Toyota Introduces Upgraded GM Cavaliers for Japanese Market

08/27/96

Kyodo reported that Toyota's Toyota Technocraft subsidiary announced on Friday that it has introduced upgraded versions of GM's right-hand-drive Cavalier in both the sedan and coupe models.

Toyota Technocraft will outfit the new vehicles with automatic folding side mirrors, rear spoilers and emblems. Dual air bags and an antilock braking system already come as standard equipment on the Cavaliers.

The new 2.4-liter TRD Cavalier coupe will retail in Japan for 2.29 million yen, up 240,000 yen from the standard issue Cavalier coupe, which sells for 2.05 million yen. The new sedan and coupe will be marketed through a network of about 1,000 Toyota-affiliated dealerships across Japan. Toyota Technocraft has prepared 100 each of the re-styled Cavalier models.

Toyota Technocraft gets the Cavaliers from a GM plant in Rosetown, Ohio, where they are manufactured. The Cavaliers are sold with a Toyota badge under a special arrangement between the two automakers.

Cavalier sales totaled only 6,703 vehicles in the January-July period, falling well below the rate necessary for Toyota to reach its stated sales goal of 20,000 Cavaliers by the year's end. The introduction of the upgraded Cavaliers is most likely a strategy to add fuel to Cavalier sales.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel