Toyota Will Likely Reduce its Offerings in the Near Future

If you think the move by Ford to discontinue all sedans and only offer us trucks and SUVs is a rash one, so does the team at Toyota.

Instead of pulling a full-on Ford move, the Toyota team is taking a hard look at the models that don’t seem to be making an impact on the market in North America. This means we may see fewer Toyota models in the near future, which could also mean fewer Lexus models that will make their way to the dealerships as well.

Numbers Just Don’t Lie

When you look at the sales numbers for this year when compared to only a year ago, a clear story unfolds. The light truck divisions of Toyota rose 6.8 percent for the month of October while passenger cars took a hit of 7.2 percent. When you expand the numbers to take a look at the entire calendar year so far, trucks are up 7.7 percent and cars are down 11.1 percent. This is enough of a split to make the leadership at Toyota take a hard look at what they offer and which models might need to receive the proverbial ax.

The Toyota Models that are Safe

Those that wear the Toyota badge that will likely continue include the Camry, Corolla, and Avalon. The Toyota 86 will likely stay in the market as well, even though the sales for this model are down by 40.4 percent because this model is a serious PR model for the brand. For the Lexus brand, the LC, LS, ES, and IS will likely remain on the market because the three latter models have seen impressive sales increases over the past year to be some of the models that make sense.

Which Vehicles Will Receive the Boot?

For the Toyota brand, the first to go will likely be the Yaris hatchback, because most of the Yaris sales we see are now for the Yaris sedan. This model, regardless of body style, is already down 79.4 percent when compared to the sales from only a year ago. The Lexus models that will see the end will likely be the RC, which is more affordable than the LC but never received the following needed and the GS. The GS sedan is one that has only seen sales that are a tiny fraction of the rest of the models on the market.

When Will These Changes Take Place for Toyota?

Right now, we have no date to confirm when Toyota will make these changes, or that these models will actually be dropped. These are the most likely candidates for being deleted from the market to allow these brands to experience excellent sales boosts and no longer have the expense of building vehicles that don’t sell at a rate that makes them profitable. We’ll have to keep an eye on the lineup offered by Toyota and Lexus to see if the models mentioned will be gone from the market in the future.