Toyota Motor is thinking of cutting the half of number of car models it sells at home by 2025, an individual informed on the matter stated – the 2nd time this month that a Japanese automaker has emerged with strategies to sharply scale back in a diminishing domestic market.
Vehicle sales in Japan have been on a decreasing trend for more than two decades as the population rapidly ages and young people are disliking car ownership. At the same time, global car manufacturers are progressively focusing their R&D efforts on electric cars and self-driving technologies.
Toyota provides about 60 car models in Japan, where customers demand range. But it aims to slowly cut that to about 30 by 2025 to make much better use of resources, the individual said, refusing to be recognized as he was not authorized to talk about this matter.
However even halved, the new domestic model portfolio would still beat the 25 models available in North America, Toyota’s most significant market.
The strategy begins the heels of Honda Motor’s announcement last week that it aims to end production at a domestic factory by 2022, slashing output in Japan by 24 percent to focus on electric cars and other technologies.
Toyota spokeswoman Akiko Kita refused to discuss product plans however stated the automaker was pursuing a number of methods to keep sales of at least 1.5 million Toyota-branded vehicles yearly in Japan. It presently sells around 1.6 million annually.
The domestic line-up for Japan’s No. 1 automaker consists of the popular Prius gas hybrid and the Aqua compact hatchback, versions which are also readily available overseas. It likewise offers lower-volume models, consisting of the Premio sedan, that are typically derivatives of other models.
“As Toyota starts to develop EVs for markets including China, Europe and the United States, they will likely concentrating on making models which can be sold both at home and abroad,” stated Yoshiaki Kawano, manager of Japan/Korea vehicles sales forecasts at IHS Automotive.
