June 2015 Sales Conference Notes

June 2015 Sales Conference Call
Wednesday, July 1, 2015

June 2015 Sales Conference Call (audio clip)

Toyota Chief Communications Officer Scott Vazin:

Good morning and thank you for joining us to review Toyota, Scion and Lexus sales results for June and the first six months of 2015.

Speaking today will be:

Bill Fay, Group Vice President and General Manager of the Toyota Division
And Brian Smith, Lexus Marketing Vice President

A recording of the call will be available at pressroom.Toyota.com
about one hour after its conclusion and of course our communications team also is available to field any additional questions you may have @ (310) 468-5297.

Now I’d like to turn it over to Bill for a look at the first half and June results.

Toyota Division Group and General Manager Vice President Bill Fay:

Thank you Scott.

Good morning everyone, and thank you for joining us today.

The auto industry posted strong June sales

Of more than 1,484,000 vehicles
Up 4 and half percent from last year

The Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate

Is tracking at about 17.2 million
The second straight month we’ve topped 17 million
And the industry’s best June pace since 2005

The Year-to-date SAAR

Now stands at 16.9 million
With the industry right on track
To hit our projection of 17 million vehicles for the year

For Toyota, Lexus and Scion

Total sales of 209,912
Were up 4.1% on a volume basis

Total light truck sales

Set a new June record at more than 102,000 sold
- Reflecting surging consumer demand in that area
While Lexus sales rose more than 10%
- One of the biggest gains by any brand during the month

And at the halfway point of 2015

Combined Toyota, Lexus and Scion sales of more than 1,230,000
Are up 5 ½ percent from last year

Toyota Division sales in June

Of 183,791
Were up 3%
- Including a 6.8% increase for division retail sales
Making Toyota once again the retail brand leade

Divisional light truck sales

Also set a June record of more than 89,000
Including best-ever June results for:
- RAV4, up 15% to nearly 25,000
- And Highlander, up 20% to 13,800
- 4Runner also had a big month with sales up 42% to 8,200 plus
- While Sienna rose 10% to nearly 13,000

Combined pickup truck sales

Topped 25,000 for the 4th consecutive month
As Tacoma increased 31%
And Tundra rose 10 ½ percent

Camry was our passenger car leader

And the best-selling car in America at more than 37,400
While Corolla finished at 30,645

Midway through the year

Toyota Division sales of 1,072,000 vehicles
Are up 4.4%

Toyota is the industry’s #1 retail brand after six months

With Camry the best-selling car in America
And Corolla the best-selling sub compact
- And second-best selling car overall
Tacoma is the best-selling small truck
And Sienna, is the best-selling van
While RAV4 has been one of the leaders in the surging small SUV segment
- With sales of more than 143,000, up 23%
  - And on a record-breaking pace for the year

Looking ahead, there is every reason to believe

The auto industry will maintain its pace through the second half of 2015
Hitting and possibly exceeding our projection of 17 million vehicles for the year

Consumer sentiment took a big jump in June

To a 5-month high
And consumers are responding with spending showing its biggest gain in six years
According to the latest data…
With stable gas prices and interest rates
The industry looks well on its way to its best year since 2005 and possibly even 2001

At Toyota we’re looking forward

To riding this wave with several new models coming in the months ahead
Including the new Scions…
The iA and iM
Which go on sale Sept. 1
With base prices under $20,000
The RAV4 SE and hybrid models
And an all-new Tacoma that will be out this fall

Thanks again for joining us today.

Now I’d like turn this over to Brian Smith for a look at the Lexus results.

Lexus Marketing Vice President Brian Smith:

Thank you Bill, and good morning everyone.

Lexus June sales

Of more than 26,000 vehicles
Were up 11% from last year

While year-to-date sales

Of nearly 160,000
Are up 14 ½ percent
That’s the largest gain for the year by any luxury brand

And the best first half ever for Lexus

As we continue on pace for an all-time record sales year

In addition…

The latest industry retail registration data
Also shows Lexus topping the luxury segment through April

While our June passenger car sales

Were pretty much on a par with last year
At 13,000

Lexus luxury utility vehicle sales

Were up nearly 25%
- At more than 13,000
Reflecting the industry-wide demand
- For crossovers and compact SUVs
That is also very much a part of the luxury segment’s growth

One of the leaders of this growth

Continues to be the new Lexus NX
With June sales of more than 3,500
And more than 20,000 sold year-to-date

Not only is NX exceeding our sales projections…

And already challenging for segment leadership
It is bringing in a much younger buyer
- With a median age 15-years younger than the RX
And nearly 60% of the buyers are trading in something other than a Lexus
With the BMW 3-series the top conquest model

As a result

Our total luxury utility vehicle sales
Now stand at 77,686 for the year
- Up more than 30 percent

Lexus car sales are up 2 ½ percent for the year

At more than 81,000 vehicles
Led by the ES at 29,000
The IS at 23,000
And the new RC providing the growth
- With sales of more than 6,700 YTD

Looking at the second half of 2015

We share Bill’s optimism for the industry and especially for Lexus

Not only are the economic indicators upbeat

Lexus has historically
- Been a second half team
- Normally posting a higher sales volume
  - During the final six months of the year
  - And peaking in December

This year we’ll have the added benefit

Of a number of model updates
Including a freshened ES coming in August
And an all-new RX slated for November
Combined with new engine offerings including
- The IS 200t and IS 300 AWD models

To take advantage

Of the momentum in the marketplace
- And the best selection of models we’ve ever had
We’re launching our annual Golden Opportunity sales event
- Later this month
- One of our biggest events of the year…
So hope I you can see why we’re looking forward to the second half of this year

Thank you for joining us today, and now we’d like to open the call up to any questions you may have.