Toyota to Expand Business in the East Coast

General Motors may be sitting at the top for the moment but the surging Toyota is closing the gap between them fast. There are experts in the auto industry who pointed out that Toyota may overtake General Motors by the end of the year. And if one looks at the sales figure for the past two months, it is easy to see why they see that happening.

Toyota has posted record breaking sales for the month of January and February. While General Motors posted an improvement for the month of February, they still have to counter Toyota's skyrocketing rise of popularity among American car buyers. And recently, Toyota announced that they will be expanding their reach into the East Coast after making the West Coast their hotbed.

According to the new report from the AIADA, Toyota will be focusing on the Northwest, the Eastern Seaboard, the Rocky Mountains, and some big cities in Southeast states like Florida, North and South Carolina, and Mississippi. According to Jim Lentz, the Executive Vice President of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc, “those areas have the highest opportunity for growth”.

The markets in the aforementioned regions are expected to grow at a fast rate just like Toyota's market in California did. This shows that the Asian brand is intent in its goal to become the largest car manufacturer in the world. With California serving as their main market, the emergence of these new markets will greatly increase the number of vehicles that Toyota will sell in the near future.

It can be remembered that Toyota announced that they expect to grow as much as seven percent every year. This means that the expansion of their market in the East Coast is an effort to achieve their goal. While Toyota is aiming to expand their market, the company maintained that they will not be adding any more dealerships. Instead, the company is giving incentives to existing dealerships across the country. The incentive comes in the form of additional units of Toyota's more famous models like the Toyota Prius and the Toyota Camry - both of which was proven to be fast sellers.

This incentive scheme is under Toyota's Image USA II architectural plan. The plan is centered on dealerships to undergo renovation by the year 2010. The plan is to improve the showroom of their dealerships and those who have undertaken the proposed renovations will be given an increased allocation of fast selling Toyota models.

Recently, the division reported that they have polled 100 dealers which have undergone the proposed renovation. The poll showed that the dealerships which have upgraded their showroom improved their sales by an average of 26 percent compared to the 14 percent improvement average of all Toyota dealerships in the U.S.

With the ongoing expansion, Toyota is poised to dethrone General Motors as sure as it has beaten Geo vehicles with its Geo cold air intake in terms of sale.