Toyota and Scion inventories reach record highs

We’re used to reading stories about the Detroit 3 suffering from inventory problems but when unstoppable Toyota suffers a blowout you start realize just how badly the state of the economy and the car industry in general is doing. Inventory levels for Toyota and its Scion brand have risen to record highs because of poor predictions from the usually accurate carmaker about how much the U.S. market would decline this year.

The number of unsold cars sitting on dealer lots has swelled to more than 376,000, up more than 100,000 vehicles since the middle of last year. Toyota cites the decline in sales of SUVs and pickups as the key reason for the poor result, reports Automotive News.

The average time it takes to sell a Toyota and Scion has also risen to 58 days as opposed to an average of 44 days since 2000, however this figure is still significantly lower than those of GM, Ford and Chrysler. At the same time Toyota has still been achieving record sales and some dealerships can’t get enough vehicles.

Toyota even has 9,700 vehicles in the U.S., mostly Tundra full-sized pickups, Sienna minivans and Sequoia and 4Runner SUVs that have been turned down by dealers and are sitting idle at ports around the country.