Toyota’s Carter Says Global Politics Could Sink Sales; RAV4 Inventory Needed

DETROIT – The surge in U.S. light-vehicle sales will continue unless it is derailed by rising tensions in the Middle East, a top Toyota official says.

“What worries me is global politics,” Bob Carter, senior vice president-automotive operations for Toyota U.S., tells media here following an appearance at the Automotive Press Assn.

“What’s going on in the Middle East…may or may not affect fuel prices or consumer confidence,” he says.

Currently, the Obama Admin. is trying to convince Congress to authorize a military strike on Syria, claiming the Assad regime gassed more than 1,000 Syrians.

Last month, sales of new cars and light trucks in the U.S. reached a 6-year high of 1.498 million units, WardsAuto data shows. For Toyota, August was its best sales month by volume since May 2008.

“There’s plenty of inventory, record levels of new models coming out and the consumer is feeling pretty good,” Carter says of the surge in sales in the face of rising vehicle prices and fuel costs. “Unless something disrupts those three factors, we may not be (at a) 16 million (seasonally adjusted annual rate) next month, but it’s going to be in the upper 15s.”

Carter uses his APA appearance to announce Toyota will launch a new vehicle nearly every month over the next two years, declaring more than “two-dozen new, updated or hybrid Toyota, Scion and Lexus models” will debut globally during the next 24 months.

Carter says he’s feeling better about Toyota’s prospects than he did before the recession.

“I feel great today, even better than I did in ’05, ’06,” he says. “We’ve got great competition out there; we’re earning every sale.”

One area where competition is strong is compact cross/utility vehicles, a segment Carter believes will remain robust.

Toyota’s RAV4, redesigned for ’13, is in short supply at dealers and the auto maker is working to provide more units, both from North America and Japan plants.

The primary source of the CUV is Toyota’s Woodstock, ON, Canada, plant, though 50,749 of the 144,314 units sold in the U.S. so far this year were imported from Japan, WardsAuto data shows.

Carter reiterates a future goal, first reported by Automotive News, to achieve 250,000 annual RAV4 deliveries in the U.S.

“Not this year, maybe not next year, but 250,000 is (my) aspiration,” he says.

The RAV4 goal for 2013 is 200,000 units. The Honda CR-V is the best-selling compact CUV in the U.S. in 2013, with 207,645 sold through August.

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