STONE_COLD
06/07/2005, 09h45
Assisterons-nous à une baisse de la qualité :?:
Toyota Motor Corp. last week stoked an already hot market segment: entry-level sport wagons.
Toyota says it will spend $650 million to construct an assembly plant in Woodstock, Ontario, to produce 100,000 RAV4 SUVs a year starting in 2008.
The company's plans echo a project under way at Honda Motor Co. to boost production of the CR-V. Honda will move CR-V production to its plant in East Liberty, Ohio.
Next spring, Hyundai Motor Co. will begin building its own entry, the Santa Fe, in Montgomery, Ala. Hyundai anticipates a 25 percent growth in Santa Fe sales.
Unconfirmed reports also say General Motors is contemplating a similar vehicle for its big plant in Spring Hill, Tenn.
Toyota's plan is to shift RAV4 production from Japan to Canada, gaining more factory capacity for it in the process. Last year Toyota sold 70,314 RAV4s in the United States.
The Woodstock investment anticipates RAV4 sales will grow by more than 40 percent if Toyota switches all RAV4 production from Japan to Canada. But the figure could be higher if Toyota sources the vehicle from both North America and Japan, as it has done with other nameplates.
Toyota officials indicated earlier this year that they wanted the RAV4 to sell at volumes closer to those of the Honda CR-V. Honda sold nearly 150,000 CR-Vs in the United States last year.
The RAV4 currently has a starting price of $19,315, including shipping, compared with $20,710 for the CR-V.
The entry-level sport wagon segment is a bright spot in the U.S. market. For the first five months of this year, sales in the category, including the RAV4, grew by 9.2 percent.
The segment offers fuel-efficient SUVs at a time when gasoline prices are rising. And many consumers also seem to be tired of driving large, trucklike SUVs.
Toyota Motor Corp. last week stoked an already hot market segment: entry-level sport wagons.
Toyota says it will spend $650 million to construct an assembly plant in Woodstock, Ontario, to produce 100,000 RAV4 SUVs a year starting in 2008.
The company's plans echo a project under way at Honda Motor Co. to boost production of the CR-V. Honda will move CR-V production to its plant in East Liberty, Ohio.
Next spring, Hyundai Motor Co. will begin building its own entry, the Santa Fe, in Montgomery, Ala. Hyundai anticipates a 25 percent growth in Santa Fe sales.
Unconfirmed reports also say General Motors is contemplating a similar vehicle for its big plant in Spring Hill, Tenn.
Toyota's plan is to shift RAV4 production from Japan to Canada, gaining more factory capacity for it in the process. Last year Toyota sold 70,314 RAV4s in the United States.
The Woodstock investment anticipates RAV4 sales will grow by more than 40 percent if Toyota switches all RAV4 production from Japan to Canada. But the figure could be higher if Toyota sources the vehicle from both North America and Japan, as it has done with other nameplates.
Toyota officials indicated earlier this year that they wanted the RAV4 to sell at volumes closer to those of the Honda CR-V. Honda sold nearly 150,000 CR-Vs in the United States last year.
The RAV4 currently has a starting price of $19,315, including shipping, compared with $20,710 for the CR-V.
The entry-level sport wagon segment is a bright spot in the U.S. market. For the first five months of this year, sales in the category, including the RAV4, grew by 9.2 percent.
The segment offers fuel-efficient SUVs at a time when gasoline prices are rising. And many consumers also seem to be tired of driving large, trucklike SUVs.