Like any business, Toyota
Motor Co. is always looking for new markets, and it appears to have struck oil deep in the heart of Texas.
The Lonestar State already accounts for 70-percent of Tundra pickup truck sales, and the automaker is now
opening dealerships called “rural opportunity markets” (ROMs), in rural areas in the eastern and central
sections, far from its traditional urban areas. The new expansion is part of Toyota’s plan to maintain its current
growth rate, which analysts predict will be halved between now and 2010.
“Right now, their momentum is strong enough to keep them at 5-to-8-percent [annual growth] for the next couple
of years” says Wes Brown, an analyst with Iceology, a consultancy firm. “After that, I think it will be in the
1-to-2-percent range.”
While Toyota is building new dealerships, its luxury brand Lexus is becoming a
part of the Texas community. The division is now the official luxury car for the
MLB’s Texas Rangers. Lexus receives in-park and on-air advertising; has had several sections of Ameriquest Field in
Arlington branded and offers free valet parking to anyone driving a Lexus to a home game.
More details on
the Toyota rural dealerships and the Lexus/Texas Rangers deal can be found at the links.
[Source: Dallas
Morning News and Dallas Business Journal]