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Jan. 4 (UPI) — General Motors saw a 41% increase in year-over-year sales during the fourth quarter, surpassing Toyota as the high-selling vehicle maker in the United States, according to sales figures released Wednesday.
The Detroit-based automaker sold 2.27 million vehicles in the United States in 2022, an increase of 2.5% over 2021. That included a 41.4% increase during the final quarter.
Toyota’s U.S. vehicle sales amounted to 2.1 million in 2022, a 9.6% drop from 2021.
This comes after the Japanese auto giant surprised analysts and beat out GM by 114,034 vehicle sales in 2021.That marked the first time since 1931 GM did not top the list.
Toyota executives blamed supply chain problems for the company’s fall in the rankings, particularly when it comes to semiconductor chips.
Honda seems poised for the biggest sales decline in 2022, according to analyst Cox Automotive.
GM continues to lag behind Toyota as far as all-electric vehicle sales, having moved away from hybrids. Sales of EVs accounted for only around 2% of all of GM’s sales for the year.
The news comes a month after a Toyota-led consortium to develop a hydrogen fuel cell-powered pick-up secured British government funding.
The Hilux hydrogen-powered pick-up will be developed at Toyota’s plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire, Toyota Manufacturing U.K. Managing Director Richard Kenworthy said in a statement announcing the funding.
In October, GM announced it was launching a new business unit that would offer everything from solar panels to electric vehicle charging stations for homes, as well as connections to the grid. The new business line called GM Energy will offer a laundry list of clean energy options, from solar products to cloud management tools and charging stations.
GM gained 2.56% on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, closing at $34.69 while Toyota was up 0.60% in early Thursday trading on the Japan Exchange Group.
