AUTOSHOW-Toyota U.S. chief: U.S. market "golden era" ahead
09 Jan 2007 21:07:13 GMT Source: Reuters
(For other stories from the Detroit Auto Show, go to http://today.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage.aspx?type=autoshow&src=cms) By Chang-Ran Kim, Asia auto correspondent DETROIT, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. auto industry is about to see a "golden era" of opportunity buoyed by population growth, favorable demographics and strong vehicles, the head of Toyota Motor Corp.'s <7203.T> North American operations said. "We see the industry for this coming year maybe not as bad as it could be," Toyota Motor North America President Jim Press told a conference on Tuesday on the sidelines of the North American International Auto Show, predicting sales volume in the world's biggest car market to stay roughly flat this year. That assessment roughly matched the optimism of Toyota's competitors but challenged the views of Wall Street and other analysts that U.S. auto demand will falter this year. "If you look at the economic fundamentals and you start looking at the individual indices, you could talk yourself either way," he said. "But if you go further than that and look at the energy in the industry, the demographics, the population, the consumer desire for vehicles, the affordability of cars...the industry is on the verge of a golden era of opportunity to grow," he said. Most industry executives have forecast U.S. auto sales to be flat at best this year, with some calling for total industry volumes as low as 16 million units. That would be down from 16.55 million sold in 2006, which was itself down 2.2 percent from the year before. Fueled by the popularity of fuel-efficient models such as the Camry, Prius and RAV4, sales at Toyota bucked the trend, surging 13 percent last year at the expense of General Motors Corp. <GM.N>, Ford Motor Co. <F.N> and DaimlerChrysler's <DCXGn.DE> Chrysler, which suffered falls of 7 to 8 percent. But Press said there was inherent room to grow in the United States for every player as long as they paid attention to what the customer wanted, and sought opportunities in the right places, such as offering better solutions to increasing fuel economy through hybrids and other advanced powertrains. Press noted that population growth in the United States - which passed 300 million people last year - provided a rosy outlook for future car purchases, unlike in most other industriali<ed nations. Press joked that he liked to visit the maternity ward at hospitals on Sundays - not just to watch happy mothers and their families - but to see the birth of so many future car buyers. "Those little plastic baskets that are blue and pink - that's 14 purchase cycles!" he said, drawing a roar of laughter from the crowd. "And if you go back the next day, there's a whole new bunch of those in the baskets." Demographics was another driver, he said, with 64 million Americans turning 16 - the legal driving age - over the next 10 years. The 80 million babyboomers will also be in the market to replace their cars, he said, noting that seven out of 13 new cars were purchased after age 50. (Additional reporting by James Kelleher)
