Toyota Motor Corp. set a 2010 goal of regaining most of the U.S. market share lost in the past two months after global recalls of 8 million vehicles damped demand, the No. 2 U.S. sales executive said.
The target would be as much as 16.7 percent of new-car deliveries, said Don Esmond, senior vice president of Toyota's U.S. sales unit. That would be the same level as in 2008, and less than 2009's 17 percent, when Toyota trailed only General Motors Co., according to industry researcher Autodata Corp.
Esmond's plan would require a rebound from Toyota's U.S. share of 13.4 percent through February. With inventory replenished after the recalls, he said, no-interest loans and lease discounts helped boost sales through the first 10 days of March by about 40 percent over a year earlier.
"We did stumble, but I don't think we fell to the ground," he said in an interview yesterday before a meeting with dealers in Troy, Michigan. "There's a fine line between taking responsibility and getting back to business."
Recouping sales in what had been the automaker's largest market is pivotal to the Toyota City, Japan-based company's bid to recover from recalls to fix flaws ranging from unintended acceleration to braking software. The world's biggest automaker reported an 8.7 percent U.S. sales decline in February.
Industry Boost
Toyota's incentives may push industrywide deliveries this month to an annualized rate of 12.5 million units, consumer pricing Web site Edmunds.com said yesterday. That would be the fastest pace since August, when the U.S. government offered trade-in incentives for buyers.
Esmond said Toyota expects as many as 11.7 million light vehicles to be sold in the U.S. in 2010. That compares with a 2009 total of 10.4 million, according to Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata.
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