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Toyota Using Exports to Keep Venezuelan Unit Afloat
Toyota Motor Corp.’s Venezuelan unit is exporting replacement car parts to generate the cash it needs to build new vehicles.
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Toyota Motor Corp.’s Venezuelan unit is exporting replacement car parts to generate the cash it needs to build new vehicles.
Steve St. Angelo, CEO for Latin America, tells Reuters the unit is collecting about $2 million per year by shipping repair parts made by its assembly plant in Cumana to other markets in South America. He says the cash can then be used to buy components it needs to “keep the place running.”
Toyota’s facility assembles Corolla sedans, Fortuner SUVs, Hilux pickup trucks and Daihatsu brand Terios mini-SUVs, according to the company’s Web site.
Like other foreign manufacturers in Venezuela, Toyota is struggling with a national currency control system that makes it difficult to access foreign currency needed to buy import parts. Some U.S. suppliers have suspended operations in the country because of the policy.
St. Angelo tells Reuters that Toyota aims to expand its Venezuelan exports from four types of parts currently to 26 by the end of 2016—and perhaps begin shipments to Cuba. “You have to help yourself,” he adds, “and that’s what we’re doing.”
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