Carisma Advertising Appointed Toyota Agency for Mexico

December 7, 2001

MEXICO CITY - Toyota Motor Sales de Mexico announced Thursday the appointment of Carisma Advertising as the ad agency that will design and develop the advertising strategy to reinforce its entrance into the Mexican market, planned for the second quarter of 2002.

Carisma Advertising is a strategic alliance between Guillermo Flores Kanchi, President of Flores Kanchi Publicidad, based in Mexico City and Ad Americas, an agency located in Los Angeles and specializing in the Hispanic market. Ad Americas is a subsidiary of David-Elen Advertising and is directed by Mark D. Davis. Its current accounts amount to 35 million dollars and it has 33 employees. Some of its most important clients are: Toyota (for 16 years), McDonalds and Safeway.

Flores Kanchi Publicidad was founded in 1994 and has 21 employees and accounts with a value of six million dollars. Some of its important clients are Camiones y Motores International, Girosol Corp., in the U.S., and Laboratorios Wyeth, S.A. de C.V., among others. In addition, Flores Kanchi has a previous experience in the automotive industry due to having worked with Ford and General Motors.

"Carisma Advertising is a young agency, which combines experience, wide knowledge of the Mexican market and great creativity. We are very pleased with this decision," affirmed Jose Luis Sanchez Andion, General Director of Toyota Motor Sales de Mexico. "Additionally, by choosing a Mexican agency, Toyota reaffirms its worldwide tradition of working and promoting the resources of the countries where it operates," added Sanchez Andion.

Guillermo Flores Kanchi stated: "We are in the process of Total Immersion into Toyota's philosophy so we can develop a deep knowledge of the brand's attributes, values and its products, in order to communicate them to the Mexican market."

Toyota Motor Sales de Mexico was established last May to implement the sales and service operations of Toyota in Mexico. Since then, Guerra Castellanos y Asociados (GC&A) was appointed as its Strategic Communication Agency.

Toyota Motor Sales de Mexico (TMEX) is a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Sales which is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota in the U.S. Toyota ADRs are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Toyota and its subsidiaries produced more than 5.8 million vehicles worldwide in calendar year 2000. Toyota vehicles are manufactured in 25 countries and are renowned for their quality, reliability and value.

Toyota is the third largest vehicle manufacturer in the world and the fourth largest maker of vehicles in North America, producing more than one million cars and trucks in five North American plants in 2000.