03 Dec 08 Toyota Reports November 2008 Sales - Down 31.1%

Toyota reports November 2008 Sales. As their major competitor American Honda drops 30.6% in November 2008,  Toyota also got hit by the low economy by a decrease of 31.1% last month with total of 114,084 units sold by both Toyota Division passenger cars and Toyota Division light trucks, compared with November 2007.

Despite the decline of sales, Toyota is doing relatively well on their passenger cars probably due to the 0% APR offer by Totota. The best-selling Toyota car, the Toyota Camry, “only” went down 28.8% with 25,224 units sold, while its major competitor, the Honda Accord, had a decrease of 38.1% last month. The Toyota Corolla, follows the Toyota Camry, was the second best-selling Toyota passenger car with 21,807 units sold, a 12.8% decrease from last year. On the other hand, Honda Civic was down 29.6%. From this perspective, Toyota did a very good job on the Camry-Corolla combo to fight against the Honda Accord-Civic combo.

The compact size Toyota Yaris was also down by 16.6% with 4,545 units sold, while the Toyota Avalon had a huge drop of 61.6% with 2,502 units sold.

For Toyota trucks, all SUVs, vans, and trucks went down as expected. The only exception is the Toyota Sequoia, the full size SUV from Toyota. Maybe due to the hight customer rebate, the sales of Toyota Sequoia has been going up for the past few months compared with the same period last year. 1,873 units of Toyota Sequoia were sold last month, which is a 51.9% increase with November 2007. The Toyota Highlander, despites the $5000 dealer incentive in certain region, still went down 35.9% with 7,887 cars being sold.

Scion posted sales of 5,275 units in November 2008.

For the details, please visit Toyota website

Tags: Car Pricing News, Toyota, Toyota Sales Report

26 Nov 08 $5,000 Dealer Cash for Buying a 2008 Toyota Highlander

According to economic 101, when price becomes lower, demand will go up. Toyota implements this idea on selling the 2008 Toyota Highlander very well following the huge sales drop in October 2008.

You do not find $5,000 incentive on a Japnese car with price tag between $30,000~$40,000 often, but due to the bad economy, it happens. There is a $5,000 market support on the new 2008 Toyota Highlander from base model to the highest trim in south east area. There is additional $500 millitary rebate on top of that. Yes, that is total of $5,500 and no negotiation should be involved yet if you are qualified. Dealer might trick you by saying there is no such offer or not giving you the full amount. Remember that you could always find a dealer want to dump cars. This offer may not be combined with special APR, but $5,000 is a huge amount so who cares. Also, there is $400 college rebate on top of everything as well.

Since not everyone is located in southeast area, what about other areas? No information is available this point. However, once there is new information we will update it.

Tags: Car Incentive, Car Price, Car Pricing News, Car Rebate

03 Oct 08 Toyota 0% APR in October 2008 a Halloween Trick or Treat?

Many people might see the 0% APR promotion from Toyota for selected Toyota cars and wonder if the drop of 30% sales in September 2008 compared with last September is the reason and Toyota really gives out additional incentive to sell their cars. Not everyone believes it, at least we do not think so.

Cars are eligible for 0% APR are 2009 Toyota Corolla (0% for 36 months), 2009 Toyota Camry (0% for 36 months), 2008 Toyota RAV4 (0% for 36months), 2008 Toyota Highlander (0% up to 36 moth), FJ Cruiser, 2008 Toyota 4Runner (0% for 36months), 2008 Toyota Sequoia (0% for 60 months), 08 Sienna (0% upto 36 months), 08 Tacoma(0% up to 36 months) and 08 Tundra (0% for 36 months). They look very attractive, but there are somethings need to be considered.

1. 0% APR is only available to people who with highest credit score, while most people do not have that high score.

2. The most important part, according to messages we recieve, all models have cash rebate available but once you choose to get special APR, you lose the cash rebate. 09 Corolla, 09 Camry and 08 RAV4 have $500 (some region may have sliently higehr amount) rebate. Since only a small group of people are eligible for 0%, we use 1.9% for 36 months as example.

For a $18000 2009 Toyota Corolla, 1.9% APR of 36 months is around $526 per month. However, assume you choose to take cash rebate of $500, and finance from your credit union to get $4.9% APR for 36 months, you save around $400. So yes, you do save a little bit of money if you are qualified for it.

However, for SUVs, things become more interesting due to high amount of cash rebate. For example, for Highlander, assuming you finance $32000, it has $1250 rebate (some regions are higher) if you choose not to take special APR, while special APR would save you $1600 in 3 years if you get the APR rate. $1250 in pocket now v.s. $1600 in 3 years? Well, it is your call.
For Sequoia, assuming you finance $35,000 under same condition above for 60 months, you save around $2900 in interest. $3000 in pocket now v.s. $2900 in 5 years. Easy decision huh?

4runner would be even worse as 4runner is only qualified with special APR for 3 years.

Keep in mind that the comparison above does not include the hasssl of arguing the rate with finance department of the car dealer, which gives your the most problems and scams like your rate is not improved after you drive our your car…etc. Besides, some unpublic rebates would not be available if you take special APR, which could save you more money if you finance through with your own bank.

It’s October and Halloween is coming, trick or treat?

Tags: Car Pricing News, Toyota

02 Oct 08 Toyota Drops 29.5% of Sales in September 2008, Compared with Last Year

Toyota division of passenger cars reported sales of 1.281,212 in September 2008, a decrease of 28.9% from September 2007.

Toyota Disvion passenger car reported sales of 78,912 last month, which is a drop of 23.7% compared with last September. Toyota Division light truck reported sales of 49303, down 36% compared with last September.

The two best-selling Toyota cars - the Toyota Camry and the Toyota Corolla- also experiences sales drop of 245 and 24.9% despite both cars have $500 customer cash. The only passenger car with increase is Toyota Yaris, by 0.1%.

Surprisingly, sales fo Land Cruiser and Sequoia, the two biggest SUV in Toyota family, both increase 18.95 and 27.4% despite their limited quantities. 186 Land Cruisers were sold last month, compared with 163 in Septmber 2007, while 2030 Sequoias were sold in September compared with 1660 last year.

For more detail, see Toyota Sales in September 2008.

Tags: Car Pricing News, Toyota