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Toyota Hikes 2006 Prices, Focuses on Hybrids

July 11, 2005
As automakers announce new car prices for 2006, Toyota Motor Co is in the forefront of the price increases as the company focuses its efforts on hybrids and other green vehicles.

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While executives are concerned that Toyota’s runaway success has fanned talk of a political backlash in the United States, Toyota Chairman Hiroshi Okuda denied suggestions that Toyota has hiked the prices of its four major models to help U.S. carmakers turn around their poor sales performances by inducing customer defections from higher-priced Toyotas.

Toyota is trying to focus attention away from its success in the marketplace and onto the company's environmental efforts. "Our main mission as a company is to contribute to a better society," President Katsuaki Watanabe told a news conference.

Nevertheless, Watanabe's comments come at a time when Toyota and other Asian automakers are luring customers away from General Motors and Ford Motor Co.

As Toyota profits from rising sales in the United States and other overseas markets, Watanabe said its second task was to ensure it was contributing to each country's social needs, such as by offering employment through increased local production.

Asked to comment on the apparent contradiction between Toyota's drive to offer "green" vehicles and the addition of less fuel-efficient products, Watanabe said only that the automaker was developing cleaner versions of conventional gasoline engines.

Japan's top automaker leads the industry in the development of next-generation vehicle technology such as gasoline-electric hybrids, and expects to spend 770 billion yen on research and development this year. The maker of the popular Prius hybrid sedan has said it aims to sell 1 million hybrid vehicles a year "as soon as possible."

Watanabe declined to venture a guess on when that might be, saying only that Toyota's overall sales may be around 10 million units at that time.

On hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, Watanabe said he hoped to reach an agreement soon with General Motors on how to cooperate in the field to enable commercialization of the zero-emission cars.

Here are the price increases Toyota has announced: • The Lexus LS 430 is increasing $300 to $57,175, effective as the 2006 models reach showrooms.
• The 2006 GS Lexus models are getting a $250 price increase a few months after their release. The GS 300 is being raised to $43,800.
• The GS 300 with all-wheel drive is climbing to $45,750. The top trim level, the GS 430, is increasing to $52,025. The prices are effective Aug. 1.
• The 2006 Scion xA wagon is increasing $200 from the 2005 model to $13,245 for a manual transmission. The 2006 xB SUV price is going up $150 to $14,395 for a manual transmission. Scion prices are effective immediately. • Toyota will raise prices on its 2006 Camry lineup when the cars arrive in showrooms later this month. Midyear price increases Toyota made on the RAV4 SUV and Prius sedan will take effect Aug. 1.
• The 2006 Camry is up $250 at $18,985, including shipping. The $250 increase applies across the entire model line.
• The 2006 Camry Solara coupe goes up $150 to $20,070, while the convertible will increase by $400 to $27,480.
• The 2006 RAV4 pricing will increase by $300 for both the two-wheel and four-wheel-drive versions. The base RAV4 will start at $19,615.
• The 2006 Prius will increase by $300 to $21,815.

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