Toyota Aims to Sell 1 Mil. Hybrids in China in 2012

Toyota Motors China hopes to sell 1 million green cars in China this year as part of its global goal of deriving 20% of its total unit sales from green cars.

Lines to mass-produce cars using hybrid engines produced in China will be built by FAW Toyota Motor and Guangzhou Toyota Motor Company, Toyota’s two China joint ventures, according to Dong Changzheng, Toyota China’s EVP. However, those lines won’t be producing hybrid engines until 2013, according to Tadashi Yamashina, Toyota China’s general manager of engineering and manufacturing.

In its bid to localize production of hybrids, Toyota will introduce them at April’s Beijing Auto Show. In February Toyota China had announced intentions to establish marketing and business departments in country.

In 2011 Toyota lost its top spot to GM after selling only 7.95 million cars to GM’s 9 million, and slipped to third place behind Volkswagen which sold 8.16 million. In China Toyota sold 883,000 cars, a 4% increase over 2010 but far behind GM and Volkswagen which each sold over twice that number.

Toyota suffered a 10% drop in overall car sales during the final three quarters of 2011, resulting in a 72% drop in profits.

Toyota is unlikely to regain its top spot in 2012 though it may be able to nudge past Volkswagen as production appears to have recovered from the effects of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami which severely snarled its supply chains, leading to plant closures.