Toyota Gunning For the Numero Uno Spot

The Japanese automobile king, Toyota Motors is all set to rule the US market. The company reported a 39% increase in its global net profit and a 13% rise in the sales for the quarter April-June ’06 as compared to the same quarter in 2005. In US, the Japanese group recorded a positive first half with sales shooting up by 12%.

At the same time, the US counterparts suffered as their sales drop. Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler’s US wing accounted a 35% drop in domestic sales during July ’06 whereas, Ford and General Motors both suffered sixth in a row monthly decline in sales.

Toyota Motors surpassed its own projection by 1.9 trillion yens, posting an operating profit for the year at 2.105 trillion yen ($18.43 billion). This shot up Toyota's shares by 0.99 percent closing at 6,140 yen.

Featuring the topmost manufacturing quality, ultimate fuel efficiency, relatively low pricing, sleek looks and high reliability, Toyota can lay claim to becoming the world’s most valuable car company. The market capitalization of Toyota exceeds the market capitalization of GM, Ford, Volkswage, Citroen-Peugeot and Daimler Chrysler put together. The shareholders of the company are also all smiles with profits heading northward.

All is not cakewalk though; Toyota faces tough competition from the South Korean giants with regard to cheap and good quality cars and from European giants with regard to luxury cars. The road to the top is never smooth and straight. It is always bumpy and zigzag. The management at Toyota understands that and has the wheels to tread the bumpy path and zoom to the summit.