Toyota says it’s moving its dealership to Salt Lake City
Salt Lake, Utah — Toyota Motor Corp. announced on Thursday that it would be moving its Salt Lake County car rental dealership to the new city of Las Vegas.
The move comes amid a downturn in sales of its popular Scion and Lexus luxury sedans.
The automaker has struggled to stay competitive in the market, with sales dropping 13% and 8% in the first six months of the year, respectively.
Sales of its Scion and Toyota Prius luxury models have also been hurt by a new law requiring all new cars sold in Utah to come with a mandatory 15-hour cooling system.
The company is still reviewing the impact the law may have on its sales, but it said it would begin to ramp up production of its models at its Salt County, Utah, facility, which currently houses the Scion and Prius.
Toyota has been seeking to boost production of cars to boost the company’s competitiveness in the global luxury car market, and it also is hoping to capitalize on a downturn caused by a weak global economy.
“The impact on our customers, our suppliers and our partners is tremendous,” Toyota chief executive Akio Toyoda said at the announcement.
“We’ve been working on ways to ensure that the cost of our products and services remain affordable for our customers and our suppliers.”
Toyota will move its dealership from the Salt Lake International Airport to a new location in the downtown area, where it will have a parking lot and restaurant, said the company.
The new location will allow Toyota to continue to expand its presence in Utah, where the company said it expects to have 500 dealerships by the end of 2019.
