Toyota in new quest to shake up car market
TOYOTA will rock the South African mass car market next month with the introduction of an affordable, locally built sedan based on the last-generation Corolla, Toyota South Africa Motors chief executive Johan van Zyl said this week.
Toyota’s creation of a new budget car category, known in the industry as a sub-C category, will challenge importers of popular Korean vehicles, which are already struggling with steep currency-related inflation. The new vehicle could be what the industry needs to come close to matching last year’s car sales.
While Van Zyl would not confirm pricing other than to say part of the strategy was a “very attractive” price, sources in the retail sector said the car – to be called the Corolla Quest – was likely to retail at about R170 000.
Toyota spokesman Leo Kok confirmed that the company was plan- ning to launch “an aggressively priced C-segment volume model in the second quarter of the year”.
Toyota and Volkswagen have enjoyed great success locally with stripped-down versions of previous-generation models in production for years, most notably the VW Citi Golf, the Polo Vivo, and the Toyota Tazz.
Van Zyl would not comment on projected volumes, but retailers and financial services executives are expecting the car to do well, some go- ing so far as to say it could match sales of the current Corolla, which would essentially double Toyota South Africa’s C-segment volumes.
Van Zyl said the car, to be built at Toyota’s factory in Durban, would come with airconditioning, electric windows, ABS brakes, twin airbags and a 1.6-litre engine, making it “a C-segment car at a B-segment price”.
The car had been re-engineered and would also be exported to other African markets, he said.
“What we have seen is that people want space and, with the 1 600 motor, we think this offers good value.”
Wesbank chief executive Chris de Kock said that the launch of the car was “good news for Toyota and good news for consumers”. The company was “doing another Conquest”, he said, referring to the car which became the Tazz.
“I understand that the pricing is going to be very aggressive and this will improve the competitiveness of a marketplace that’s already very competitive,” he said. – BDLive