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Toyota Sets Sales Record For Third Year in a Row

6 January 1999

Toyota Sets Sales Record For Third Year in a Row; Camry Number-One Selling Car For Second Straight Year

    TORRANCE, Calif., Jan. 6 -- Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A.,
Inc., today reported best-ever year-end total sales of 1,361,025 vehicles, up
10.6 percent over the previous record of 1,230,122 set last year.
    1998 marks the ninth consecutive year that Toyota sold more than one
million cars and trucks, and the third year in a row that TMS set a total
year-end sales record.  It also was the second straight year that the Toyota
Camry earned the title of best-selling car in America, posting total sales of
429,575 units, up 8.2 percent over 1997.  Camry finished 1998 with the best-
ever month in its history with sales of 55,050, an increase of 24.4 percent
over the same period last year.
    "Timely easing of interest rates helped relieve financial market stresses
that emerged last summer, sustaining strong consumer confidence," said Yale
Gieszl, TMS executive vice president.  "Although there are indications of a
gradual slowdown in 1999, the sales surge in December fueled one of the
industry's best-ever year-end closeouts."
    Both the Toyota and Lexus Divisions posted best-ever year-end and December
sales.  Toyota Division's year-end total of 1,204,765 vehicles, up 6.4
percent, marked the fifth consecutive year that the Toyota Division alone has
topped one million units.  The Lexus Division's year-long sales blitz
increased its sales 60.1 percent, to 156,260, over 1997 numbers.
    Toyota Division passenger cars and light trucks reported best-ever annual
sales of 764,749 and 440,016 respectively.  The division also posted a best-
ever December with sales of 82,922 passenger cars and 38,949 light trucks.
    Corolla sales totaled 250,501, up 14.7 percent for the year, while Avalon,
Toyota's flagship sedan, was up 9.0 percent at 77,752.
    The Toyota Sienna enjoyed the best-ever December and best-ever year of any
minivan in Toyota's history with sales of 7,749 for the month, up 32.6
percent, and 81,391 sales for the year, up 436.2 percent compared to the same
period last year.
    4Runner was Toyota's top-selling sport utility vehicle (SUV) in 1998
thanks in part to a best-ever December with sales of 11,591, up 7.2 percent
over December 1997.  The Toyota Land Cruiser was up 92.0 percent, to 1,546 for
the month, marking its best-ever December and its best-ever year-end sales
total of 14,327, up 24.5 percent.
    The Lexus Division's record sales year was bolstered by a best-ever month
for the RX 300, its all-new mid-size luxury SUV, which posted December sales
of 5,696 and a year-end total of 42,191 units.  On-sale for only nine months,
the RX 300 closed out 1998 as one of the division's top-selling vehicles,
second-only to the ES 300 sedan which reported year-end sales of 48,644.
    The Lexus LX 470 full-size luxury SUV increased sales 62.2 percent to
11,004, compared to the same period last year, while the division's GS high-
performance sedans recorded combined sales of 30,622 for calendar year 1998,
an increase of 296.8 percent.
    Total Toyota sales of North American-built vehicles totaled 857,520,
representing 63.0 percent of total vehicles sold in 1998.  There were 307
selling days in 1998, which equals the number in 1997.