One need not look far to find where most American auto makers' market share is going. Toyota is currently the second largest auto manufacturer in the world, second only to GM. But it has profits of $19.7 billion, compared to GM's loses of $10 billion.
For the environmentally minded, it must be reassuring to know the company that has made the largest investment in hybrid vehicles, and secured a near monopoly of hybrid patents, is now poised to become the world's largest automobile manufacturer.
In Canada, Toyota only held 11.1% of total market share last year, behind domestic manufacturers, but with annual increases of 1% and a solid reputation for making durable, well-priced automobiles, future improvements seem inevitable.
Still, Toyota Canada president Kenji Tomikawa isn't strutting around like he owns the hen-house just yet. In fact, he says the North American auto market is pretty tough.
"The Canadian market and, also, the North American market are more competitive than those where I worked," said Tomikawa in an interview with The Epoch Times. He has also worked in South America and Africa.
Toyota, which started out making looms, has experienced a rather dramatic climb and its hybrid patents might ensure the climb continues.
Alternative fuels like hydrogen and clean diesels are getting more attention, and those fuels can be put to the best use in a hybrid engine. Since Toyota has such a thorough collection of hybrid patents (over 1000), even manufacturers like Ford that come up with their own hybrid engine must license those patents to ensure there is no risk of an infringement lawsuit.
In the United States, car buyers who purchase a hybrid get tax credits from the federal government. Currently Canada lacks a similar tax policy, though some provinces do offer rebates. Tomikawa says Toyota is currently lobbying the Canadian federal government to adopt tax credits. If they succeed, it would provide a further boon to Toyota's market prospects.
However, Toyota is involved in two court battles with Antonov, an engineering firm listed on the London Stock Exchange with a research and development facility in France. Antonov alleges that Toyota's second generation Prius infringes one of its transmission patents. If Toyota loses the battles it could be forced to pay up over $200 million in royalties.
Those losses could force Toyota to make some changes, but they seem unlikely to really damage the major lead Toyota has secured in the hybrid market.
And while Toyota is a foreign brand and faces patriotic buyers south of the border who have sentimental connections to their domestic brands, no such situation exists in Canada. Without a national brand of their own, many Canadians see little difference between buying from a manufacture based in the United States or one based in Japan, especially since all of them have manufacturing plants right here in Canada.
Tomikawa is happy to point out that currently 40% of Toyota's Canadian cars are built here in Canada. And with a $1.1 billion dollar investment in a RAV4 plant in Woodstock Ontario, that figure is likely to rise.
Interview by Masha Loftus in Toronto
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