Toyota’s South Korean chief executive has revealed that the company is considering a new plan to export vehicles from Europe to the Asian nation.
In a recent interview with Reuters, Tommy H. Nakabayashi, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Korea, confirmed the company is “studying” a plan to export some vehicles from Europe to South Korea. The plan would be a shift from Toyota’s currently strategy of selling mostly Japanese-made vehicles in Korea.
As with most automakers based outside of Korea, Toyota has a very small presence in its neighboring country. However, Toyota is aiming to increase its Korean sales 160 percent to 13,000 vehicles, while the company’s Lexus luxury brand expects Korean sales to grow 90 percent to 8,000 units.
Exports from Europe will help Toyota to those goals, but the Japanese automaker will also rely heavily on exports from the United States. Toyota currently sells U.S.-made Sienna minivans and Camry sedans in South Korea, with the latter expected to account for as many as 6,000 sales.
