Nearly nine months ago, executives at Toyota Motor North America were quietly marking the fact that Toyota and Lexus had collectively bested General Motors, ending a remarkable 90-year run by the Detroit automaker as the undisputed sales champ in the U.S.
Publicly, they were exceedingly humble about it — even if Toyota Motor Corp. CEO Akio Toyoda may have done "a little happy dance" over the achievement.
But it seems Crowns come and go for Toyota — the full-size sedan is coming back to the U.S. this fall for the first time since 1972 — and the Japanese automaker appears to be headed for its worst sales performance in the U.S. since the last time its supply chain was rocked by major disruptions in 2011.