Toyota’s ‘Bargains’ May Boost Sales 30%, Edmunds Says
Toyota Motor Corp., buoyed by an incentive campaign, may report a 30 percent jump in U.S. sales in March after recalls of millions of vehicles damped deliveries for two months, according to Edmunds.com. No-interest loans for as long as five years and discounted leases on most Toyota brand models from the world’s largest automaker are helping drive the rebound from year-earlier levels, Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl said by phone, Bloomberg.com reported. The incentives and the “huge reservoir of goodwill” Toyota has built up over the years are limiting fallout from global recalls of more than 8 million cars, Anwyl said. Santa Monica, California-based Edmunds.com tracks pricing and consumer behavior on its car-information Web site. Spending on incentives may add as much as 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) in costs for Toyota City, Japan-based Toyota, Kohei Takahashi, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co., said in a March 2 report. Other recall-related costs may total 315 billion yen through May 2011, and litigation settlements may cost about 100 billion yen, he said.
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