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Toyota buoyed by steady, strong demand

"Over the last several years, Toyota has been carrying out its strategy surely, rising one step at a time."

Nobuaki Yanachi, auto analyst at UFJ Tsubasa Securities

Back in the 1970s, workers at Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp were taught to never turn down an order because good times couldn't be counted on to last forever. These days, Toyota cars are in such demand, workers are exhausted just keeping up.

"My mentors didn't teach me how to solve this problem," president Fujio Cho said, adding that he looks forward to confronting them at the Gates of Heaven about today's challenges, including ways to spend money as good corporate citizens -- not just rake in profits.

"But I already know what they're going to say. They're going to say, `You idiot, go figure it out yourself,'" Cho said recently in Tokyo as he received the 2004 Asian Business Leader of the Year award from Fortune magazine.

The usually unpretentious Cho, who is being succeeded by another Toyota veteran later this year, was in a bit of a gloating mood -- and with good reason: Toyota is on a roll.

Toyota achieved an important milestone in 2003 by overtaking Ford Motor Co of the US as the world's No. 2 automaker in annual global vehicle sales.

The Japanese automaker, based in Toyota City, kept its No. 2 position last year. Although it's still early in the year and Toyota is not without its share of risks, it's expected to do the same this year and probably the next.

Toyota, which is targeting 15 percent global market share sometime after 2010, may even overtake Detroit-based General Motors Corp as the world's top automaker.

"Over the last several years, Toyota has been carrying out its strategy surely, rising one step at a time," said Nobuaki Yanachi, auto analyst at UFJ Tsubasa Securities Co in Tokyo. "It's in a stage now when it's preparing for its next big jump."

Last year, Toyota sold 7.52 million vehicles around the world, including its truck subsidiary Hino Motors Ltd and Daihatsu Motor Co Ltd, which makes tiny cars. Ford sold 6.80 million vehicles last year.

In 2003, Toyota's worldwide sales totaled 6.78 million vehicles, including Hino and Daihatsu, while Ford's sales stood at 6.72 million vehicles.

The Ford tally includes Lincoln, Mercury, Aston Martin, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover, but it does not include sales for Mazda Motor Corp, a Japanese automaker 33.4 percent owned by the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker.

At this pace, Toyota could overtake Ford on its own, even without Daihatsu and Hino. Toyota alone sold 6.07 million vehicles in 2003, and 6.71 million vehicles last year.

General Motors is still the world's No. 1 automaker, producing 9.1 million vehicles last year, up from 8.8 million in 2003.

Toyota has also consistently racked up solid profits in its core auto business. Toyota does not give group profit forecasts, but it earned ?1.16 trillion (US$11 billion) in the fiscal year that ended last March 31, a record high for the company.
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