Toyota outselling Chevy, closing on Ford
By Earle Eldridge, USA TODAY

Cars made by Toyota are outselling those made by Chevrolet this year and are poised to overtake Ford cars in the first quarter next year.

It would be the first time a foreign automaker could lay claim to the title best-selling car brand in the USA. Either Ford or Chevrolet has been the best-selling car brand since 1903. U.S. automakers still dominate the truck market.

"Within a matter of months, Toyota will consistently be selling more cars in this country than any other brand," predicts Tom Libby, analyst with J.D. Power, basing that on the brands' sales histories since 1990.

Through November, Toyota had sold 774, 953 cars to Ford's 801,607 and Chevy's 682,658.

As sales numbers tighten, consumers might see more deals on cars, especially because Ford and Toyota are two of the most aggressive retailers.

Toyota's threat to the Detroit brands illustrates the continued assault on the U.S. auto market by foreign brands. Unless the trend reverses, it could require General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler Group to shut plants and lay off employees.

Some analysts predict that foreign brands will hold 50% of the U.S. auto market within five years. For this year, they had a 38.5% share through November, according to sales tracker Autodata.

"Toyota and Honda have been particularly successful in increasing their market share," says Scott Sprizen, an analyst with Standard and Poor's. Both also have been investing in trucks, particularly sport-utility vehicles, he notes. That takes aim at Detroit's strength.

Honda car sales are closing in on Chevy's, too. They were less than 11,000 apart through November.

Ford and Chevy couldn't be reached for comment on the sales numbers.

Toyota spokesman Joe Tetherow attributed his brand's success to "core products, not niche products, that appeal to a lot of customers."

While Toyota has surpassed Chevy in sales numbers, it has fallen behind the GM brand in a key quality ranking.

In the most recent J.D. Power initial quality survey of new cars, Chevy came in No. 2 behind Honda. Toyota fell to No. 3. The survey measures problems in the first 90 days of ownership.

Tetherow blamed minor trim problems with the redesigned Camry.

Ford still maintains its dominance as the best-selling brand overall, a spot it has held for 16 years. That's largely due to sales of the F-Series pickup, the No. 1-selling vehicle of any type in the country, and the Explorer, the best-selling SUV.

The Ford brand will likely sell 3 million cars and trucks in the USA this year, Toyota 1.5 million.