Toyota...Down?!?!?!

This can't possibly be true!

But nonetheless, is:

Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., today reported July sales of 224,058 vehicles, a decrease of 3.5 percent from July 2006.

"The industry stumbled this month, on continued housing weakness," said Jim Lentz, TMS executive vice president. "Though Toyota didn't match last July's record–setting sales, heightened demand for hybrids and crossovers is reassuring, particularly with the next generation Highlander just now hitting showrooms."

The Toyota Division posted July sales of 196,917, down 4.5 percent from last July. The Lexus Division reported best-ever July sales of 27,141 units, an increase of 4.9 percent.

Looks like the boogieman for this month will be 'housing weakness'. Let's take a closer look at the bad:

• The Avalon is very quickly becoming an also-ran in the segment, down almost 15% on the year.
• The Corolla FINALLY appears to be losing its legs. It only took 6 years.
• The Lexus GS continues to be mediocre in terms of sales- and look closely- a miniscule percentage of GS' sold are the V8 or hybrid versions.
• The 4Runner, Sequoia and Sienna are all in major need of redesigns.
• The Lexus trucks are in horrific sales shape.

On the plus side:

• The Camry continues to lead the way.
• The Prius is going absolutely nuts with its newfound capacity- surpassing 100k sales YTD this month.
• The Lexus LS is all of a sudden looking like a 40k a year vehicle.
• The Tundra continues to steamroll along, hitting over 23k in sales this month.

So, some good, and some bad. With a new Corolla in the wings, I doubt Toyota is all that concerned about that end of the market. Of more concern should be he doughy middle that is the Lexus lineup- the low end and the high end do great- but once you look at the trucks and the GS, things really start looking ugly.