Around the Net

Toyota Invades Germany

Toyota Motor Corp. lost the sales war to Volkswagen last year. But the Japanese auto giant is going after the German automaker in Germany.

Toyota is rolling out Europe’s first hybrid subcompact and the GT86 sports coupe this year to regain its footing and market share there after sales declined in the region by 41% since 2007. The Toyota City, Japan-based company will further bolster its European business by outfitting its vehicles with diesel engines from BMW starting in 2014.

“It’s unacceptable for Toyota to be at this volume level in Europe,” Didier Leroy, Toyota’s European chief, said in an interview. By cutting management layers to streamline decision- making over the past two years, “we made ourselves much leaner, much more agile. We strongly went for the fighting spirit in everything we do.”

advertisement

advertisement

Read the whole story at Bloomberg »

Next story loading loading..