Toyota Motor Corp has increased incentives to lure buyers but its US Toyota brand chief vowed on Friday that high resale and residual values will be maintained. Bob Carter, Toyota brand sales chief in the United States, said higher incentives including a current program offering zero-interest financing does not signal a change in business strategy for the world's biggest automaker.
"Our position on incentives has not changed. We use it as part of our strategy to address the competitive marketing environment and the inventory," Carter told reporters on the sidelines of a J.D. Power & Associates auto industry conference.
Carter admitted that Toyota went from incentive levels that are about a third of the industry average to two-thirds of that average. Incentives lower the price of a car or truck but generally cut into profit margins for the automaker.