Toyota Motor U.S. April Sales Slip 4.5%, Scion sales for April increased 41.5%

Japan-based auto manufacturer Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. (TM) announced a 4.5% fall in its April sales from last year led by lower truck sales. On an unadjusted basis, sales grew 3.4%.

The company’s April sales slipped 4.5% to 217,700 from the year earlier month. The Toyota Division’s sales fell 2.7% to 194,350 units for April, while Lexus Division’s sales dropped 17.1% to 23,350 units over the year-ago month.

Commenting on the April sales number, Toyota Motor Sales president Jim Lentz said, “Smaller vehicles are going over big. With oil prices at record levels, compact cars and hybrids continue to lead the way.”

Passenger cars at the Toyota Division witnessed 7.2% growth in sales to 121,097 units in April from the same period last year. The company attributed passenger-car sales to the growth led by Camry that recorded sales of 40,016 units in April. Similarly, Camry Hybrid’s sales increased 40% to 6,678 units from April 2007. The company added that its Prius hybrid gas-electric mid-size sedan witnessed 53.8% increase in sales of 21,757 units, while Yaris achieved 45.9% rise in sales to 11,434 units over the previous year month.

But the light truck sales in Toyota Division slipped 15.7% to 73,253 units. The company added that its Tacoma mid-size pickup with sales of 15,587 units led the light truck sales, while the Tundra full-size pickup achieved sales of 13,350 units. Toyota said that Highlander and Highlander Hybrid recorded combined sales of 10,008 units during the same period. The Highlander Hybrid gas-electric mid-size SUV generated sales of 2,578 units, whereas Sequoia recorded sales of 2,675 units representing 24% growth over the same period last year.

The company’s Scion sales for April increased 41.5% to 11,260 units. The xB urban utility generated sales of 4,220 units, while the tC sports coupe, in its fourth model year, recorded sales of 4,119 units and the xD reported best-ever sales of 2,913 units.

Passenger cars at the Lexus segment delivered 22.1% lower sales at 13,766 units. Its ES entry luxury sedan recorded sales of 5,439 units, while the IS entry luxury sport sedan’s combined sales were 4,550 units. The LS flagship luxury sedan achieved combined sales of 1,992 units and GS luxury sport sedan’s combined sales were 1,568 units for April.

Light trucks sales slipped 8.6% to 9,584 units from the year-ago month. The all-new LX 570 achieved sales of 799 units, representing an increase of 207.3%. The RX luxury utility vehicle’s combined sales were 7,160 units, while the RX 400h hybrid luxury utility vehicle delivered 8% more sales at 1,624 units for the same period.

Toyota Motor Sales’ hybrid vehicle sales jumped 42% 32,841 units. Of this, Toyota Division sales were 31,013 hybrids, while Lexus Division accounted for sales of 1,828 hybrids.

Among others in the industry, Ford Motor Co. (F), the third largest U.S. automaker, said Thursday that its April U.S. vehicle sales dropped 12.2% from a year ago, hurt by weaker sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles amid higher gas prices and the ongoing slump in consumer confidence. Lower sales to daily rental companies also contributed to the sales decline, the automaker said.

The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker, which was displaced by Toyota as No.2 U.S. automaker last year, said it sold 200,727 vehicles in April, down 12.2% from 228,623 vehicles sold in the same month last year. For March, the automaker had reported a 14.3% drop in U.S. vehicle sales.

Total U.S. car sales for April fell 1.0% to 79,913 units from 80,732 units a year ago, while total U.S. truck sales dropped 18.3% to 120,814 units from 147,891 units last year.

Sale of Ford brands fell 10.5% to 165,997 units in April from 185,553 units a year ago. Mercury sales dropped 26.1% to 12,910 units in April from 17,481 units last year, while Lincoln sales slipped 12.6% to 10,340 units from 11,832 units a year earlier.

Another major player, General Motors Corp. (GM), the world’s largest automaker, said its April U.S. light vehicle sales fell 16.2% to 257,638 units from 307,554 a year ago.

Currently, shares of Toyota Motor are trading $1.10 or 1.08% up at $102.60.

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