Some new data covering the first three weeks of Toyota’s marketing purgatory shows Honda as the biggest winner as the workflow of car carriers shifts away from Toyota and Chevy. Toyota’s market share in the US fell from 17.5% in the first three weeks of 2010 to 12.1% from January 21 to February 14th. In that time frame, Honda was the biggest beneficiary, with its market share rising 1.1% to 11.7%.
Hyundai was almost as big of a winner in the winter of Toyota’s discontent, as it picked up 0.8% in market share and sister brand Kia picked up an additional 0.5%. Ford was up 1.1% during that period. The Detroit News piece didn’t give a firm figure for how Chrysler faired during the period, but Chevrolet was down 0.3%, being unable to capture market share at Toyota’s expense.
Toyota has lost about a third of its sales during its fall from grace, which will translate to a third fewer car haulers moving Toyota cars. Haulers used to making runs from the Georgetown plant will now have to start making runs from other factories. In addition, used cars transporters who were used to getting a steady flow of cars to take off of Toyota dealer’s hands to auctions are now going to have to look to other dealers for extra business.
We’re now seeing some of the disruptions caused by the Toyota recalls, many of which will be happening behind the scenes, as car transportation services have to adjust how they do business; smart transporters will be making new contacts.