Toyota Motor Corp, Japan’s top automaker, aims for global sales of at least 500,000 units for its luxury Lexus brand, helped by the new flagship LS sedan, its president said yesterday.
“We are discussing the sales target for next year internally, but I would like to sell at least 500,000 units next year,” President Katsuaki Watanabe told a news conference to launch the new Lexus LS460 sedan.
Sales for this year would likely total around 470,000 units globally, he added. In 2005, Toyota sold 396,200 Lexus vehicles worldwide, of which just 10,000 were in Japan, where MercedesBenz and BMW dominate the premium sedan segment.
Despite being the top-selling luxury brand in the United States, Lexus has fallen short of Toyota’s initial sales expectations in Japan since its launch in August 2005.
But Watanabe said he expected the new LS460, packed with world first features such as an eight speed automatic transmission and advanced safety technology, to spur a boost in Lexus sales at home and globally.
In 2006, Toyota expects to sell about 20,000 units of the new LS460 sedan globally half of that in Japan. The model will be launched in North America next month, followed by other markets.
A hybrid version of the car, the LS600h, featuring a newly developed hybrid system and 5-litre V8 engine, will be rolled out next spring.
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