2003 Toyota Tacoma on 2040-cars

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Ford barely edges surging Chrysler for Canadian sales crown in best year ever

The auto industry in the US showed strong results through much of 2014 with sales regularly growing year-over-year for many brands. That same trend carried over in the Great White North, as well. Canada posted its best numbers ever with 1.85 million units sold, up about 100,000 vehicles over 2013. The country nearly had a new market leader, too. The big winner among our neighbors to the north in 2014 was Ford with 291,951 vehicles sold, up 3 percent from 2013, according to Reuters. That success also handed the company the sales crown for the fifth consecutive year. In large part, the strong result came from the company's popular trucks, which represented about 80 percent of overall sales. "Ford moved into the number one position in September and didn't look back," said a note to clients by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants quoted by Reuters. However, the Blue Oval didn't exactly take an overwhelming lead for the year. The company nearly had to hand over the sales trophy to FCA after the company rallied in the latter part of the year. The Italian-American conglomerate had its best results ever to nip at the Ford's heels and move 290,004 units for 2014, a 12-percent improvement from last year. Jeep especially helped the bottom line with over 50-percent growth, according to Reuters. Only two other brands were able to break the 200,000-vehicle barrier in Canada for 2014. General Motors came in third place overall with 249,800 sales, up 6.3 percent. The combined Toyota and Lexus also barely jumped the hurdle with 200,851 units moved, a 2.8 percent improvement.

2015 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro

Despite the earnest efforts of Japanese automakers like Toyota and Nissan, the American pickup truck scene remains wholly dominated by the likes of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. This is not news. Part of the reason is because of the sheer number of variants offered by US automakers - everything from work-spec base trucks to house-leveling heavy duty models can be had, with a seemingly endless combination of engines, cab sizes, bed lengths and trim levels. It's a hugely profitable business, and though the Japanese automakers still offer competitive fullsize trucks, in terms of sheer volume, they simply don't compete.
But American pickups aren't just about work; there's a huge play aspect involved, too. Look at the desert-storming Ford F-150 SVT Raptor or the Ram Power Wagon - these butch trucks are built with superb off-road prowess in mind, and Detroit's Japanese rivals have once again largely been silent in this segment. Until now.
Introduced at the 2014 Chicago Auto Show, Toyota now offers the TRD Pro series of models that, in addition to the crazy-orange Tundra seen here, includes the smaller Tacoma pickup and 4Runner SUV. And this isn't just some pretty appearance package, either - there's honest-to-goodness capability baked into all of the TRD Pro models. Intriguing, for sure, so I recently spent a weekend with the big boy Tundra to see what's what.

VW was 2018's top-selling automaker — but

TOKYO — Volkswagen Group has held on to its position as the world's top-selling automaker for the fifth year in a row, although the German group was edged out again by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance in the light-duty vehicles segment. Renault SA, Nissan Motor Co Ltd and Mitsubishi Motors Corp together sold 10.76 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in 2018, according to Reuters' calculations after new data released on Wednesday. The group doesn't sell heavy trucks. Nissan said on Wednesday it sold 5.65 million vehicles last year, down 2.8 percent on the year. Mitsubishi reported an 18 percent rise in sales to 1.22 million units while Renault sold 3.88 million units, up 3.2 percent on the year. Volkswagen's deliveries rose 0.9 percent to a record 10.83 million last year, including its MAN and Scania heavy trucks, the German company said earlier this month. Excluding heavy trucks, it sold 10.6 million units. Toyota Motor Corp retained its third spot, announcing on Wednesday that it had sold 10.59 million vehicles last year including its Toyota and Lexus brands, along with minicars made by subsidiary Daihatsu and light and heavy trucks produced by its truck division Hino Motors Ltd. Excluding Hino trucks, Toyota sold 10.39 million units last year. The automaker has said it expects to sell a total of 10.76 million vehicles in 2019. Many automakers are trying to boost sales volumes to achieve economies of scale and reduce costs amid soaring investments needed to develop next-generation technologies, including self-driving cars and electric vehicles. This has been a focus of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors group, which is looking to share more vehicle parts and consolidate production platforms to trim R&D and manufacturing costs, while raising profitability. The alliance, which brought Mitsubishi Motors into its fold in 2016, is currently in crisis with its former Chairman Carlos Ghosn arrested and indicted on charges of misconduct. Nissan has also been indicted, and Renault appointed new top management last week. Related Video: Earnings/Financials Mitsubishi Nissan Toyota Volkswagen