Thierry Dombreval, executive vice-president and COO with Toyota Motor Europe, says the company aims to sell 250-300 units of the Prius hybrid model on the local market this year.
In Romania, to begin with, Toyota failed to sell more than 1,000 units, however, last year the company overshot the 10,000 mark and sold 10,301 units.
"Our next target in Romania is to exceed 25,000 units, and gain a 5% market share by 2010. The dealer network, which consists exclusively of integrated facilities, will play a big part in our rapid growth," says Dombreval.
Toyota's distribution network on the local market includes over 15 dealers, which between them own 24 showrooms. The latest "3S" centre, which includes a showroom, a servicing centre and a spare parts storage facility, was launched in Oradea last month. The investment in the new location, the second-largest in Romania after the one in North Bucharest, amounted to three million euros.
"The presence of dealers that exclusively hold 3S centres is not just a trend that Toyota Romania is part of; it is a European trend, which allows customers to receive the best possible service. Therefore, network growth equates to more 3S centres. By 2010, all dealers in Romania will own "3S" service centres," says Dombreval, who believes the dealer network is the interface between the brand and the customer.
"If the interface is weak, it means the brand is weak. If it is strong, then the brand's potential is revealed to the customer. Dealers are equally as important as manufacturing plants and quality tests," adds the Toyota manager.
Neither the growth of the Internet, nor that of the dealer networks has had an impact on integrated centres.
"Five or six years ago, it was thought that customers would be able to buy directly from websites, but this has not been the case. When European legislation changed, it was thought that the number of multibrand dealers would rise, but this did not happen, either. Why? Because it is a known fact that the connection is made through the dealer, and a dealer that exclusively sells one brand is very familiar with its product," says the vice-president of Toyota Motor Europe.
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