Washington: Toyota Motor Corp. may lose US market share this year as recalls crimp sales, falling to third place after Ford Motor Co. retakes the No 2 spot, auto researcher Edmunds.com said.
The decline will come as Toyota's US share falls by more than one percentage point from Edmunds.com's initial forecast, the Santa Monica, California-based industry researcher said. Nissan Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. also may benefit from a temporary shift in demand, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst said.
"While it is clear that Toyota sales have been impacted, it is too early to forecast to what degree," Mike Michels, a Toyota spokesman, responded in an email.
"How our sales volume compares to competitors is not our concern, as our focus is on our customers and executing our own sales plans."
Toyota, the world's largest carmaker, is trying to recover from global recalls of eight million vehicles and suspending sales of eight models in the US, including the top-selling Camry. The Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker surpassed the former General Motors Corp. as the world's largest carmaker by sales in 2008, holding the title last year, outselling Volkswagen AG by about 1.5 million vehicles.
Losses
GM, the largest US carmaker, sought to capitalise on the recall with incentives added last month to encourage Toyota drivers to trade in vehicles for GM models. Ford offered a $1,000 (Dh3,670) rebate for Toyota owners.
"We anticipate that General Motors, Ford and Honda will pick up the majority of sales Toyota loses," said Ray Zhou, Edmunds.com senior analyst, in a statement. Edmunds.com said the market value of Toyota models covered by recalls for unintended acceleration has fallen $150, or 0.5 per cent, from a year ago. GM will retain the top spot in the US market, with 18.1 per cent, up from Edmunds.com's earlier forecast of 17.9 per cent in 2009. Ford will rise to 16.6 per cent, climbing to second place, while Toyota will fall to 16.5 per cent from 17 per cent last year. Edmunds.com had initially projected Toyota's market share would rise to 17.6 per cent.
The damage to the carmaker's reputation may be repaired, and "we are not that pessimistic about Toyota's long-term brand damage," Himanshu Patel, an analyst at JPMorgan, said in an email accompanying a report.
