Toyota Establishes Sales Company in Russia

Tokyo -TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announced today at the MOSCOW Auto Salon 2001 that it has established OOO* "TOYOTA MOTOR" (TMR), a new sales and marketing company in Russia.

"TMR is scheduled to initiate operations in the spring of 2002 and aims to sell about 20,000 vehicles annually, accounting for about 10 percent of the expected 200,000-vehicle import market," said TMC Senior Managing Director Zenji Yasuda, who made the announcement on the press day of the Russian capital's main car show.

TMC has long viewed Russia as one of the world's key markets. In 1998, it opened a representative office in Moscow and, while assessing the market environment, has been carrying out sales activities centered around the efforts of local dealers via various trading companies. From now, TMR is to play the central role in Toyota's vehicle and parts business in Russia. The new company will be capitalized at 1 million U.S. dollars, with 70 percent invested by TMC and the remaining 30 percent coming from Toyota Tsusho Corporation.

"This marks our first big step into Russia. From now on, we will strive to create a larger presence for Toyota in the minds of the Russian people," said Yasuda.

*1Russian abbreviation for "limited liability company".