Toyota Motor on Wednesday revealed a new model of its Corolla that will be assembled in Venezuela, marking an intense note for a local vehicle market having a hard time to make it through amid the country’s deep economic recession.
Toyota stated it was presently producing 20 units monthly of the brand-new Corolla, which will be sold only in Venezuela, and expected to raise production in 2018. Business executives acknowledged that demand for vehicles in Venezuela has fallen gradually with the crisis.
“We know the present state of the market,” said Toyota Venezuela president Hiroyuki Ueda at an interview to present the new vehicle. “However, we have overcome challenges, we have a new Corolla – and this is for us a reason for celebration.”
The once-thriving Venezuelan automotive sector went from selling nearly 500,000 units a year in 2007 to about 3,000 vehicles in 2016, as per the country’s auto industry association.
Toyota’s present facility in Venezuela employs 1,100 personnel and has capability of 22,000 units annually but is presently assembling just 100 units monthly and anticipates to close out 2017 with output of only 1,200 units.
Near 100 multinationals stay in the nation with operations at a minimum because of the absence of basic materials, resulting mainly from a lack of dollars caused an inefficient currency control system.
Numerous automakers including Toyota sell vehicles in dollars, a practice the government restrict for most items but has particularly approved for the auto industry in order to permit them to import assembly parts without getting into the exchange controls.
