Revise Sales Network in Japan

Toyota Motor Corporation
14 February 2003

                                                           For immediate release

                                                               February 14, 2003



Toyota to Introduce Lexus Brand and Revise Sales Network in Japan



Tokyo - TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announced today a new product and
distribution strategy that outlines the introduction of the Lexus brand to Japan
and the reorganization of TMC's Japanese-market Toyota-brand sales channels into
four channels from the current five.



This new product and distribution strategy is aimed at allowing TMC to
adequately respond to future changes in consumer values and in the structure of
Japan's highly competitive automobile market.



Specifically, the new strategy entails:
1.   the establishment in Japan of the Lexus brand - apart from the Toyota brand
     - as a 'global premium brand for the 21st century'
2.   the merging of the Netz and Vista sales channels to form a new Netz channel
     capable of addressing the desires of the growing segment of 'new value' 
     consumers, while keeping in mind the needs of current customers
3.   the reinforcement of the identities of the Toyota, Toyopet and Corolla 
     sales channels and a review of their product lineups



In recent years, new consumer values that increasingly emphasize a 'sense of the
best', as well as individuality, have led to vast changes in the automobile
market.  These changes represent a trend that is advancing on a global scale,
intensifying competition among the world's automakers in how well they can
respond to evolving consumer demand.



Japan, in particular, is thought to be at the forefront of such evolution due to
its low birthrate, rapidly aging society and other factors, which are said to be
bringing on market-structure changes at a pace greater than that in any other
industrially developed nation.  This means that response to such changes in
Japan is becoming viewed as an important factor in terms of being globally
competitive.



Under its new product and distribution strategy, TMC plans to put full effort
into creating a global premium brand by introducing to the Japanese market the
Lexus brand, which is already well established in the United States.
Additionally, it intends to proactively respond to market changes by
restructuring its domestic sales network - such as through establishing a
new Netz channel and other measures - into one with a more future-looking
stance.



Together with its 'the customer always comes first' policy, TMC intends to use
the new strategy to steadily maintain a non-minivehicle market share of more
than 40% and to secure an even greater market share in the mid to long term.



Details of the new product and distribution strategy are as follows:


Brand               Points of reform

Lexus               Creating a new global premium brand for the 21st century

                    -          Start of operations: Scheduled for around 
                               mid-2005

                    -          Dealer network: Starting with about 150 showrooms 
                               nationwide under a newly created Lexus
                               specialty dealer network

                    -          Products: The development of Lexus products that 
                               are clearly differentiated from the
                               Toyota brand

Toyota   Netz       Meeting the challenge of a new vision and a new channel setup under the theme of 'Channels for the
         channel    21st Century'

                    -          Timing of reorganization: Scheduled for spring 
                               2004

                    -          Setup: Channel becomes a large-scale channel with
                               about 1,600 shops and a total of about
                               30,000 employees  (Currently, there are about 970
                               Netz shops with a total of about 20,000 employees
                               and about 640 Vista shops with a total of about 
                               10,000 employees.)

                    -          Target customers: Consumers among all generations
                               who have a new set of values, with an
                               emphasis on youth and women

                    -          Products: The formation of a product lineup with 
                               a sense of individuality suitable for
                               the new Netz channel

         Toyota,    Increasing market responsiveness by clarifying the position of each channel and each channel's
         Toyopet,   responsibilities
         Corolla
         channels   -          Toyota: The luxury vehicle channel for the Toyota 
                               brand

                    -          Toyopet: The leading channel for the medium-size 
                               car market

                    -          Corolla: The largest volume-sales channel, 
                               centering on compact vehicles





Contact: Paul Nolasco/Keiko Sato [phone]/9153


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