The big Japanese automakers are happy to see 2011 in their rear-view mirrors.
The Detroit auto companies posted a double-digit sales increase for the year, but the big Japanese brands -- especially Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. -- were hamstrung by a series of natural disasters.
First, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March hit, and then, later in the year, flooding closed parts suppliers in Thailand, disrupting their global auto manufacturing and leaving them with too few cars for the American market.
Toyota saw its sales fall 6.7% to 1.6 million vehicles last year. Its sales in December grew by just a few hundred vehicles to 178,131 compared with the same month a year earlier.
Honda's annual sales fell 6.8% to 1.1 vehicles. Its December sales fell 19% to 105,230 vehicles. (Los Angeles Times)
The big Japanese automakers are happy to see 2011 in their rear-view mirrors.
The Detroit auto companies posted a double-digit sales increase for the year, but the big Japanese brands -- especially Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. -- were hamstrung by a series of natural disasters.
First, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March hit, and then, later in the year, flooding closed parts suppliers in Thailand, disrupting their global auto manufacturing and leaving them with too few cars for the American market.
Toyota saw its sales fall 6.7% to 1.6 million vehicles last year. Its sales in December grew by just a few hundred vehicles to 178,131 compared with the same month a year earlier.
Honda's annual sales fell 6.8% to 1.1 vehicles. Its December sales fell 19% to 105,230 vehicles. (Los Angeles Times)