Toyota North America to Target Fleet Operators

Although Toyota Philippines has been successfully serving fleet transport operators for years now (which is practically its bread and butter), it looks like its North American counterpart is finding the niche a bit of a tough nut to crack.

As US automakers struggle to hit their sales targets, Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. (TMS) attempts to focus more on rental car companies and other fleet operators in search of a numbers boost. In terms of total deliverables to rental companies and other fleets, Toyota’s numbers are down by about 20 percent for the first six months of the year. The news was relayed by Toyota’s CEO of North American operations, Jim Lentz.

"A lot of our fleet sales are backloaded into the second half," Lentz said at the recent grand opening of Toyota’s new North American headquarters in Plano, Texas. "We’re confident we’re in good shape for the rest of the year."

North America’s vehicle sales slow down

American vehicle manufacturers sold fewer cars and trucks for each month of 2017 compared to the previous year. If the trend continues for the rest of the year, the entire industry could face its first annual drop since 2009.

The continuing drop delivered a huge blow to the sales numbers of the Japanese brand—Toyota has been hit harder than most carmakers as buyer demand shifted more toward sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and less on sedans like the Camry, America’s number one selling passenger car for 15 years running.

Toyota’s output fell 3.6 percent through June, much lower than the 2.1 percent decline the industry experienced as a whole.

Toyota has lost market share over the last two years as demand for SUVs grew.

Sales to rental car companies and other fleet brands make up a small number of Toyota’s overall sales compared with fellow Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor and other American and Korean brands.

Toyota’s fleet sales numbers amounted to just 219,700 in 2016, which makes up a mere 9 percent of its total.

Lentz remains optimistic

Despite what can be considered as ‘dismal’ numbers for Toyota, Lentz has a brighter outlook for the second half of the year as it pushes its output of RAV4 crossovers from its plants in Canada and Japan. Lentz predicts that Toyota will reach 400,000 total sales in 2017, enough to outperform the Camry.

Along with the RAV4, TMS will also boost production of its other SUVs the Highlander and Sequoia, as well as its Sienna minivan.