Toyota Motor Corp. has increased its 2012 industrywide forecast for U.S. sales of cars and light trucks to the 14 million unit range from 13.6 million, citing rising consumer confidence.
"We're starting to see improvement in consumer confidence, and combined with rising fuel prices and aging vehicles, the market is starting to move," Bob Carter, Toyota's group vice president for U.S. sales, told reporters Thursday at the New York International Auto Show. "It's happening quicker than anyone thought."
Sales of light vehicles in the U.S. rose 13 percent in first quarter to 3.47 million. Toyota, Asia's largest automaker, followed Ford Motor Co. in boosting its 2012 forecast to between 14 million and 14.5 million. On Wednesday, Ford projected that U.S. vehicle sales, including medium- and heavy-duty trucks, would total 14.5 million to 15 million, up from its previous estimate of 13.5 million to 14.5 million.