Every month, our intrepid leader over at Autoblog crunches every automaker's U.S. sales figures and dutifully reports how well each brand is doing. This month continues the trend of fuel efficient vehicles recording record sales and closely mimics the trend of gas-guzzlers going down the toilet. The two brands which best seem to mark the turning of the tides, so to speak, are Mini and Hummer. Mini's brand of small, sporty and fun to drive coupe's 5,211 sales represented an increase of 40.5-percent over June of last year. Hummer's downward spiral also continues, as its 2,072 sales represent a 54.2-percent decrease from one year ago.

Honda managed to set a monthly record in June by selling a total of 142,539 vehicles -- an impressive 17.9-percent gain -- while its arch rival Toyota sunk 10.3-percent for the month. Part of this contrast in sales can be attributed to the fact that Honda does not offer any full-size trucks or SUVs while Toyota's sales figures are burdened by the huge Tundra pickup and Sequioa SUV. The Prius hybrid sedan, down 25-percent, continues to be plagued by supply issues, though demand for the fuel efficient vehicle remains very high.

[Source: Autoblog]

As you can see from our categories list over to the right, GM and Toyota are the top two automakers we write about most often here on AutoblogGreen (as time goes by, the numbers will change, so I'll note them here for future readers: GM = 231, Toyota = 267) and that slight lead by Toyota is a hint of the big news from Toyota today: the Japanese automaker has, for the first time, outsold GM. The numbers are 2.35 million for Toyota, 2.26 million for GM. Those millions are the number of cars sold in the first three months of 2007.

If we based our understanding of this shift in the global auto market (GM's been in the lead for decades) on the news we read here on AutoblogGreen, then it'd be tempting to say it's because of Toyota's longstanding focus on emissions and fuel economy that's helped them move to the top of the leader board. The New York Times seems to agree, saying today that Toyota has "built a reputation for technological leadership as well, most notably with the Prius and other hybrid cars," which contributed to their gains. But an auto analyst interviewed on the BBC show The World (Jay Nagley) said this morning that Toyota's green image is mostly a US thing. Their production of quality cars, though, and the company's resulting popularity is a global phenomenon.

[Source: BBC, New York Times]