Toyota Motor Corp.
TM,
has for the first time overtaken General Motors Co.
GM,
as the U.S.’s top-selling car company in 2021, a change driven largely by a global computer-chip shortage that dealt an uneven blow to the car business.
The Japanese automaker, which for decades has worked to expand its presence in the U.S., outsold GM by roughly 114,000 vehicles in the full-year 2021. Toyota’s total U.S. sales of 2.3 million were up about 10% compared with 2020, the company said Tuesday.
By contrast, GM reported a nearly 13% slide in results for a total of 2.2 million vehicles sold in 2021, as the semiconductor shortage took a bigger toll on its manufacturing operations and left dealers with fewer vehicles to sell. GM had been the no. 1 auto-seller in the U.S. for decades.
Other foreign automakers and electric-car juggernaut Tesla Inc. also surged ahead in U.S. sales in 2021, siphoning market share from Detroit, according to company reports and analyst forecasts.
An expanded version of this story appears on WSJ.com.
Popular stories from WSJ.com:
