The phrase “best ever” was used 13 times in Toyota’s press release detailing its sales for the month of January 2006. Let’s see if we can break it down for you. Toyota’s North American division had its best January ever thanks to records sales for both its Toyota and Lexus divisions. Toyota’s cars, light trucks and the Scion brand all had a record-setting month of sales in January. Lexus passenger cars also set a sales record last month, but the Lexus light truck division that includes the LX 470, GX 470, RX300 and RX400h was shut out of the party with a decline in sales of 15.1 percent over the same month last year.

One interesting note: 59 percent of the vehicles Toyota sold in North America in January were built in North America.

Check out the press release and Toyota’s unfiltered numbers after the jump.

[Source: Toyota]
Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., today reported best-ever January sales of 160,625 units, an increase of 14 percent over last year.

"The year's off to a respectable start, with hybrids and fuel-efficient vehicles leading the way," said Jim Press, TMS president and COO. "January's bright job-market outlook and the uptick in consumer confidence bode well for the industry, as do signs the economy has bounced back from the Gulf Coast hurricanes."

The Toyota Division recorded best-ever January sales of 140,967, an increase of 14.9 percent. The Lexus Division posted January sales of 19,658 units, up 7.7 percent over last January.

Toyota Division
Toyota Division passenger cars led the way with best-ever January sales of 77,638, up 11.9 percent. The Prius gas-electric hybrid mid-size sedan posted best-ever January sales of 7,654, up 37.5 percent.

Scion reported best-ever January sales with 10,701 units sold. The xB urban utility vehicle recorded a best-ever January with 3,836 units, up 13.6 percent. The tC sports coupe had best-ever January sales of 4,807 units, up 25.4 percent. The xA subcompact posted a best-ever January with 2,058 units sold, an increase of 19.0 percent.

Toyota Division light-truck sales reported a best-ever January of 63,329 units, an increase of 18.8 percent. The Tundra full-size pickup posted a best-ever January with 9,459 units sold, an increase of 8.5 percent. Sales of the Tacoma compact pickup truck recorded 12,410 units sold, up 31.5 percent over the same period last year. The all-new RAV4 posted best-ever sales of 9,382 units, a 120.4-percent increase. The Highlander Hybrid gas-electric mid-size SUV reported January sales of 2,263 units. Combined January sales of the Highlander and Highlander Hybrid totaled 8,748 units.

Lexus Division
Lexus passenger cars experienced a best-ever January with 10,979 vehicles sold, an increase of 36.9 percent. The all-new IS luxury sports sedans, which debuted in October, reported record January sales of 4,073 units, a 799-percent increase over last January. The IS 250 reported sales of 2,767, with the IS 350 selling 1,306 units. The GS 300 sedan posted sales of 1,699 units, a best-ever January, and a 291.5-percent increase over the same period last year. The GS 430 reported January sales of 279 units, a 310.3-percent increase over last January.

Lexus light trucks earned January sales of 8,679 units. The RX 400h luxury hybrid SUV reported January sales of 1,477 units. The RX 330 and RX 400h posted combined January sales of 6,189 units.

Sales of North American-built vehicles accounted for 59 percent of total January sales. There were 24 selling days both this month and the year-ago month.