Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. vehicle sales fell in 2010 while industrywide sales rose 11 percent and every other major automaker reported gains. Ford Motor Co. moved up to second place behind only General Motors Co.
Ford displaced Toyota as No. 2 in the U.S. with 1.97 million vehicles sold in the year, up 17 percent from 2009, compared with Toyota's sales of 1.76 million cars and trucks. GM retained the top spot with U.S. sales of 2.22 million vehicles, an increase of 7 percent. Deliveries in December accelerated to the fastest pace of the year.
Toyota recalled more than 8 million vehicles worldwide last year, mostly for flaws related to unintended acceleration, with the majority occurring in the U.S.
"The black clouds from Toyota's recalls just don't seem to go away," said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends for Santa Monica, California-based auto pricing website Truecar.com. "Brand loyalty isn't what it used to be."
