Toyota expects China sales to rise 14% in 2010

Toyota Motor, Japan’s biggest carmaker, expects China sales to rise 14% next year as it rolls out new models in the country, Bloomberg reported. Sales may climb to about 800,000 vehicles in 2010, said spokesman Yuta Kaga. Toyota plans to introduce a revamped Crown sedan in China at the end of this year with a Camry hybrid and new Prius hybrid coming in 2010. Toyota feels that its refocused strategy, under which it will offer more models with smaller engines, will help fight off the competitors after the company trailed the market this year. Toyota’s China sales for 2009 are expected to grow 19% year-on-year compared with industry-wide incrase of 38% for the first 10 months of the year.