Calling the South African new vehicle market for 2023 at between 560 000 and 580 000 units by the President and CEO of Toyota South Africa, Andrew Kirby, shows strong recovery confidence, albeit still slow.
Speaking at the annual Toyota State of the Motor Industry address at Kyalami, Kirby noted that predictions undervalued the market and ignored the impact of the floods at the Prospection factory last year.
“Interest rates are having a huge impact on affordability,” he says. “South Africa is looking at a possible 1% growth in GDP for the year, while load shedding has a massive impact with people losing their businesses.”
The Toyota Crown returns
However, Toyota and its luxury stablemate Lexus have some new product plans for the year, including the Toyota Crown. The stunning new-generation design will come to the country in limited numbers.
Also on the cards is the new Vitz that replaces the Agya and is due in the second quarter with the revised Urban Cruiser.
Lexus will launch the NG RX450h plug-in hybrid in March – this with 270 kW.
In the longer term, Kirby says Toyota is tackling the approach to carbon neutrality by examining the entire process from sourcing materials at the mining stage through all of the steps of production to inclusion in a motor vehicle and then the disposal.
Toyota plans to stop crushing old vehicles, instead disassembling them and reusing the selected parts. At the same time, all Toyota plants are looking for solar solutions to provide energy.
The process of seeking automotive solutions for a better planet is not limited to motive power, and modern design trends are more considerate of customers' needs and lifestyles.
Toyota Vitz to replace outgoing Agya
Simon Humphries, Global Head of Design for Toyota, says every vehicle design should be unique and right now, each facet of automotive design is undergoing a paradigm shift.
While Toyota has embraced battery electric vehicles (BEV), the company does not believe it is the best solution in all situations. Equally, the automotive maker still sees breakthroughs that will influence their future designs.
