Toyota Motor Corp., attempting to rebound from record recalls, plans to extend no-interest loan and discount lease offers for at least another month and may make free maintenance standard for all U.S. buyers.
The company will announce its plans April 5, when its current incentives expire, Bob Carter, group vice president of Toyota's U.S. sales operations, said in an interview yesterday.
"We're looking at having a little bit different execution of complimentary maintenance. The feedback from customers has been very positive," he said at the New York International Auto Show. "What you will see us do is stay aggressive on the short term."
Toyota's March incentives probably helped boost its U.S. sales for the month at least 35 percent, Carter said. The world's largest automaker is working to repair its reputation after recalling 8.5 million vehicles worldwide to fix defects linked to unintended acceleration and to adjust brakes.
The company last month began offering Corolla, Matrix and Yaris cars, Venza wagons, RAV4 and Highlander sport-utility vehicles and Tundra pickups with no-interest loans of as long as five years. Its incentives also included lease discounts on models including Prius hybrids, as well as free maintenance for two years to repeat Toyota buyers.
The maintenance offer probably will be extended to first- time Toyota buyers, Carter said, without elaborating.
Incentive Spending
The Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker spent an average $2,242 a vehicle on incentives this month, a 45 percent increase from January, according to an estimate from research firm Edmunds.com.
The automaker's discounts are worth about 30 percent less than those of U.S. rivals, said Mike Michels, a Toyota spokesman. He wouldn't confirm the Edmunds.com figure.
The March sales increase for Toyota and Lexus vehicles "will be big; 35 percent is a floor," Carter said. "There's been speculation about the safety of our vehicles, but if consumers really felt that way I couldn't develop a marketing plan to sell around that."
The company has its U.S. sales headquarters in Torrance, California.
