A large number of companies currently produce vehicles in the United States, with Toyota, Honda, and others having substantial local production as well as their home plants. Toyota produced nearly 1.2 million vehicles in the United States from January 1-December 16, 2006, less than Honda (1.4 million) but more than Nissan (1.1 million) or any other company outside of GM, Ford, and Chrysler. Toyota’s North American production actually fell by about 26,300 vehicles. It is worth noting that nearly all vehicles built in North America by Toyota are made in the United States or Canada; only a small number of Tacomas (34,000 or so) are made in Mexico. By far the largest production is from the US.

The world’s largest auto company for 2006 and quite probably 2007 as well, General Motors, produced 4.30 million vehicles in North America from January 1 through December 16, a decline from 2005, when they made 4.47 million vehicles. Ford produced a total of 2.8 million vehicles, down from 2005’s 3.1 million. Chrysler Group made 2.4 million – down from 2.7 million, as the company spirals in the death grip of Daimler, and still roughly 600,000 more than they sold according to various reports; the company will reign in production further as its German masters attempt to grow sales with cost-cutting and brown-nose-based marketing.

The Toyota built in the largest numbers in North America is not surprisingly the Camry, with over 350,000 cars made so far this year in America (not counting 3,550 hybrids). The Corolla, now made only in Canada, is no longer #2 with about 160,000 compared with the Sienna’s 169,000 – a very high number considering that GM and Ford both gave up on minivans this year due to lack of sales. The Tundra, however, will probably shoot past both Corolla and Sienna next year, with the new Texas plant coming on line.

Overall, so far in 2006 (through Dec. 16), 7 million cars and 8.6 million trucks were made in North America.

We expect to have sales figures for 2006 next week, along with live coverage from the North American International Auto Show.

We’ve added more 1983 details throughout the site, and will be adding 1978 over the next week. At some point in January we will really start filling in the holes and getting more comprehensive coverage. As always, your help would be appreciated.

Road & Track’s February edition will cover Toyota’s 400 horsepower hybrid sports car – a vehicle we only heard of from that magazine’s impolitic posting of a future issue cover. (They broke the news of the new 600 horsepower Dodge Viper the same way.) The sharply angular car has a vague resemblance to the Celica, with sharper angles and slit headlights – and massive wheels sporting extremely low-profile tires. The “sports car of the future” shows Toyota’s latest direction in hybrid technology – using it to overcome engine lag.

According to Automotive News, Toyota is offering rebates and dealer incentives on several 2006 models through January 2. Rebates include up to $4,000 on Tundra and Sequoia; up to $3,000 on 4Runner and Highlander (except Hybrid); up to $2,000 on Sienna; up to $1,500 on Tacoma; up to $1,000 on Solara; and up to $750 on Corolla. Low financing rates are available in lieu of rebates in each case. Dealer incentives are up to $3,500 on Land Cruiser; up to $2,000 on Sequoia; up to $1,000 on Highlander Hybrid; and up to $500 on Avalon, Solara, and Tundra. (In each case, “up to” means “from nothing to.”)

Some may wonder what took us so long, but we finally have a page on the Sequoia. We’ll be adding repair tips and other information to it as time goes on. It is at http://www.toyoland.com/trucks/sequoia.html

We’ve just added a page on the Toyota Corona. It’s still fairly brief and we can really use your help to fill it out. If you had a Corona, we’d love to hear your experiences.