NEW YORK: Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. ranked first in new vehicle sales in the United States in 2021, becoming the first non-American automaker to take the top spot on an annual basis, according to data released by a North American unit of the Japanese automaker on Tuesday.

Toyota and two other major Japanese automakers logged year-on-year sales growth as they suffered less impact from shortages of semiconductors than their US rivals apparently thanks to their solid procurement networks.

Toyota’s sales rose 10.4 percent from the previous year to 2,332,262 units, while General Motors Co. of the United States saw its sales drop 12.9 percent to 2,218,228 units.

GM had retained the first place for 90 years since it overtook US automaker Ford Motor Co. in 1931, according to US media reports.

Sales surged around spring last year at all surveyed automakers, recovering from the coronavirus pandemic-caused sales slumps a year before. In summer and later, semiconductor procurement difficulties reflecting a resurgence of the virus led to serious vehicle inventory shortages across the industry.

A senior official at Toyota Motor North America Inc. said that in-house divisions in charge of chip procurements and parts providers handled the problem of semiconductor shortages.

The official also said that overtaking GM in the US sales rankings is not a goal Toyota has been pursuing and that the Japanese automaker will unlikely retain the top position.

Among other Japanese automakers, Honda Motor Co. enjoyed an 8.9 percent sales increase, with the total standing at 1,466,630 units, thanks to brisk demand mainly for its large vehicle models. Sales of Honda’s mainstay CR-V SUV grew 8.3 percent. Nissan Motor Co. saw its sales go up 8.7 percent to 977,639 units.

JIJI Press