The Toyota Blog

WORLDWIDE SALES OF TMC HYBRIDS TOP 5 MILLION UNITS

• 5,125 million hybrid vehicles sold since the launch of the first hybrid
• 18 new hybrid vehicles planned by December 2015
• 34 tons of CO2 and 12 million kiloliters of fuel saved by hybrid vehicles

Toyota City, Japan - Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announces that cumulative global sales of its hybrid vehicles topped the 5 million unit mark as of March 31, 2013, reaching 5.125 million units1.

• New position to compliment responsibilities as President and CEO of Toyota South Africa Motors
• Executive powers over one of the fastest growing continents
• New structure in step with Toyota’s stated goals of strengthening the company’s management structure and achieve the goals set by the Toyota Global Vision

Dr Johan van Zyl, President and CEO of Toyota South Africa Motors, has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Toyota in Africa as part of a major restructuring announced by Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC).

Toyota remains on top of the international automotive world in terms of total brand value, with the company coming in at US$26* billion. New research by leading brand valuation and marketing consultancy Brand Finance says Toyota's brand value rose six per cent last year from US$24.5 billion.

Toyota Athletics Club will once again have a big presence at the Old Mutual Two Oceans ultra-marathon with seventy two club members participating. The race takes place on Saturday, 30 March in Cape Town.

The Toyota Athletics Club was formalised with a Pro Team in 2009 and this year will be the fifth time the team participates in the world’s most beautiful race. The club currently has over 170 members that participate in major races such as Two Oceans, Comrades, City2City, Soweto marathon and the Gauteng Marathon.

Two well-known para-cyclists will don Team Toyota colours for SA’s toughest mountain bike cycle race.

Team Driepoort Toyota consisting of Reuben van Niekerk and Dane Wilson will compete in the Absa Cape Epic which takes place over eight days in the Western Cape.

These enthusiastic cyclists will cover 698km and climb 15 650m over the eight days. The race starts at Meerendal Wine Estate in Durbanville and ends at Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West.

Imperial Toyota Kempton Park was awarded the coveted Toyota Dealer of the Year award at the gala event held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The award was accepted by Desiree Wiseman, the first female Dealer Principal to win this award.

The Imperial Toyota Kempton Park dealership has been operating from their new site for two years. Desiree Wiseman is an impressive leader as she is intimately involved in all areas of the business yet still allows her management team to lead their own departments.

Seven Toyota, Lexus and Scion (Toyota nameplate in the USA) models captured segment awards in the 2013 American J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study, more than any other automaker. Each year, the research firm determines which are the most reliable vehicles on American roads and publishes the list in its Vehicle Dependability Study. Reliability is gauged by looking at the number of problems reported by owners of 3-year-old cars to see how they're faring after a few years of wear and tear.

The study also found:

Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) mourns the passing of one of its founding fathers. Jan de Necker passed away last week in Paarl, Western Cape at the ripe old age of 93.

Mr De Necker was a well-known and much loved member of Toyota. As a good friend and business associate of founder Dr Albert Wessels, Mr De Necker was instrumental in bringing Toyota to South Africa. This is evident in the way in which he assisted in brokering a meeting between Dr Wessels and Toyota in Japan and how he laid the foundations for an import permit from the then South African government.

Toyota was recognised as the world’s best-selling vehicle brand after recording nearly 9.75 million sales in 2012. This means that the company last year sold one new vehicle every 3 seconds to a customer somewhere in the world.

Total group sales, including Hino trucks, Lexus luxury vehicles and Daihatsu, reached a new record of 9 748 000 units, which is 22.6% better than the production-interrupted 2011 and also surpasses the previous Toyota sales record of 9 367 000 units recorded in 2007.

• Fuel Cell System, Sports Vehicle, Lightweight Technology and Lithium-air Battery Collaboration to Commence