VOA标准英语2010年-Decline in Toyota Sales Gives Rivals B

U.S. sales of Toyota vehicles declined nearly 9 percent in February, the first full month since the Japanese automaker suspended sales and recalled 8.5 million cars for accelerator problems.  Although the concerns about the safety of Toyota's vehicles are likely to benefit Toyota's rivals, analysts³ say when the dust finally settles, Toyota, the world's largest automaker is likely to remain just that.

Despite one of the largest auto¹ recalls in history, several congressional hearings, and more than 50 accidental deaths linked to sudden acceleration⁴ - Toyota still managed to beat sales expectations.

Jessica Caldwell is senior analyst² at online auto advisor⁵, Edmunds.com:

"The truth of the matter is, they're still the third largest automaker in terms of volume in the United States," said Jessica Caldwell.

Instead of the double digit⁶ declines many were expecting, Toyota sold more than 100,000 vehicles in the U.S. last month, only about nine thousand fewer than for the same period last year.

But with pent-up demand expected to boost worldwide sales in 2010, Toyota's problems have been a boon⁷ for rivals. 

U.S.-based Ford⁸ saw a 43 percent surge in February.

"As soon as the news about the recall hit, we saw a lot of interest in Ford, which isn't necessarily a natural competitor for Toyota," she said. "I would say that the other two big winners were Honda, obviously, that's Toyota's natural competitor and also Hyundai, the Korean automaker that has done a lot in the past year and has really benefited from Toyota's misstep."

"This is as bad as it gets for an auto company," said Clarence Ditlow.

Auto safety expert Clarence Ditlow says Toyota's missteps have been costly⁹ because it waited too long to act.

"It's not a lost cause but its an uphill battle," he said. "Toyota has to bat a thousand [be perfect] for the next year."
 
While many questions remain about the exact cause of the acceleration problems that led to worldwide recalls, Caldwell expects Toyota sales will rebound¹⁰.

She says the Japanese automaker has already launched an aggressive campaign to regain¹¹ lost business. 

It is also positioning itself to play a larger role in China.

"I think everyone is clamoring for dominance in China so I think everyone sees that as really a crucial market, the next big market out there," said Caldwell. "So of course whatever happens in China is really going to affect what these automakers do on a global scale."

Total vehicle sales in China soared 45 percent last year, overtaking the U.S. as the world's biggest auto market.

Although Toyota hopes to expand sales in China to 800,000 vehicles this year, it continues to lag behind the competition. 

General Motors, for example, sold nearly two million vehicles in China last year.
 

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 acceleration   

n.加速，加速度

参考例句：

• All spacemen must be able to bear acceleration.所有太空人都应能承受加速度。
• He has also called for an acceleration of political reforms.他同时呼吁加快政治改革的步伐。

5 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

6 digit   

n.零到九的阿拉伯数字，手指，脚趾

参考例句：

• Her telephone number differs from mine by one digit.她的电话号码和我的只差一个数字。
• Many animals have five digits.许多动物有5趾。

7 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

8 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

9 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

10 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

11 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。