US: TMS replies to claims of Toyota and Lexus models facing axe
By Glenn Brooks
14 July, 2008
Source: Automotive World
Mike Michels, the corporate manager of External Communications for Toyota Motor Sales USA, has told AutomotiveWorld.com that reports by a US-based automotive website which claim the Lexus SC and Toyota Avalon will not be replaced due to slow sales are "unfounded speculation".
Mike Michels, the corporate manager of External Communications for
Toyota Motor Sales USA, has told
AutomotiveWorld.com that reports by a US-based automotive website which claim the Lexus SC and Toyota Avalon will not be replaced due to slow sales are "unfounded speculation".
The
Edmunds Inside Line portal says that a replacement for the seven-year old Lexus coupe/convertible has been axed. Its report, which does not name a source, goes on to claim that the Avalon, the current generation of which was the first vehicle on the latest (seventh generation) Camry platform, will likewise be discontinued at the end of its model life and replaced by a supposed long wheelbase Camry.
"We [TMS] do not comment on future product plans or timetables, for obvious competitive reasons," Michels states, stating that
Inside Line did not contact the OEM's US division's media department before publishing its story.
If
Edmunds' claims are eventually proved true, TMS' actions would be by no means unusual. The division failed to launch replacements for such long-lived but ultimately slow-selling nameplates as the Celica and MR-2 earlier this decade and moved swiftly to axe imports of the poorly-performing ECHO and before that, the Previa minivan in the '90s, the latter replaced by the far more successful Yaris and Sienna respectively.
Several of TMS' imported and North American-built models have had a tough time in recent months. The SC 430, which is built in Japan by Toyota's Kanto Auto subsidiary at its Higashi-Fuji plant, does not look to have much of a future, with only 1,230 cars sold in the US, its largest global market, in the first six months of 2008. As for the Georgetown, Kentucky-built Avalon, which was facelifted for the '08 model year, its sales performance may not be as dire as the 57% plunge registered by the SC last month, but a 37% fall to only 3,165 units is nevertheless serious for a relatively new and mainstream model.
Other vehicles registering year-on-year tumbles that are higher than the overall 18% drop in the US market last month were the Lexus LS (-35%), GS (-32%), RX (-30%) and GX (-49%); Scion tC (-28%); and the Toyota Prius (-25%), Sienna (-24%), RAV4 (-26%), F J Cruiser (-57%), 4Runner (-49%), Highlander (-31%) and Tundra (-47%). These figures come from TMS itself.
Despite the dramatic-looking downturn for some model lines, there were three fewer selling days in June 2008 and TMS' performance was not nearly as troubled as that of some major rivals.
Avalon won't be discontinued
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