Toyota Motor Corps top US sales executive is confident about growth prospects in the years ahead for the American economy and auto sales, once the industry gets past its current rocky stretch.
"If you look at the fundamentals of the economy, the U.S. population is going to increase by 32 million between now and 2020. That's equivalent to the populations of New Jersey, Maryland and Florida combined," Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, said on Tuesday. The ranks of affluent consumers are expected to increase faster than the population as a whole, he said in an interview.
"In the next decade, we'll see markets of 17 million-plus again."