Toyota CEO Jim Lentz Speaks at N.Y. Auto Show

Toyota’s Jim Lentz, President and CEO of Toyota spoke about the auto maker at the 2012 New York International Auto Show. Here is a quick recap of what he said according to torquenews.com.

While admitting that 2011 was a challenging year, he said that there were many accomplishments including:

• The Toyota Camry remained the top selling car in America for the 10th straight year.
• The Tacoma became the most popular small pickup.
• The Corolla was named the best-selling compact car.
• The Sienna became the best-selling minivan for the very first time.
• Predictably, the Prius remains the top-selling hybrid, not only in the U.S., but the world at large.

He also noted that 2012 was off to a good start with sales up 13 percent so far. To keep this sales momenteum going, the plan is to hold dealerships at 1,500 nationally and sparingly use incentives.

While sales are improving, the current trend of building more vehicles domestically seems to be continuing.

“We continue to build cars where we sell them. Within the last six months, we opened a 2,000-job plant in Mississippi to build Corollas,” Lentz said. “We announced plans to expand Highlander production in Indiana, RAV4 production in Canada and transmissions in West Virginia. We’ll have more announcements on local expansion and job creation in the future.”

This trend has resulted in more than 70 percent of the Toyota vehicles are built in the U.S. And of those, more than 75 percent of the component content is American made.

He also said that the company is working hard to overcome the recent recalls. While this is a drain, Toyota is once again ranking as the best in nation for quality, according to J.D. Power, and in consumer perception, as defined by Consumer Reports.

What’s next?

He said that Toyota, Prius, Lexus and Scion are working on:

• They are fine-tuning combustion engines and reducing vehicle weight to increase mileage and lessen emissions.
• Advanced solid-state and metal-air batteries are in development that “greatly exceed” the performance of today’s lithium ion cells.
• Toyota is pursuing the use of more carbon-neutral, eco-plastics made in part from plants for interior components of vehicles.
• Also in development is a zero-emission, hydrogen fuel cell vehicle slated for release during 2015.

“Our goal is to create a variety of vehicles for the future that can run on gas or other fuels and then let CONSUMERS determine what works best for them. Whichever way consumers decide to go, we strongly believe that hybrids will remain a core technology because our hybrid systems can easily be adapted to other powertrains to further conserve energy.”

He closed by saying, “We strongly believe that we have ALL the ingredients to make 2012 a break-out year for Toyota and we’re in a great position for even STRONGER growth in the future,” Lentz proclaimed. “It’s not about being the biggest in the world; it’s about being the best for our customers all around the world.”

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