Some foreign auto makers and electric-car juggernaut Tesla Inc. likely surged ahead in U.S. sales in 2021, siphoning market share from Detroit, as a global computer-chip shortage dealt an uneven blow to the car business, the Wall Street Journal reported. Final U.S. sales tallies, scheduled to be released by most major auto makers later Tuesday, are expected to show that Toyota Motor Corp. finished as the top car company in annual sales for the first time, unseating General Motors Co. GM 4.33%, which has been No. 1 for decades. Overall, auto makers sold just shy of 15 million vehicles in the U.S. last year, according to a forecast from research firm J.D. Power. That total would be up slightly from 2020, when the onset of the pandemic hurt car sales for part of that year. But it is a sharp drop from the mark of 17 million vehicles that the industry had eclipsed for five straight years before that. Demand hasn’t been the problem. Vehicle sales set a blistering pace last spring as American car shoppers surfaced looking to spend their savings from lockdown on new wheels. But by summer, the chip shortage that had been hobbling factory schedules world-wide resulted in nearly bare dealership lots, curbing sales in the second half of 2021. Forecasters expect another muted year of vehicle sales, even though the chip shortage is expected to gradually ease in coming months. Auto executives have said it could take the entire year to substantially replenish dealership inventories, which likely will curtail sales despite what dealers say is strong underlying demand. (Subscription required.)
