General Motor's and Toyota were the two publicly traded companies within the same industry that were selected by Team Excel. Both companies had extreme opposite fiscal years based upon operating profitability, asset utilization and risk management.
Toyota, on the coat tails of General Motors to become the world's No. 1 automaker, documented a group net profit of 426.8 billion yen ($3.6 billion) in the three months ended Dec. 31, 2006 up from 397.6 billion yen the same period the previous year. Quarterly sales soared a substantial 15.2 percent to 6.15 trillion yen ($51.2 billion) from 5.33 trillion yen a year ago, as the modified RAV 4 sport utility vehicle and Camry mid-sized sedan sold diligently in North America, and desire was secure for the Yaris compact in Europe. According to reach, Toyota's numbers are extremely strong; net profit and sales have reached outstanding records. Toyota, has a reputation for reliable, fuel-efficient cars, has received a large jump from the rise in oil prices. It also is a leader in producing hybrids, which use electricity and gasoline. Toyota has long beaten struggling General Motors Corp. in profitability, but it still trails GM in annual global vehicle production. GM its group automakers produced 9.18 million vehicles worldwide in 2006 ? about 162,000 vehicles more than its Japanese rival. However, the Detroit-based GM plans to shut 12 factories in North America by 2008 in response to declining demand for trucks and sport-utility vehicles while Ford Motor Co., which reported a third-quarter loss of $5.8 billion, is eliminating 38,000 jobs.
Toyota's U.S. sales have gained 12.5 percent compared with an 8.2 percent drop for General Motors. Worldwide, the Toyota group increased sales 8 percent to 6.61 million vehicles in the first ...