Toyota to sell more small cars in China

Oct. 6, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Japanese auto maker Toyota Motor Corp plans to increase the proportion of its small cars in China to boost its overall sales, sources reported, citing a Toyota spokesman in Beijing.

Earlier this year, the Chinese government implemented a series of favorable policies to boost the country's vehicle consumption, including a halving of the purchase tax on smaller cars, to 5%.

Toyota said it did not respond quickly to the increasing demand for low-emission cars in small cities and rural areas, which led to flat China sales in the first half of this year.

In the first quarter of this year, Toyota's China sales even declined 17% year on year to 125,743 units while major rivals like General Motors Corp and Nissan Motor Co posted robust growth in quarterly sales in the world's largest auto market.

However, Toyota's vehicle sales rose 43% in August from a year earlier to 67,000 units, and its sales in the Jan-Aug. period increased 9% year on year to 415,000 units.

Toyota plans to achieve stronger sales growth in China by selling more small cars. It will also add its China dealerships to around 590 by the end of this year from about 500 in early August.