Toyota Motor Marketing Europe (TMME) said on Thursday it had sold a record 212,069 units in the period from January to March 2003, an increase of 4% over the first quarter of 2002.
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European market share for the first quarter reached 4.6%, up from 4.5 % last year, also setting a new record. Toyota also enjoyed the best ever monthly result in Europe with record sales of 87,678 units for the month of March – an increase of 2% over the same month last year.
“Our record first quarter results are particularly impressive given the weak and unpredictable market situation in Europe. We expect the momentum toward our 2003 sales target of 790,000 vehicles to be further strengthened with the recent launch of the Toyota Yaris ’03 and the all-new Avensis, ” said TMME executive vice president and chief operating officer Takis Athanasopoulos.
Total sales of the Corolla (47,212 units) and Corolla Verso (minivan) models (14,122) rose 36% and 27% respectively in the first quarter, compared to the same period the previous year. Sales of the RAV4 SUV rose 22% in the first quarter, to 30,587 units, while the recently redesigned Land Cruiser sold 9,338 units – a rise of 78% over the previous year.
Italy retained its position as Toyota’s largest national market in Europe, with 37,282 units sold in the first quarter (+13%), followed by the UK (36,456 units), Germany (25,188 units), France (18,012 units) and Spain (9,496 units).
Meanwhile, Poland enjoyed the most spectacular growth (+48%) for the first quarter, selling 8,183 units.
