Toyota-Scion Aiming for 2 Million Sales in U.S.
The auto maker hopes to hit the mark in two years’ time, increasing its market share to more than 13%.
November 14, 2012
Toyota is targeting sales of 2 million Toyota- and Scion-brand vehicles annually in the U.S. by 2014, a top executive says.
Bob Carter, senior vice president-Toyota Motor North America, reveals the goal in a presentation to a Barclays automotive conference in New York webcast via the Internet.
“In terms of the Toyota Div., given our momentum and strong new product introductions this year, we’re forecasting consistently improving sales over the next few years,” Carter says.
Toyota Div. also is aiming for a 13%-plus market share by 2014, up from 12.9% through October, the executive reveals. Deliveries through October stood at 1.54 million vehicles, about 370,000 units ahead of the same period year-ago, WardsAuto data shows.
It has been five years, since Toyota and Scion combined for more than 2 million deliveries in the U.S. The 2007 sales tally was 2.29 million, which included 2.16 million Toyota-brand vehicles. But the recession, Toyota’s unintended-acceleration recall crisis and the Japan earthquake and tsunami sunk deliveries in ensuing years.
Carter reiterates Toyota’s contention that the brand’s 2012 success is not based solely on it getting its inventory levels back up to snuff following the earthquake and tsunami.
Camry sales, which WardsAuto reported last month to be tracking above 400,000 for the year, as well as strong demand for the Prius hybrid lineup, are behind much of Toyota-Scion’s 30.7% sales increase this year, he says.
From late 2011 to early 2013, the No.1 Japanese auto maker slated 19 new or updated models for launch in the U.S. across all three of its brands, including Lexus. The Lexus ES, Scion FR-S and Toyota Avalon are among the 2012 debuts.
Next year, Toyota will roll out five major new models, Carter says, including the high-volume RAV4 cross/utility vehicle, debuting this month at the Los Angeles auto show. An all-new Corolla compact car also is due in 2013.
Meanwhile, Carter says the recall announced today affecting 670,000 second-generation Prius models sold in the U.S. from 2004-2009 is “truly a voluntary recall,” launched after Toyota discovered issues with the steering system’s intermediate extension shaft and the car’s hybrid-system water pump.
Toyota says “insufficient hardness treatment” could cause the splines connecting the extension shaft to the gearbox to deform over time, if the driver frequently turns the steering wheel hard and fully to the left or right at low speeds.
Some 350,000 of those same second-generation Priuses also may need their electrically driven water pumps replaced. The pump’s electric motor may stop working, causing the hybrid system to shut down while the car is in motion.
Toyota also reveals it began exporting Venza CUVs from its Georgetown, KY, plant to South Korea last month. Initial plans call for shipment of 600 Venzas per year. The auto maker already exports Indiana-built Sienna minivans and Kentucky-assembled Camry sedans to South Korea.
Toyota’s exports from the U.S. have risen 52% this year to more than 130,000 units, an all-time high.
You May Also Like
