Toyota Motor Corporation (TM) reported sales of 888,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Europe in 2014. This represents a 4.6% improvement over 2013, which is the fourth consecutive year-on-year increase in the continent. Toyota’s sales in Europe also surpassed the company’s target of 865,000 units.
Out of the total vehicles sold, 834,785 units belonged to the Toyota brand while 53,230 units were of the Lexus brand. The Lexus brand’s sales touched an all-time high in France, Norway, Poland, Russia, Israel and the Caucasus. The new Lexus NX compact premium SUV became quite popular with 5,700 units sold in three months and a waiting list of 10,000 vehicles at present.
Toyota’s market share stood at 4.8% in Europe at the end of 2014. The increase in sales in the continent was driven by a 20% surge in sales in Central Europe, while sales in Western and Eastern Europe grew by 4.2% and 2.8%, respectively.
Hybrid vehicles continued to gain popularity and contributed to 20% of the sales in Europe. In fact, 61% of the sales of the Lexus brand were contributed by hybrid vehicles. Sales of the Lexus brand hybrid vehicles surged 36% year over year to 32,655 units, driven by the popularity of the new IS hybrid and the CT 200h. Sales of the Toyota brand hybrid vehicles increased 9% year over year to 145,400 units in 2014.
Toyota currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the auto industry could consider better-ranked stocks like Advance Auto Parts Inc. (AAP), O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) and Douglas Dynamics, Inc. (PLOW), all sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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