Toyota eyes 20 percent global sales growth

Japan's biggest carmaker Toyota said on December 22 it would aim to boost global sales by a fifth next year, seeking growth in emerging markets to counter sluggish demand in the crisis-hit developed world. A dismal 2011, which saw sales shrink six percent, means the Japanese giant is unlikely to retain its spot as global top dog and will be overtaken by General Motors and Volkswagen.
The forecasts come weeks after Toyota more than halved its full-year net profit outlook as it grapples with a strong yen, the impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and flooding in Thailand which hit supply chains.
But the company is hoping for a bumper 2012 both at home and abroad, setting ambitious sales and production targets. The automaker expects to sell 8.48 million Toyota and Lexus units world-wide in 2012, up from 7.05 million in 2011, and plans to boost their global production by almost a quarter to a record 8.65 million vehicles, rising to 8.98 million in 2013.
A turbulent 2011, when the global economic slowdown also hit the firm, is expected to show group domestic sales - including subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino - slumped 19 percent, with a 24 percent fall in Toyota brand sales.
Toyota spokeswoman Amiko Tomita admitted the 2012 global production target was an ambitious one, and would beat its current record of 8.53 million units for the Toyota brand, which includes Lexus, set in 2007 before the onset of the financial crisis.
The 2012 global sales target of 8.48 million would also be a new record, beating the current largest sales of 8.43 million in 2007, she said. Toyota said it wanted to further boost its sales in 2013, with a target of 8.95 million units in the year.
The car giant has been at the top of the global automakers' tree by sales for three years after overtaking GM, but looks set to be knocked off its perch.
GM sold 6.79 million vehicles in the first nine months of the year, up 9.2 percent on the year earlier and on target for more than nine million for the full year if it can maintain the pace, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
Volkswagen saw its sales jump 14 percent to 7.51 million for the first 11 months of the year and is eyeing a year-end figure in excess of eight million units.
Toyota's 2011 production was hampered when supply chains were shattered in the wake of the huge tsunami that swamped north-east Japan, while massive flooding in Thailand added to the production gloom.