Toyota eyes 9.42 million vehicles in '07

Toyota eyes 9.42 million vehicles in '07


Global production figure likely to vault automaker past leader GM
NAGOYA (AP) Toyota Motor Corp. announced Friday that it would set a
global production target of 9.42 million vehicles for next year,
increasing the odds it will surpass troubled General Motors Corp. as
the world's No. 1 automaker.

The latest figure, announced by Toyota in a written release, is a 4
percent increase on the 9.04 million vehicles it expects to produce
this year and easily clears the 9.2 million vehicles GM is estimated to
have produced this year.

GM has not stated a target for next year but has been forced to scale
back production recently, watching its market share eroded by Asian
automakers including Toyota, whose cars have a better reputation for
gas mileage.

Tsuyoshi Mochimaru, auto analyst with Deutsche Securities in Tokyo,
said the numbers weren't a surprise, given Toyota's recent
achievements.

"The growth highlights the fantastic reputation Toyota has won for its
cars," he said. "Toyota may need to set the next goal to keep its
motivation up if it becomes No. 1."

Although Detroit-based GM says the perception that its cars are
gas-guzzlers is unfair and inaccurate, it is undergoing massive
restructuring after racking up more than $ 10.6 billion in red ink last
year and $ 3 billion more in the first nine months of this year.

Toyota, on the other hand, is on a roll, reporting record profits,
keeping best-sellers like the Camry and Corolla fresh, and carving out
a reputation in hybrids, the vehicles that make use of both gasoline
engines and electric motors to improve fuel efficiency at a time when
oil prices are rising.

Toyota, which passed Ford Motor Co. as the world's No. 2 automaker in
2003, also painted a bright picture of sales in 2007. It expects to
sell 9.34 million vehicles globally next year, up 6 percent from the
8.8 million expected this year.

But Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe shrugged off the possibility
that his company may soon beat GM as No. 1.

"It just means the results came," he said quietly at a news conference
at a hotel in Nagoya, near its headquarters in the city of Toyota,
Aichi Prefecture.

Watanabe also said the company was considering adding another plant in
North America to keep up with growing demand, although he did not give
details.

Watanabe spent more time talking about how Toyota must strengthen
quality controls if it hoped to keep racking up good results.

Toyota has been plagued with rising recalls as it standardizes parts to
cut costs and develop and sell more vehicles at a faster pace.

Its challenge is to maintain its reputation for quality and customer
satisfaction at the same time it continues to rev up production.

"There will be no growth without quality," Watanabe said, adding that
quality will be closely monitored at all levels of production,
including design, development and procurement. "We'd like to continue
our efforts to make good products that win support from our customers."

Of Toyota's projected volume for next year, overseas production will
rise 8 percent to 4.27 million vehicles, while domestic output will
increase 1 percent to 5.15 million vehicles, the company said. The
projections include Toyota Motor Corp.'s subsidiaries, truck maker Hino
Motors, and Daihatsu Motor Co., which makes small cars.

Although Toyota's production methods, which empower assembly line
workers and trim inventory, are praised by experts, transporting that
production process to new places remains a challenge.

Toyota is opening new plants in Russia, Thailand and China next year to
keep up with demand.

In the U.S., the first Tundra pickup trucks rolling off Toyota's Texas
plant will arrive in showrooms in 2007, a sign of Toyota's ambitions in
a lucrative sector dominated by American automakers.

Toyota has used its flush coffers to purchase significant stakes in two
of GM's former Japanese partners -- Fuji Heavy Industries, the maker of
Subaru cars, and truck maker Isuzu. Toyota will even use Fuji's Indiana
plant to start making Camrys next spring.

GM used to be Fuji's top shareholder, but sold its entire 20 percent
stake last year to raise cash for restructuring. Toyota bought an 8.7
percent stake in Fuji for about $ 315 million to become the top
shareholder.

The Japan Times: Saturday, Dec. 23, 2006

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