Toyota Canada breaks all-time sales records in June

TORONTO, July 3 /CNW/ - Toyota Canada Inc. (TCI) had its best-ever first- half sales in 37 years of selling vehicles in Canada, with year-to-date sales of 78,962, up 23.6 percent over last year's first six months. June sales set a new record for the month, with total retail sales of Toyota and Lexus cars and trucks reaching 14,815 units - beating last June's sales of 12,023 units by 23.2 percent. This is Toyota Canada's sixth straight month of record sales. Both Toyota and Lexus enjoyed best-ever results. Total Toyota sales reached 14,227, surpassing last June's record sales of 11,561 by 23.1 percent. Lexus sold a total of 588 luxury vehicles during June, 27.3 percent better than last year, and 85 units more than the previous June record set in 1998.

"Our Canadian-made Corolla and Matrix models, combined with record- breaking performances by core family models Echo and Camry, gave Toyota Canada two record sales quarters in a row," said Tony Wearing, Group Vice President of Vehicle Sales and Marketing at TCI. "And there's more - for the fifth month in a row, Toyota was Canada's number one selling car brand."

Highlights of Toyota's record sales month include:

- Best June ever for sub-compact Echo. Sales of 2,470 are 9.3 percent better than last June's sales of 2,260, and 207 units better than the best June for Tercel, which Echo replaced in 2000. - Best June ever for compact Corolla. New model sales of 5,298 are 23.2 percent better than the previous record for June of 4,662, set in 2000. - Best June ever for mid-size Camry. Total sales of 2,274 were up 51.8 percent compared to last June and beat the previous June record set in 1997 by 171 units. - Best June ever for sporty Lexus IS 300. Total sales of 110 topped last year's June sales record by 6.8 percent. - Best June ever for convertible coupe Lexus SC 430. Sales of 68 were 30.8 percent better than last June.