GM advances in US sales as chip shortages affect Toyota

US-based General Motors is poised to outsell Japan’s Toyota Motor in the second quarter, even as sales at major US automakers slump due to shortages of auto parts and electronics, industry analysts say.

GM, which lost its crown as the US auto sales leader last year for the first time since 1931 to Toyota, is also expected to sell the most new vehicles in the quarter of any major automaker, according to Cox Automotive.

Toyota has been one of the carmakers hardest hit this year by chip shortages and lockdowns in China — which have also affected other automakers — that have forced the company to repeatedly cut production, casting a cloud over its targets for the year.

GM, by contrast, seems to have fared better. Earlier this month, it reaffirmed a goal of increasing vehicle production in 2022 by 25% to 30%.

The two automakers — along with Stellantis, Hyundai, Honda and Nissan — are expected to report a decline in quarterly sales, excluding Ford, according to data from Cox and TrueCar.

Cox officials said Ford, which reports June sales on Tuesday, has managed its inventories better than most other companies and is also recovering from last year’s difficulties.

Tesla will be the only major brand to increase sales in the first half of the year, Cox said.

“I’m concerned that the consumer is close to the tipping point of being convinced we’re in a recession and behaving like that,” Cox chief economist Jonathan Smoke said earlier this week.

“A recovery in vehicle production in 2022 seems highly unlikely at this point,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of automotive industry-focused consultancy Edmunds.