Toyota to Focus on East Coast, Northwest, Rocky Mountains

Washington DC March 19, 2007; The AIADA newsletter said that Automotive News reported that Toyota is moving away from California and the heartland in order to focus on the Northwest, the Eastern Seaboard, the Rocky Mountains, and some big cities in the Southeast in order to maintain its rapid growth.

"Those areas have the highest opportunity for growth," says Jim Lentz, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. He expects those markets to grow at the rapid rate Toyota has achieved in California in recent years.

Despite an ambitious growth plan of 5 to 7 percent annually, Toyota is sticking to its philosophy of not adding dealerships.

To fuel growth, Toyota is giving incentives to dealers to build larger stores under its Image USA II architectural plan. The incentive is an increased allocation of hot models, such as Priuses, Camrys, and FJ Cruisers.

Toyota Division expects all dealers to renovate their showrooms by 2010 under Image USA II. Nationwide, Toyota Division polled 100 dealers who had upgraded their stores. Those stores reported sales growth of 26 percent. Nationwide, Toyota sales were up about 14 percent.