising but we do have a new #2 in the US market - Toyota has been nipping at Ford's heels for about 10 years and Ford always managed to pull off a big month or two in the 4th quarter to pull away from Toyota. But not 2020... With F-150 in model switchover mode and delays to several new model launches (Bronco Sport, MACH E), Ford couldn't defend its #2 spot and trailed Toyota by about 60k units.

2020
Ford 1,939,334
Lincoln 105,410
Total Ford 2,044,744

Toyota 1,837,900
Lexus 275,041
Total Toyota 2,112,941

2019
Ford 2,310,494
Lincoln 112,204
Total Ford 2,422,698

Toyota 2,085,235
Lexus 298,114
Total Toyota 2,383,349

Ford's numbers includes class 6 and 7 trucks. Toyota reports Hino truck numbers separately so it's not exactly apples to apples but ford only sold 10k class 6 and 7 trucks in 2020 so not a big factor.

This of course is not new for Ford... it has been getting bent over by Toyota in market after market in every regions of the world in the last 25 years. Also, if you include Toyota affiliates Subaru and Mazda where it has significant control, Toyota will zoom past GM as well in the US market.

Consolation prize: Ford brand squeezed past Toyota brand and retained the most popular brand title.

 

[Iroczgirl]

So is GM number one? I find that hard to believe.

 

[bzcat]

So is GM number one? I find that hard to believe.

GM is the only car company with 3 full dealer network and 3 full line ups. Shouldn't be that surprising... market inertia is really hard to disrupt. This is why car companies (except for Ford) take defending market share seriously even if some sales result in lower profit (or even loss) - car business has high fixed costs so volume matters. Once you start losing volume, it snowballs. Look at Ford's overseas operations and you get an idea why shrinking is a no-win strategy in the car business. The list of markets where Ford was a top3 player and not hovers on the edge of irrelevance once Toyota and Hyundai showed up is... long. For example, it probably will surprise people to know that Toyota and Hyundai both sell more cars than Ford in Europe - a market that Ford has been in for almost 100 years.