Toyota Reveals 25 Months of Bliss

Toyota Motor Corp. revealed its 25th straight month of bliss in the auto industry. It has been more than two years for Toyota's growth in the automobile production worldwide. In fact, critics are saying that Toyota could dethrone General Motors in its reign as the largest automaker around the globe.

Toyota reported that its global production totaled 736,003 vehicles in November, up by 12.3 percent from the same month last year. Moreover, its overseas production increased by 10.5 percent to 350,300 and its domestic production increased by 14.1 percent to 385,703. It can be recalled that oil fluctuation led to the shift of consumers to fuel-efficient cars like Prius hybrid, Camry and Corolla compact.

The success of the automaker can be attributed to the quality of its OEM, aftermarket and Toyota auto replacement parts. Camry, for one, maintain its best-selling standing in the United States market for eight of the last nine years now.

Last week, the automaker's executives in Japan divulged the 9.42 million vehicles production target for 2007. The figure is 4 percent more over the 9.04 million vehicles it expects to produce for 2006 and more than 9.2 million than General Motors Corp. estimated production this year. GM has not divulged its target production for next year but it was burdened to scale back production after seeing its market shares eroded by Toyota and other Asian car manufacturers.

Toyota's closest Japanese rival is Nissan Motor Co., an ally of Renault SA of France. Nissan's global production dropped by 1.1 percent to 291,737 vehicles in November compared to its previous year's record. It has also reported a decrease by 4.9 percent to 106,163 vehicles in Japan while its overseas production increased by 1.3 percent to 185,574 vehicles. The automaker is famed for its Nissan auto body parts, which are engineered for sophistication and durability.

Another competent rival of Toyota is Honda Motor Co. The latter reported a 10.6 percent increase to 328,792 vehicles in the worldwide production in November. So far, this is the 16th month of on-year growth for the automaker, which is concentrating on its genuine Honda car parts. Honda's domestic production increased by 15.0 percent to 126,534 and its overseas output rose by 8.1 percent to 202,258 vehicles.