Toyota sales up in December, down for 2020

2021 Toyota Tacoma

Toyota Motor North America reported December 2020 sales of 249,601 vehicles, an increase of 20.4% in comparison to December 2019. However, for the calendar year of 2020, sales decreased by 11.3%, with 2,112,941 vehicles sold.

Among its two divisions, the Toyota division was up 22.9% in December compared to the same month in 2019, and the Lexus division was up 8.2% on a volume basis in December 2020 compared to December 2019.

An area to highlight for Toyota was hybrid sales, which totaled 337,036 vehicles for 2020, an increase of 22.7% and representing 16% of TMNA’s 2020 sales volume. With the latest additions of the Sienna, Venza and Mirai, TMNA now offers 14 hybrids, electrified and fuel cell vehicles.

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Toyota has a number of manufacturing plants in the South, with plants in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas. It also is part owner of the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing plant under construction in Huntsville, Alabama. Of the current operating plants, three of those manufacturing facilities make automobiles, with Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama being the exception, manufacturing 4-cylinder, V-6 and V-8 engines.

Toyota currently makes Camry, Avalon, RAV4 Hybrid and Lexus ES 350 vehicles at its Kentucky plant. In Mississippi, it makes the Corolla, and in Texas, it manufactures the Tacoma and Tundra trucks.

  • The Camry sold 30,364 units in 2020, a 15.4% increase over 2019’s 26,309 units in December. For the year, 294,348 Camry vehicles were sold, down 12.7% from 2019’s total sales of 336,978. However, according to Toyota Motor North America, Camry was still the best-selling passenger car in the U.S. in 2020, marking a 19th consecutive year of taking that title.
  • The Avalon sold 1,913 units in December 2020, compared to 1,844 in December 2019, a 3.7% increase. For the year, 18,421 Avalon vehicles were sold compared to 27,767 in 2019 for a decrease of 33.7%.
  • The Corolla sold 25,409 units in December 2020, compared to 23,742 in December 2019, a 7% increase. For 2020, 237,178 Corolla vehicles were sold, a decrease of 22.2% in comparison to 2019 when 304,850 units were sold.
  • The RAV4 Hybrid sold 11,104 units in December 2020, compared to 10,127 in December 2019, an increase of 9.7%. For the year, the RAV4 Hybrid sold 115,974 units compared to 92,525 units in 2019, an increase of 25.3%. The hybrid sales helped boost the RAV4 overall to best-selling SUV in the U.S. for a fourth consecutive year.
  • The Lexus ES sold 5,101 units in December 2020, a slight increase over its sales in December 2019 of 5,025 units. However, for the year, 2020 sales were 43,292 units compared to 2019’s 51,336 units sold, a 15.7% decrease.
  • For its trucks made in Texas, the Tacoma sold 28,957 units in December 2020 compared to 20,727 units in December 2019, a 39.7% increase. For the year, sales were only down slightly at 238,806 units sold in 2020, compared to 248,801 units in 2019, a decrease of 4%. The Tacoma was still the best-selling small pickup for a 16th consecutive year.
  • The Tundra sold 12,124 units in December 2020, compared to 8,714 units in December 2019, an increase of 39.1%. For the year, 109,203 Tundra vehicles were sold, compared to 111,673 units in 2019 for a slight decrease of 2.2%.

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