New Year's Greeting from President Fujio Cho

I would like to wish everyone a happy New Year.

Looking back on 2004, for the first time in quite a few years, Japan as a whole showed confidence and vitality, with the economy displaying signs of recovery from the beginning of the year and higher investment and employment in industry. Overall, it was a good year. Turning to other parts of the world, economies were generally strong, with the EU expanding and work on the creation of free trade agreements progressing in various regions. I believe that many positive developments towards the formation of a prosperous society were made last year.

There were also a few uncertain elements and problems that could affect the global economy, including environmental issues, the threat of terrorism, and fluctuations in supply-and-demand and in prices for resources and raw materials, but it is my hope that people around the world will act together to make steady progress towards the realization of prosperous societies.

Under these circumstances, the geographic expansion of automobile markets that began last year in China, and included the rest of Asia and Eastern Europe, accelerated further, with even more customers around the world being able to enjoy the benefits provided by automobiles. The Toyota Group’s global sales exceeded 7 million vehicles for the first time last year thanks to the support of customers in every region around the world.

Toyota has positioned this fiscal year as a foundation-building year towards achieving our 2010 Global Vision. We are implementing priority projects and further developing our management foundations in order to make steady, overall progress. Specific actions include the creation of the Netz dealer network in Japan, the start of the IMV Project in Thailand and other countries, the nationwide launch of the Scion in the United States, and the start of local production of the Corolla in China. As we take steady action in various regions and expand overseas production, we have brought the Global Production Center, established in 2003, into full-scale operation in order to rapidly train the personnel required both in Japan and overseas, thus building up our management foundations.

As intense competition on a global scale continues, and we enter into an era where our comprehensive capabilities must tackle new challenges, we must not be complacent about our achievements and must remain aware of the need for further progress. I want to make 2005 a year in which we focus our energy on striving to raise the quality of our work even further.

First among the specific measures for 2005 is the introduction of the Lexus brand in Japan. As you know, Lexus was launched as a premium brand in the United States in 1989. Since then, we have expanded Lexus sales to include more than sixty countries. We will make use of the August launch of the Lexus as an opportunity to implement additional improvements, and the entire Toyota group will join forces to create “a truly global premium brand.” We will also proceed efficiently with various projects currently underway, including increasing domestic production capacity in Japan, initiating joint production at TPCA in the Czech Republic together with PSA Peugeot Citroën, beginning production of IMV series vehicles in South Africa and Argentina, and producing the Crown and Prius in China.

We will continue to exert the greatest possible effort in terms of the environment, safety and intelligent transport systems. With respect to the environment, in addition to the Prius, which has been highly praised, we will expand the use of hybrid systems to include premium and other vehicles. In an effort to enhance the environmental performance of overseas affiliates, last autumn we created the Global Environmental Management System, and we will introduce it to our operations in regions around the world.

As you can see, Toyota is currently engaged in numerous projects, and we hope to continue promoting the development of human resources, and the globalization and enhancement of management to support these efforts.

The key ingredient for our continued development, however, is to continue striving to maintain and improve our position as a trusted, good corporate citizen recognized for fulfilling its corporate social responsibilities, and to grow while maintaining harmony with society.

Always keeping in mind these principles, and based on the “customer always comes first” policy, I would like to make 2005 a year of progress and advancement for Toyota.

I look forward to your continued guidance and support in the coming year.
Thank you.