It’s hard to believe we’ve already made it through the third quarter of 2022. That means a plethora of automaker sales statistics are flooding our inboxes, and a number of Toyotas have caught our eye. Exactly zero The bZ4Xs sold out in September, but it’s not because of a lack of buyer interest in Toyota’s first all-electric vehicle.
In June, we reported a recall issued by Toyota for the bZ4X. Something was causing the lug nuts to loosen, which could result in wheels that could come off. Toyota said about 260 vehicles were involved in the recall, matching the total number of bZ4Xs sold so far this year. At the time of the recall, Toyota said an investigation was underway to determine a remedy and advised owners not to drive these vehicles. This remedy is still under study, so no new bZ4X sales. The problem also affects the Subaru Solterra, but no Solterra had been delivered before the recall.
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Toyota also recorded nine Sequoia deliveries for September, although that’s also not indicative of customer demand. An all-new Sequoia debuted earlier this year to replace the seasoned model, but production didn’t begin until mid-September. The sales figures shown represent the dwindling stock of previous-generation models, and with bones dating back to 2008, we don’t blame buyers for holding out until the new SUV hits dealerships.
Despite these two shortcomings, Toyota ended September up just over 17%. Curiously, the strong performances of the Corolla and Camry contributed to the increase. Corolla sales rose 32% for the month and the Camry 45.8%, suggesting there is still a market for compact cars and sedans. Meanwhile, SUV sales were largely down, with the exception of the RAV4 which posted a strong 50.8% increase. Toyota truck sales also increased; 18.7% for the Tacoma and 11.2% for the Tundra. However, that’s still only a fraction of Detroit automakers’ pickup truck sales.
September was a positive month for the Japanese automaker, but overall year-to-date sales at Toyota are down 15.4%.
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