By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Japanese automaker Toyota Motor (NYSE.) Corp will outsell General Motors Co. (NYSE.) in the United States by 2021. This would be the first American automaker to not lead U.S. sales in this country since 1931.

Toyota sold 1.86M vehicles in the United States during the first nine month of 2021 compared to GM’s 1.78M, just more than 80,000 cars. GM’s U.S. sales for 2020 totaled 2.55 Million, compared to Toyota’s 2.11million and Ford Motor (NYSE.) Co’s 2.04million.

A shortage in semiconductors has hampered the year, forcing carmakers to concentrate on more profitable models.

Automakers plan to release full-year U.S. Sales results for 2021 on Tuesday. According to Automotive News data, GM is the biggest seller of automobiles in America since 1931 when it overtook Ford.

Toyota doesn’t brag about its expected success. Jack Hollis, Senior Vice President of Toyota Motor Corporation stated in a statement that while the automaker was “grateful” to its customers, it is not “being No. 1, is neither a primary or secondary concern.”

Jim Cain, GM spokesperson, said that the Detroit automaker saw strong US sales in 2017 for full-size SUVs as well as pickup trucks. The company has been focusing on profitability and sales will rise as semiconductor supply increases.

If I were Toyota, I wouldn’t hurry out and get a “We’re No. 1” tattoo. He said that he would not rush to get a ‘We’re No. 1’ tattoo.

Mary Barra is the Chief Executive Officer of GM. She has stressed profitability more than volume and abandoned markets that were losing money like Europe or Russia.

Jessica Caldwell from Edmunds Auto Analyst said Toyota will surpass GM in 2021, “unless Detroit pulls off a miracle.” But she added “it’s unlikely that this is indicative of a long-term shift” and noted GM sells more brands than Toyota.

Cox Automotive predicted that Toyota would outsell GM all through 2021 in America: “Toyota managed to keep its inventory tight all year.”

Cox Automotive predicted that U.S. sales of new vehicles in December would be 32% lower than December 2020. That’s the slowest rate since May 2020, when America was almost closed for the duration of the COVID pandemic.

Analysts predict that the United States will see around 15 million cars sold by 2021. The five-year U.S. average vehicle sales of 17.3 Million between 2015 and 2019 will not be met.

IHS Markit predicts that U.S. sales will reach almost 15.5 Million in 2022. This is an increase of 2.6% over the level projected for 2021, which was approximately 15.1,000,000 vehicles.

The prices of autos have increased dramatically in recent years, according to buyers. Edmunds reported that the average price of a new vehicle transaction was $45,872 in November — up from $39,984 for November 2020. Edmunds predicts that used vehicle prices will exceed $30,000 for the first-time in 2022.

IHS Markit projected that worldwide sales of new light vehicles would reach nearly 82.4million in 2022. That’s an increase of 3.7%. However, sales for 2021 are only expected to grow by 2.9%, compared with 2020.