Toyota U.S. Sales In November Up 10% - Update

(RTTNews) - Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., a division of Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Tuesday said its U.S. vehicle sales in November rose 10 percent, as robust demand in the busy Thanksgiving period helped the sector as a whole.

"Industry sales in November picked up after Thanksgiving, contributing to the best sales pace of the year," said Bill Fay, Toyota division group vice president and general manager.

"Showroom traffic surged over the holiday weekend for Toyota, indicating good momentum that we expect to continue through the end of the year and into 2014," Fay added.

Toyota said its U.S. November sales rose 10.1 percent to 178,044 units from 161,695 units last year. The month had 26 selling days against 25 days last year. November sales increased 5.9 percent on a daily selling rate basis.

At its namesake Toyota division, sales rose 9.7 percent to 152,433 units from 138,976 units, while sales at Lexus segment climbed 12.7 percent to 25,611 units from 22,719 units last year.

Toyota's car sales improved driven by demand for Camry and new model Avalon, but was partially offset by soft demand for Toyota Prius, and Corolla. Car sales at Toyota division rose 4.5 percent to 80,464 units, as Avalon recorded more than a four-fold sales growth.

Lexus car division sales rose 11.6 percent to 13,901 units, as IS and ES sedans grew grew 99.8 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively.

Truck sales at Toyota division rose 16.1 percent to 71,969 units, with the help of strong sales of pickup truck Tundra, and crossovers RAV4 and Highlander.

Lexus truck sales improved to 14.1 percent to 11,710 units, as sales of crossover SUV Lexus GX and LX rose.

Commenting on the December sales, Jeff Bracken, Lexus group vice president and general manager, said, "December is traditionally one of the best sales months of the year for luxury car brands, and we're off to an early start with sales up 35 percent over the Thanksgiving weekend."

TM is currently trading at $123.17, down $0.93 or 0.75%, on the NYSE.