Tim Esterdahl | Jan 06, 2014 | Comments 7

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The 2013 sales year has ended and Toyota says the Tundra has pretty much kept pace with the rest of the market. Is that a win or a loss for Toyota? Here’s our take.

Before we debate the results of the year, let’s remember, it has been a year of change for the Tundra. The truck was officially revealed the first of February and the new trucks hit the dealers lots throughout the fall. As a consequence, sales were up and down throughout the year with the anticipation of the new truck and there were whispers of a supply problem of 2014 trucks in August and September.

Officially, here is how the year ended with our unique sales chart that shows numbers per brand, not broken out by model. (BTW, tell us whether you like this chart or not).

Before we get to Toyota, we have to mention the really strong year that Ford and Ram had. Also, it is interesting that GM was down quite a bit in December (actually, overall GM was down 6.3 percent for the month – yikes!). Lastly, we see Nissan and Honda had a so-so year.

For Toyota, you can look at the numbers several ways (aren’t statistics fun!). Focusing on the Tundra, for December, the truck sold 10,988, +7.2 percent and for the year, 112,732 units sold – + 10.9%. With these numbers, you could argue that:

The year was a WIN – they kept pace with the larger truck makers. Also, even though critics initially panned on the new truck, the truck sales didn’t tank as much as they made it seem.

– they kept pace with the larger truck makers. Also, even though critics initially panned on the new truck, the truck sales didn’t tank as much as they made it seem. The year was a LOSS – with all the other makers seeing much larger gains, Toyota actually lost sales. We mean, you could argue with the Ford, Ram and GM each being 15% and over, Toyota lost sales with only being at 12%.

Of course, the sales numbers are really about bragging rights. The facts are that Toyota has never really challenged the “volume” numbers of the other makers, yet they have really held their own in the full-size truck market without many fleet, a diesel or an HD offering.

What do you think? Was 2013 a “win” or a “loss?”

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