Toyota dealers ask about leasing support, EVs, rival's Amazon deal

LAS VEGAS — Toyota and Lexus dealers questioned plans to regrow leasing, expressed concerns about battery-electric vehicles and asked about Hyundai's new association with retail behemoth Amazon, according to dealers and executives in the joint make meeting Friday.

The packed meeting heard about the automaker's sales plans for the year. Jack Hollis, head of sales for Toyota Motor North America, and Dave Christ, head of the Toyota brand, previously said the automaker aimed to add 100,000 U.S. sales for Toyota and about 50,000 for Lexus in 2024 above the combined 2.25 million vehicles they sold in 2023.

Leasing penetration rates for the Toyota brand have fallen into the 20 percent range, and company leaders would like to get it above 30 percent. They have said the automaker wants to drive sales by targeting leasing for certain regions and models.

"We're going to get back into leasing; we know the benefits of leasing," Andrew Gilleland, head of automotive operations for Toyota Motor, said after the meeting. "It's something that's pretty expensive, so I think we've got to be very smart about how we spend our incentive dollars. Leasing's a great tool, but it's got to make sense for [customers] and for us."

Steve Gates, owner of Gates Auto Family near Lexington, Ky., and the previous chairman of the Toyota National Dealer Advisory Council, said dealers were concerned about EVs and getting too far ahead of consumer tastes.

"Those concerns are probably being expressed in every make meeting, and if not, they should be," Gates said. He said Toyota dealers also asked whether the automaker has plans to follow Hyundai's lead into an association with Amazon and were told it does not.

"The great thing about being Toyota dealers is that we don't have those worries. It's not perfect, but we communicate with each other," Gates said. "For the most part, we'll do anything we can for them, and they'll do anything they can for us. It's pretty amazing that way."