November 30 2009
Contrasting fortunes for Toyota, Hyundai across the Sea of Japan
Last month, I blogged about Toyota opening for business in Korea. A little over a month later, for all Toyota’s woes elsewhere, sales are going well. In October, Toyota beat a (admittedly conservative) target to sell 500 Prius, Camry sedans and RAV4 SUVs each month in Korea, despite sales not starting until Oct. 20. As of today, Toyota said it had received orders for 6,600 vehicles. That means, subject to most of those orders being completed, the Japanese automaker has achieved its annual sales plan for Korea in less than six weeks. (The figures exclude Lexus, Toyota’s luxury marque, which has been on sale in Korea for several years).