Due to slumping worldwide auto sales, Toyota has officially abandoned its quest to grab a 15 percent share of the global market by 2010. Former Toyota president Fujio Cho set the 15 percent market share goal back in 2002, but the rapidly changing automotive industry has force Toyota to shift its targets.
Cho originally set the 15 percent goal to guide Toyota during its rapid expansion. At the time, Toyota owned a 10.8 percent share of the global market. However, Toyota’s goals have drastically changed over the last 12-months, with the Japanese automaker struggling to deal with mounting losses.
Akio Toyoda took over the helm as Toyota President last June and now focusing on cutting costs, not global expansion. “Our president doesn’t feel comfortable upholding figures as our vision,” an unnamed Toyota executive told Automotive News. “It is not the Toyota way to aim for 15 percent or 10 percent.”
Toyota’s global sales have slipped 26 percent this year, with General Motors threatening to regain the title of world’s largest automaker.
