General Motors beats Toyota to reclaim No. 1 spot in US with strong 2022 sales

General Motors recovered its first-place ranking in terms of sales in the United States. The automaker took over the top spot from Toyota Motor Corp. after recording strong sales in 2022.

With the 2.5% increase, General Motors officially reclaimed its position as the No. 1 automaker in America. The company said this week that it was able to beat Toyota Motor due to the strong demand for its line of vehicles last year.

As per Reuters, the Detroit, Michigan-headquartered automobile manufacturer revealed that its sales for 2022 showed an increase of 2,274,088 sold vehicles in the country. This number surpassed the Japanese carmaker’s annual sales record of 2,108,458 units.

It was suggested that one of the reasons that may have affected Toyota’s sales was the car parts shortage that forced it to reduce its production target for the full year in November. The car brand also experienced other issues with its supply chain that also caused production shutdowns at some point. For the sales of its SUVs alone, it dropped by 8.6%, and this is a big loss already.

While General Motors may have also gone through problems related to parts shortage and supply chain, it successfully overcame them and achieved a slight gain. Although there was only a small difference in the number of units sold, the increase on GM’s side was apparently enough to beat Toyota Motor.

CNBC reported that General Motors’ sales showed the biggest increase in the fourth quarter of 2022. The surge in that period was 41.4% which is almost half of the total number it sold for the entire year.

Overall, General Motors gained a 2.5% increase in sales compared to its record in 2021, while Toyota Motor went down by 9.6% in the same period. Meanwhile, analysts have been expecting a drop in sales in the American vehicle market, and in comparison to 2021, the decline could be from eight to 10%.

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