Toyota Motor Corp on Monday said it expects a marginal revenue increase in the hugely competitive US market in 2008.
The Japanese automaker, which could replace General Motors Co as
the world's largest automaker when total 2007 sales are released later
this month, also unveiled its new 2009 Venza model, a crossover between
a sedan and sports utility vehicle, at the North American Auto Show in
Detroit.
Toyota sold 2.621 million cars in the US in 2007, surpassing Ford
Motor Co for second place behind GM. A spokesman said it expects sales
of 2.69 million vehicles in 2008.
On global sales, GM chief executive Rick Wagoner said Sunday the
battle for the world's largest automaker title would be "very close,"
according to Bloomberg News. GM has been the largest producer for 76
years.
Both GM and Toyota have also been working to outshine each other
with new commitments to environmentally friendly cars since the Detroit
show opened Saturday.
Wagoner on Sunday unveiled plans to bring 16 new hybrid models on
the market within four years and also announced it would buy a stake in
bio-fuel company Coskata Inc, a pioneer in efforts to convert waste
into cheap ethanol. In the hybrid battle, GM has focussed on developing
technology for cars with batteries that can be recharged from regular
electric sockets.
Toyota said it was committed to bringing plug-in hybrids on the
market by 2010. Toyota has so far focussed on gasoline-electric hybrids
like the world's best-selling Prius, but has recently turned its
attention to plug-ins along the lines of the plans laid out by GM.
Struggling US automaker Ford Motor Co meanwhile said it was on
track with its own recovery plans. Chief executive Alan Mulally said he
expected Ford to return to profitability in 2009.
Germany's automakers in Detroit all said they had high expectations
for 2008, though weak German and US markets meant the advances would
likely come from Asia and Eastern Europe. Volkswagen and Daimler
AG-subsidiary Mercedes Benz both said they expected record revenue in
2008.
Mercedes also expected to continue making gains in the United
States, and said it would turn its attention to smaller car models.
"We are thinking about what might fit between the Smart fortwo and
the A and B class," Mercedes Chief Operating Officer Rainer Schmueckle
told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Mercedes development chief Thomas Weber told dpa that high petrol
prices had also led the company to consider smaller engines in its
existing models.
