Toyota hikes 2013 U.S. volume target after August sales...

Toyota hikes 2013 U.S. volume target after August sales surge
Automotive News
September 4, 2013 - 4:48 pm ET
LOS ANGELES -- Toyota raised its 2013 U.S. sales target for the Toyota brand and Scion by about 50,000 units as combined deliveries of Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles topped 230,000 in August. It was the company's best monthly sales total in more than five years.
Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.'s sales rose 23 percent to 231,537 units, enough to top Ford Motor Co. for the second month in a row.
Toyota brand and Scion together posted a 23 percent increase in sales to 201,745 units while Lexus volume also rose 23 percent to 29,792 units. Toyota brand sales rose 24 percent to 194,047 units, and Scion sales were flat at about 7,700 units.
Strong Camry, Prius, RAV4 and Tacoma sales, plus the arrival of the redesigned Corolla compact car and Tundra pickup and the U.S. auto industry's strong recovery, pushed Toyota to raise its 2013 sales target for Toyota brand and Scion to roughly 2 million vehicles for the year from 1.95 million previously, Bill Fay, Toyota Division general manager, said during a conference call Wednesday with reporters.
That, plus Lexus' target of 250,000 units, brings the automaker's total U.S. sales goal to about 2.25 million vehicles for 2013.

A 'remarkable' August
"From our point of view, it was really a remarkable month," Fay said during the conference call. "Toyota was the No. 1 retail manufacturer, the No. 2 overall brand; fleet sales made up just about 2 percent of our mix. Camry was the No. 1 selling car; Toyota Division was the No. 1 selling retail brand; and Toyota was the No. 1 certified used-vehicle sales" brand.
During the call, Fay said Toyota sold just 4,617 vehicles to fleet customers, noting that August is typically one of the weakest months for Toyota fleet sales.
Driving Toyota Division's August gains were the Camry, with a 22 percent sales increase to 44,713 units last month, a 30 PERCENT SALES GAIN FOR THE PRIUS FAMILY of vehicles to 27,358 units and a 50 percent jump in RAV4 crossover sales to 23,502 units.

Japanese automakers helped lift U.S. light-vehicle sales 17 percent last month, topping forecasts and propelling the annualized selling rate to 16.1 million, the industry's best showing since late 2007.
Honda Motor Co. sales rose 27 percent, Toyota Motor Corp. volume jumped 23 percent and Nissan Motor Co. advanced 22 percent from a year earlier.
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