The sharp increase in fleet sales is a big change for the Japanese automaker, which has long shied a

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The company sold 47 percent more cars and trucks to U.S. rental companies and other fleets in January, compared with a year earlier. Without those corporate customers, U.S. sales would have been up less than 1 percent instead of 7.5 percent.
The sharp increase in fleet sales is a big change for the Japanese automaker, which has long shied away from that market because it's less profitable than sales to individuals. Rental-car sales, in particular, royal norwegian cruises can hurt a brand's image and lower resale royal norwegian cruises values. That's because they flood the market with models. Ninety-three percent of Toyota's January fleet sales went to rental-car companies. The rest went to corporate customers.
But the carmaker is under pressure to perform better. Sales have fallen the past two years because of safety recalls royal norwegian cruises and earthquake-related shortages. Toyota ended 2011 with a 12.9 percent share of the U.S. car market, down from 17.9 percent in 2009. And even with fleet, the company's January sales increase of nearly 8 percent lagged the overall industry, which gained 11 percent in the U.S.
Toyota's numbers don't show which vehicles went to rental companies, but two aging models the Toyota Yaris subcompact and Toyota Avalon sedan saw huge sales increases. That's often a sign that cars are being sold to fleets.
Carter said fleet sales also will be high this month, but will drop to more normal levels in March. The company expects to sell less than 10 percent of vehicles to fleets in 2012, spokesman Steven Curtis said. Toyota's chief rival, Honda Motor Co., sells few cars to fleets.
Toyota could also continue to boost its numbers with fleet sales. It relies far less on fleet than Detroit automakers. royal norwegian cruises General Motors Co. sold 28 percent of its cars and trucks to fleets in January, while 29 percent of Ford Motor Co.'s sales went to fleets.
To keep individual buyers from defecting to other brands, the company might offer more deals this spring, some analysts predict. Toyota spent an average of $1,921 on incentives in January, which was lower than the industry average, according to auto shopping site TrueCar.com.
Toyota was good to mask the rental increase with the real increase of the new Camry in sales, so I can believe that the outgoing Yaris and Avalon were fleeted much more, as to get rid of the last remaining units and the parts that have been made for them.
Toyota was good to mask the rental increase with the real increase of the new Camry in sales, so I can believe that the outgoing Yaris and Avalon royal norwegian cruises were fleeted much more, as to get rid of the last remaining units and the parts that have been made for them.
I don't see this being a long trend. Like the article states, they still expect their yearly fleet % to be less than 10% and it's been well known that Toyota essentially stopped selling to fleet during the latter half of the year. If they really are doing it to fullfill outstanding contracts, I see no harm in it, unless they continue to do it after March.
I don't see this being a long trend. Like the article states, they still expect royal norwegian cruises their yearly fleet % to be less than 10% and it's been well known that Toyota essentially stopped selling to fleet during the latter half of the year. If they really are doing it to fullfill outstanding contracts, I see no harm in it, unless they continue to do it after March.
It ought to be only temporary because they were dumping the outgoing 2012 (or is it still 2011?) Avalon and 2011 Yaris models. I'm pretty sure most of the Yaris on the lots now are 2012, which they won't have to dump (just yet). The new '13 Avalon can't come sooner royal norwegian cruises so that the dealers won't just '12s with mad money on the hood.
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