Toyota guns for top spot, lines up global expansion
Toyota is aiming to sell 9.8m vehicles globally in ’08, the company’s president said on Wednesday, as the booming Japanese automaker quickens its pace to overtake General Motors as the world’s No 1.
By Agencies |
TOKYO: Toyota is aiming to sell 9.8m vehicles globally in ’08, the company’s president said on Wednesday, as the booming Japanese automaker quickens its pace to overtake General Motors as the world’s No 1.
The announcement by Toyota Motor president Katsuaki Watanabe comes at a time when money-losing General Motors is scaling back production to focus on restructuring its business. Toyota sold 8.13m vehicles worldwide in ’05, and is set to sell about 8.85m vehicles this year, including sales from subsidiaries, truck-maker Hino Motors and Daihatsu Motor, which makes small cars, it said in a statement.
Toyota motored past Ford as the world’s No 2 automaker in annual global vehicle sales in ’03. GM sold 9.2m vehicles worldwide in ’05, the second-largest volume in the company’s history.
A major reason for Toyota’s success has been its reputed image for fuel-efficient cars like the Prius hybrid, Corolla compact and the midsize Camry, the best-selling model in the US for eight of the last nine years.
Toyota’s share of the American market continues to grow, mainly at the expense of US makers General Motors, Ford Motor and the Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler AG.
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According to figures released by Detroit-based GM earlier this month, the American automaker produced 9.05m autos worldwide in ’05. Watanabe declined to give a vehicle production target for ’08 but said the number may be slightly higher than the sales figure.“We are aiming for steady growth through strengthening all our operations,” he told reporters at a Tokyo hotel, adding the manufacturer hopes to strengthen quality control, expand overseas production and cut costs. When comparing GM and Toyota’s earnings, the contrast is even more striking, as consumers turn away from trucks and sport-utility vehicles to smaller cars delivering better mileage amid soaring gas prices.
Strong sales helped lift Toyota’s profit by 39% in its fiscal first quarter ended June 30 to yen371.5bn ($3.1bn; euro2.5bn). In contrast, General Motors lost $3.4bn (euro2.7bn) in the same quarter as it took major charges in its North American restructuring programme.
Toyota revised its parent earnings forecast upward Wednesday to a yen500bn ($4.3bn; euro3.4bn) profit, up from its initial forecast for profit totalling yen380bn ($3.3bn; euro2.6bn) and also above the yen283.6bn earned in the fiscal year ended March 31.
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Toyota, which does not give a consolidated earnings forecast, changed its projected fiscal ’06 sales to yen5.5 trillion.Download
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