Pattaya Daily News

Thailand, the 7^th of October 2010: The world’s biggest carmaker seeks to boost growth in emerging markets with the introduction of a vehicle designed to stimulate sales in the middle-class sectors of such developing countries.

“We have to enter the large-volume zone,” revealed Executive Vice President Yukitoshi Funo on Thursday. Already the leading manufacturer in Thailand, selling 197,959 vehicles through the first 8-months of 2010, Toyota lag behind rivals in fast-growing economies such as India and Brazil while adding cheaper alternatives into China is expected to help raise sales in the world’s largest auto market.

“We want to provide a car that is in reach of working people,” Funo said in Tokyo. Unlike Nissan Motor Co.’s March and Micra compacts designed for both developed and emerging markets, Toyota’s low-cost car will target “a newly emerging middle class” in developing countries, Funo said.

While pricing the new, cheaper car in the range of competitors’ low-cost models, Toyota won’t necessarily undercut rivals, rather providing “additional value” with car quality and after-service maintenance, Funo said.

At present, the Toyota Corolla brand is sold in 52 countries, and cumulative global sales have reached more than 36 million vehicles in the 44 years since its introduction, according to the company.

Meanwhile, Toyota Tsusho Corp., an affiliate of Toyota, has sold its share of a venture in Myanmar. Katsutoshi Yokoi, a Toyota Tsusho spokesman in Tokyo confirmed the stake sale, declining to comment on the timing or reason, citing an agreement with parties involved. The company, based in Nagoya, Japan, is 22 percent owned by Toyota Motor.

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