Toyota surpasses Daimler Chrysler in US market share
Toyota Motor Corp sold more cars in the US than DaimlerChrysler AG in US in 2006. Toyota sold 2.54 million new vehicles in the US last year to secure a 15.4 per cent share of the market.

It is now second only to General Motors Corp, with a 24.6 per cent share, and Ford Motor Co., with a 17.5 per cent share. (See: Ford prepares to cede US turf to Toyota in early 2007)

Toyota and Honda Motor Co are rapidly becoming market leaders in the US as consumers in the country now prefer smaller, more fuel- efficient cars and light trucks over large sport-utility vehicles.

Regular gasoline averaged $2.57 a gallon at the pump in 2006, 13 percent more than in 2005, according to weekly US Energy Department surveys.

Toyota's shares rose 1.6 per cent to close at 8,090 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
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US manufacturing rebounds
Manufacturing in the US is seeing a resurgence and construction spending fell less than expected sending signals that the worst of the economic slowdown may be over.

The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose to 51.4 in December from 49.5 in November 2006, when activity contracted for the first time in more than three years.

Spending on construction dropped 0.2 per cent in November after a 0.3 per cent drop in October that was smaller than originally reported, the Commerce Department said today in Washington.

The figures suggest the economy will extend the five-year economic expansion into 2007, weathering a slump in housing and a factory decline that weakened growth in the past three quarters.

The dollar rallied and stocks initially advanced before erasing most of their gains after minutes of the Federal Reserve's meeting last month showed central bankers were still concerned about inflation.

The Fed on 12 December, 2006, kept its benchmark interest rate at 5.25 percent for a fourth straight meeting, and forecast a moderate pace of growth over coming quarters.
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