Toyota 2005 Annual Report Download - page 12

10 >PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
1,000
500
1,500
2,000
’01 ’02 ’03 ’04 ’05
0
Operating Income
FY
% of net revenues (Right scale)
(¥ Billion)
6
3
9
12
0
(%)
highly, I see our performance as a stepping stone on our way toward even more
ambitious targets.
Although Toyota rewrote performance records, the outlook remains challenging.
We face a range of internal and external issues, including the need for prior invest-
ment to respond to the worldwide demand surge, hikes in raw materials costs, and
currency exchange rate fluctuations. Given the opacity of the business environment
and the investment and operational costs that are now needed to drive the
Company toward a new growth phase, I will redouble efforts to heighten manage-
ment efficiency and maintain solid growth.
[ACHIEVEMENTS ]
“Further globalization and localization pushed consolidated
overseas vehicle sales past the 5-million-unit milestone. ”
➤Looking back over the year, the Japanese economy recovered mildly due to better
corporate earnings and an increase in employment. Overseas, the business climate
was generally favorable, with the United States enjoying higher private-sector
capital investment and consumer spending, while Asian economies upheld
vigorous growth. As a result, demand continued to rise in automotive markets
worldwide.
Against that backdrop, Toyota worked to realize products that provided even more
satisfaction to customers the world over. In Japan, we claimed 44.5% of the market
excluding minivehicles—our largest-ever share—by fully remodeling mainstays and
by actively bringing new models to market. Overseas, in Thailand and six other
countries we started up production of the IMV (Innovative International Multi-
purpose Vehicle) series. Offering premium quality, comfort, and affordable prices,
the lineup sold briskly. In North America, Toyota targeted young customers by
launching sales of Scion-marque cars across the United States. Meanwhile, our plant
in Mexico began rolling out pickup trucks. In Europe, our plant established with
PSA Peugeot Citroën started building small passenger cars in the Czech Republic.
In China, Toyota moved operational expansion up a gear, initiating local produc-
tion of the high-end Crown sedan and jointly establishing a vehicle production and
sales company with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. As a result of those
bold initiatives to develop our global operations, consolidated overseas vehicle sales
cleared the 5-million-unit mark for the first time.
In addition, worldwide sales of hybrid vehicles soared as they won ever-greater
numbers of fans among customers the world over. In fiscal 2005, we shipped
approximately 151,000 units—2.5 times more than in the previous fiscal year.
Moreover, Toyota began overseas deployment of two SUVs equipped with the latest
hybrid systems, following the vehicles’ March 2005 debut in Japan. We are
committed to further enriching our hybrid lineup because we see hybrid systems as a
core technology that will underpin next-generation environmental measures.