Nagoya, Japan: The Middle East is, and will continue to be an important market for Toyota, a senior official of the Toyota Motor Corporation said.

Hisayuki Inoue, Senior Managing Officer and Chief officer of the Middle East, Africa and Latin America Operations made the comments at a press conference for a group of journalists from the Middle East as the automaker marks its 75th anniversary.

“After the Lehman Brothers shock and collapse in 2008, we have been working tirelessly to overcome various different situations and circumstances. We had hoped that this year would be a good one without any further difficulties. However, as you are aware, some diplomatic issues between Japan and China jumped up, and our sales in China suddenly dropped.”

Inoue said the higher figures from the Middle East in Toyota and Lexus sales have helped to offset the impact of the sudden drop in sales.

“For the Middle East the estimate sales are approximately 650,000 units, a 30 per cent compared to last year and a new sales record for us. Lexus sales in the region have gone up by approximately 48 per cent year on year which is a substantial amount of growth,” Inoue said. He added that the high growth numbers stemmed from the large population of young people in the region.

Comparing the Middle East to some other markets, Inoue said: “Toyota has obtained top market share in most of Middle Eastern countries. Currently, our Middle Eastern sales are almost half of that in Japan, our home market. Additionally, Toyota’s market penetration in the Middle East is almost the same as in our home market of Japan.”

On the global level, the company has recorded an overall increase compared to last year’s figures. “Global sales of Toyota and Lexus estimates are approximately 8.7 million for 2012, which is about a 22 per cent increase compared to last year,” Inoue added.

He said Toyota remains committed to making environmentally friendly products. “We have also introduced new “eco” and “environment” friendly models globally. We believe that introducing such models is a social responsibility of the automobile industry, and certainly one area of Toyota strength. This year is an epoch making year; our global annual sales crossed the milestone of 1 million hybrid vehicles.”

On whether the tensions with China would change Toyota’s long-term production strategy, Inoue said even though the company felt the immediate impact of the drop in demand, he is confident in customer loyalty to the brand with its commitment to quality, and expects demand to pick up.

He credited the dealers and distributors in the Middle East for the positive results coming from the region. “We introduced the first Toyota in 1954 in the Middle East, almost 60 years ago. This year we celebrate our 75th anniversary; which means that for most of our history, loyal customers in the region have been with us.”

Al-Futtaim Motors is the UAE representative of Toyota, introducing the brand in 1955.

Speaking to Gulf News at the sidelines of the event, Shoichi Maeda, group manager of the sales and marketing department in charge of Middle East and southwest Asia, said the UAE is one of Toyota’s top markets, coming second only to Saudi Arabia in sales.

He said both China tensions and the tsunami severely disrupted the supply chain for components from first, second, third and fourth tier suppliers.

Maeda added that after a difficult time, production is now at normal levels.