Toyota bounced back strongly from its recent recall related woes to record dramatic sales increases in the US and Japan last month.
US sales rose 41 per cent year-on-year from 132,802 to 186,863, while Japanese sales rose 51 per cent.
Toyota attributed this rise to new schemes and incentives introduced in the wake of the recall crisis. These include interest-free loans and discount leases.
Don Esmond, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales, USA, said: “Toyota’s strong sales performance in March reflects our customers’ continued confidence in the safety and reliability of our vehicles and their trust in the brand.”
However, the US Department of Transportation has announced it is fining the Japanese car company $16.3m (£11m) for failing to notify regulators about the accelerator problems sooner. It alleges a delay of up to three months between discovering the problem and acting on it.
Toyota has yet to say whether it will pay the fine - the maximum allowable for a recall offence - or contest it.
Andrew Papworth
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Re: Dramatic sales increase for Toyota
Toyotas sales are up, but so are almost everyone elses, in some cases by alot more.
In the UK, March sales for the following few brands were:
BMW: Up 5.26%
Toyota: Up 15.42%
Audi: Up 17.76%
Ford: Up 18.72%
Citroen: Up 21.11%
Alfa Romeo: Up 22.44%
Fiat: Up 33.85%
Mitsubishi: Up 42.95%
Nissan: Up 68.18%
Land Rover: Up 74.45%
Jeep: Up 100.72%
So really, are Toyotas figures that impressive??
Re: Dramatic sales increase for Toyota
Maybe but is it any better than a "boring" Kia with a 7 year warranty and slightly keener prices?
Re: Dramatic sales increase for Toyota