Toyota going all-in on Chinese market, cites future of country

Japanese auto giant has announced a number of measures to boost already-strong sales

Japanese auto giant Toyota is attaching greater importance to the world's largest auto market and plans to separate its Chinese businesses from those in the Asia region.

This decision is part of Toyota's planning to implement changes in executive responsibility and its organizational structure, which will take effect on Jan 1.

"China Region and Asia Region have been split in view of the importance of the China market and the Asia markets, respectively," the carmaker said.

Tarsuro Ueda, former CEO of Toyota China and Asia will be appointed as the new CEO of Toyota China.

The separate units will help leaders implement more rapid decision-making and accelerate implementation capacity, according to the carmaker.

In the first 10 months of 2019, Toyota sold 8.05 million cars worldwide, an increase of 1.6 percent year-on-year.

The company's sales in China jumped 7.2 percent from January to October, totaling 1.31 million units and showing the increasing importance of the Chinese market.

China's auto market has seen slumping sales for 16 consecutive months. Sales for the first 10 months of the year totaled 20.65 million units, with a 9.7 percent year-on-year decline.

The company plans to improve its annual production capacity in China to 2 million units by 2020, which will almost double this year's output.

Toyota has made great efforts to deepen its roots in China and explore the emerging new energy vehicle market with its Chinese partners this year.

In electrification, it plans to launch 10 pure electric vehicles by 2025 and expects half of its global sales to come from electrified cars, including hybrids, by the year.