Japanese automaker Toyota has announced it will cease exporting its Camden sedan to North America, due to increasingly low sales flows.
The decision was announced yesterday on the same day that the Camry hybrid model was launched on the Japanese market. Sales of the sedan, one of the most popular models in the United States, have plummeted in recent years. While Toyota sold 2008 vehicles in the United States and Canada in 8.200, that number dropped to 3.200 in 2010. Since the beginning of the year, only twenty Camdens have been sold in North America.
The drop in sales is due to the strong appreciation of the yen, which has reached its all-time high against the dollar. The Japanese currency is considered a safe haven currency against the turbulent European and American money markets. Its strength erodes the profits of Japanese industry and fuels fears that local manufacturing will "migrate" overseas, resulting in job losses. Toyota itself, for example, announced in recent days that it will transfer part of its production for the Prius hybrid to China. It is the first time the Japanese automaker will produce key components, such as motors and batteries, overseas.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/toyota-to-halt-camry-exports-to-north-america
http://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/toyota-to-make-key-hybrid-parts-in-c
