5th Gen sales up 54.7% over 4th Gen

[SeattleMike]

From the March Sales Report:

4RUNNER 4,108 sold in March 2010 vs 1,650 Sold in March 2009, an increase of +139.4% Year over Year, and Year to Date 10,087 for 2010 vs. 6,763 in 2009, an increase of +51.2%.

I'd hate to see what sales would be like if people actually liked the styling. :hiding:

 

[mikeync]

I love our 5th gen as much as most people here but lets be realistic about these numbers

1) It is a brand now model

2) For months before the 5th gen made it out it was hard to get a new 4Runner

3) Pre-sales are in these numbers so it is several months of sales being reported here - people could have ordered in 2009 and received in 2010 (lots did)

4) During January, February people went to Toyota and said show me a car......Toyota said well we pretty much can't sell you anything but this great looking 4Runner here. No wonder the numbers are up...........

Doesn't make it a failure nor a success. Doesn't solve the fact that some people love the styling and some don't. Just means they sold more of the cars in the beginning of the year and hopefully they keep selling these.

Now lets start the debate saying - this is great they are selling so this means they will introduce the V8. Then someone can counter with - no this is bad they are selling so that means they will not introduce the V8....... and round and round we go

 

[024RunnerSE]

I bet if there was a V8 option, that number would've probably been 25% higher.

 

[Hawkdog21]

don't feed the troll.... seriously...

 

[SeattleMike]

July's Sales Report

4RUNNER Sales in July 2010 = 3,814 vs. 2009 = 1,055 for an increase of 248.1%

4RUNNER Sales YearToDate 2010 = 25,767 vs. 2009 = 11,457 for an increase of 124.9%

I agree with mikeync that there was likely a shortage of available 2009MY 4Runners about this time last year, which explains the percentage jump in the first line. But the fact remains that the 2010 is outselling the 2009 by 2-to-1.

 

[dekeman]

Up in Canada too. Toyota Canada said today that "robust sales of the Toyota Venza, 4Runner and Sienna resulted in best-ever July Toyota truck sales, at 6,397 (up 7.9%).

• 305 Toyota 4Runner (up 643.9%)

Little misleading since the 4th gen was at the end of its life span.

 

[JB.]

July's Sales Report

.....but the fact remains that the 2010 is outselling the 2009 by 2-to-1.

It's your story, tell it any way you want. But I'd avise you to stay clear. When the stress from the stretched comparison finally lets go, it could put an eye out.:lookout:

 

[charlier180]

I bet if there was a V8 option, that number would've probably been 25% higher.

That would be interesting to see if only Toyota broke down sales by engine.
They did not do that for the 4th generation nor are they doing it for the 5th generation either.

Personally, I would love to see how the 4 cylinder 5th Gen sold when compared to sales figures for the 4th Gen V8. Now that would verrrrrrryyyyyyy interesting.

Too bad that will never happen.

 

[SeattleMike]

It's your story, tell it any way you want. But I'd avise you to stay clear. When the stress from the stretched comparison finally lets go, it could put an eye out.:lookout:

I'm not stretching the comparison, I didn't speculate on the cause, I'm just commenting on the numbers. But to keep people from implying I am cheerleading, I'll post the numbers from July for the last five July reports.

Year: ..July.. .YtD.
2006: 9,346 64,212
2007: 6,676 50,870
2008: 3,107 30,228
2009: 1,055 11,457
2010: 3,814 25,767

Now, it's obvious that 2010 is outselling 2009. Clearly, if a majority of people hated the styling or the lack of a V8, that wouldn't be the case. It's also obvious the 2010 is selling roughly as well as the 2008 version, half as well as the 2007 version, and almost 1/3 as well as the 2006 MY. So much has changed since the glory days of 2006 that the overall decline in numbers is understandable.

Was the 2009 only ~12% as desirable as the 2006? It would be hard to argue that considering they were largely indistinguishable from each other. But it's clear the 2009 sold roughly 18% of the 2006 total, year to date. By the same math, the 2010 has sold twice as many as the 2009. It's not a stretch, it's just numbers.

 

[Quentin]

I'm not stretching the comparison, I didn't speculate on the cause, I'm just commenting on the numbers. But to keep people from implying I am cheerleading, I'll post the numbers from July for the last five July reports.

Year: ..July.. .YtD.
2006: 9,346 64,212
2007: 6,676 50,870
2008: 3,107 30,228
2009: 1,055 11,457
2010: 3,814 25,767

Now, it's obvious that 2010 is outselling 2009. Clearly, if a majority of people hated the styling or the lack of a V8, that wouldn't be the case. It's also obvious the 2010 is selling roughly as well as the 2008 version, half as well as the 2007 version, and almost 1/3 as well as the 2006 MY. So much has changed since the glory days of 2006 that the overall decline in numbers is understandable.

Was the 2009 only ~12% as desirable as the 2006? It would be hard to argue that considering they were largely indistinguishable from each other. But it's clear the 2009 sold roughly 18% of the 2006 total, year to date. By the same math, the 2010 has sold twice as many as the 2009. It's not a stretch, it's just numbers.

The redesigned, larger highlander was released in fall of 2007 as a 2008 model. All those people that wanted a mall crawler went there and left the 4Runner to the people that actually wanted to see some off-pavement action. That is why YTD 4Runner sales tanked between 07 and 08. If you recall, the Highlander available before that was just barely larger than the current Rav4.

