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Japanese carmaker Toyota has officially announced it will sell the Toyota brand in addition to the luxury Lexus brand in Korea next year. The long-anticipated move comes 36 years after it broke a partnership with Shinjin Motor and withdrew from Korea in 1972. Toyota chairman Fujio Cho in a press conference on Thursday said his company will start selling the Prius, the Camry sedan in gas and hybrid versions, and the RAV4, a compact SUV, here next year.
A showdown between Korean and Japanese automakers will be inevitable, as all major Japanese carmakers --Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Toyota -- will then be in the Korean market. Cho hinted that the newly introduced models will be priced at some W30 million (US$1=W1,010), saying that the models ˇ°will have a price edge.ˇ± The Toyota chief said his company aims to sell 500 units a month at first but achieve sales of 1,000 cars as soon as possible.
Regarding a possibility that Toyota's advance would cause a trade conflict between the two countries, Cho said that his company is not competing with Korean rivals like Hyundai and Kia: it just wants to offer cheaper imported cars to Korean consumers. ˇ°The company's sales goal of 1,000 units accounts for less than 1 percent in the Korean market,ˇ± he added.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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