Autoblog

Toyota's US sales have been booming for years, with annual volume growth of 10-percent or more the norm, and profits that beat all other automakers, hands-down. One area where Toyota has fought growth, however, is in the quantity of dealers it has in the US, and if you believe North American President Jim Press, that isn't going to change, either.

In an interview with Automotive News, Press underscored how important it is to have profitable dealers, and how adding more dealerships would dilute the investments of Toyota's 1,445 existing stores. In return, Toyota looks for dealers to focus on improving customer satisfaction, and adding investment dollars into their existing infrastructure. Press likened Toyota dealerships as large corporations, with many long time employees and great service departments.

The average Toyota dealership sells over 1,800 vehicles per year, which is about three times as many sales as the typical Ford dealership. We're not surprised that Toyota isn't growing its dealer-base, especially considering the amount of costs domestic automakers are incurring to right-size their sales outlets. It never ceases to amaze us how much discipline Toyota has when it comes to running their uber-successful business.

[Source: Automotive News (subscription req'd)]