Toyota Exports Mostly US-Made Cars to S. Korea

Toyota plans to take advantage of S. Korea’s free-trade agreements (FTA) with the US and the European Union by bringing most of the cars it sells in the Korean market from plants located outside of Japan.

“For the next several years, nearly all Toyota cars sold in Korea will be manufactured in the U.S., with exception of some very special models,” said Toyota Korea president Hisao Nakabayashi at the launch of its Lexus RX350 in Incheon Thursday. “To supply our cars at satisfactory prices for Korean customers while the yen remains strong, we will bring in a maximum number of cars produced in the US, China, and Europe. If the Korea-China FTA is signed, we plan to launch environment-friendly cars scheduled to be manufactured in China.”

Nakabayashi was referring to Hybrids currently being built in China. The RX350 launched in Korea is a partially modified version of Lexus’ medium-sized SUV RX. The basic model sells in Korea for 65.5 million won ($57,800) while the loaded version is 73 million won ($64,300), respectively, 9.4 million won ($8,000) and 5.9 million won ($5,100) from last year’s models.

To take maximum advantage of Korea’s FTAs, Toyota plans to bring over 90% of the cars it sells in Korea from regions other than Japan.

The mid-sized Camry sedans and Siena minivans being sold in Korea come from the US already. The US will also be the source of the mid-sized crossover Venza, which uses the Camry chassis, when it enters the Korean market in September.