Either way, this is pretty good news for the 4Runner. It shows that there still is a market.

 

[SeattleMike]

The redesigned, larger highlander was released in fall of 2007 as a 2008 model. All those people that wanted a mall crawler went there and left the 4Runner to the people that actually wanted to see some off-pavement action. That is why YTD 4Runner sales tanked between 07 and 08. If you recall, the Highlander available before that was just barely larger than the current Rav4.

Either way, this is pretty good news for the 4Runner. It shows that there still is a market.

Quentin, the numbers don't back up your explanation... sorry. Toyota sold (YtD, July) 73k+ Highlanders in both 2006 and 2007, sold even fewer in 2008 (68,152), 2009 was absolutely dismal (45,612) and 2010 is showing a small increase (47,563). I pulled all these numbers from the Toyota corporate site.

I think the drop in sales was for dual reasons: 1) spiking gas prices really killed SUV sales and 2) the $700 slide in the stock market in October of 2007, which was the first sign for the general public that things weren't all hunky dory. 2008 was horrid across the board, with sales so low both GM and Chrysler had to beg for loans and eventually filed bankruptcy.

 

[Quentin]

Quentin, the numbers don't back up your explanation... sorry. Toyota sold (YtD, July) 73k+ in both 2006 and 2007, sold even fewer in 2008 (68,152), 2009 was absolutely dismal (45,612) and 2010 is showing a small increase (47,563). I pulled all these numbers from the Toyota corporate site.

I think the drop in sales was for dual reasons: 1) spiking gas prices really killed SUV sales and 2) the $700 slide in the stock market in October of 2007, which was the first sign for the general public that things weren't all hunky dory. 2008 was horrid across the board, with sales so low both GM and Chrysler had to beg for loans and eventually filed bankruptcy.

What are those numbers? Highlander or 4Runner sales? Your post is unclear.

08 wasn't horrid until Aug/Sept. Our plant was running pretty much full capacity until the end of the year when sales dramatically dropped off and inventory went through the roof. SUV sales originally tanked w/ Katrina in fall of 2005. Any spike after that was short lived and not nearly to the scale of the Katrina spike.

 

[SeattleMike]

What are those numbers? Highlander or 4Runner sales? Your post is unclear.

08 wasn't horrid until Aug/Sept. Our plant was running pretty much full capacity until the end of the year when sales dramatically dropped off and inventory went through the roof. SUV sales originally tanked w/ Katrina in fall of 2005. Any spike after that was short lived and not nearly to the scale of the Katrina spike.

I edited it to make clear those are Highlander numbers. I only went back to July 2006, but you can do your own search if you want the raw numbers. I'm too lazy to build a spreadsheet.

RE: the Katrina effects. We barely noticed a rise in gas prices here in the PNW due to Katrina's disruption of the crude oil supply, which was largely contained to the south & east region, but we rode the same wave everyone else did when gas rose to $4 a gallon from the $2.25 we were paying in 2006.

 

[SeattleMike]

The August sales numbers are out:

4RUNNER
8/10=3,833 vs. 8/09=1,004 for an increase of 297%
2010YTD=29,600 vs. 2009YTD=12,461 for an increase of 138.7%

What is most striking about this is that Cash for Clunkers was going on last year at this time and Toyota only sold 1004 4th gens. Contrast that to this year, when Toyota's overall sales are down 31.4% YoY but the 5th Gen is selling 3 times as many cars as the 4th gen did last year when you could get a subsidized bonus on your trade.

Did Toyota only have a thousand 2009MY 4Runners left to sell or is the economy better now than it was last year or is it possible that people actually like the 5th Gen better than the 4th ?

 

[BrianLSU]

Tells me there were many waiting for an upgraded 4Runner. I'm surprised how many I've seen around here. I've seen a TON on new GX's too, the 460's. More of those than the 4Runners. I bet their numbers are up this year too.

I live in a weird bubble though.

 

[SeattleMike]

I've seen a TON on new GX's too, the 460's. More of those than the 4Runners. I bet their numbers are up this year too.

The numbers for the GX are in the link, but they have sold 10,400+ YTD.

I live in a weird bubble though.

Don't we all.

 

[BrianLSU]

WOW, I would have thought 3x more GX's. Seems to be a 4 to 1 ratio around here.

I really like the GX's, but I do love my 4Runner. I would have paid a lot though for the butt fan in the GX.....

 

[Jed]

I thought it was common knowledge that sales numbers tend to decline as the generation ages. The last year of any generation is usually the poorest selling of any year.

This isn't rocket science!

Go look at the 2003 (1st year of 4th gen) versus the 2002 (last year of the 3rd gen) and compare those numbers :hello:

 

[Jed]

Oh, and don't forget that the 4Runner now has fewer direct competitors than it ever had in the past. Things like a true ladder frame and live rear axle used to be much more common than they are today, so a lot people who need/want that have very limited choices today.

 

[Jed]

Year: ..July.. .YtD.
2006: 9,346 64,212
2007: 6,676 50,870
2008: 3,107 30,228
2009: 1,055 11,457
2010: 3,814 25,767

Unless Toyota finds a way to sell another 75,000 4Runners in the next month or so, I'd say the first year of the 5th gen will only sell about 25% as well as the first year of the 4th gen. That speaks volumes to me, no matter how different things were seven years ago. It's still a massive drop in units and I wonder how happy Toyota is with their overall sales volume for the 4Runner. I think things may improve a little bit when the FJ is dropped and the choices are further limited.