Think You Have It Bad? This Camry Salesman Nets $14 For Every Car He Sells!

In a country where auto sales have been growing at 20% to 30% annually, moving the metal should be a breeze, right? Before you answer, check in with Lin Baojia. The 41-year-old is among Toyota's top salesmen in China, unloading about 60 Camry sedans a month, but it's not exactly easy. "If there's anything wrong with the car, customers can call me on my cell phone at any time," says Lin, who sports a Toyota-issue uniform of a dark-brown suit with a yellow smiley-face button on the lapel. "When someone calls in the middle of the night, it's usually a big emergency, so I'll do everything I can to get out to be with him."

It's all part of Toyota's strategy of building sales in status-conscious China by coddling customers. Unlike in the U.S., where the Camry is as middle class as you can get, Toyota positions the car at China's high end. The sedans, cosmetically a bit different from the American Camry but essentially the same vehicle, range from $27,000 to $37,000—big money in a country where you can get a decent car for a bit over $4,000. That means buyers are mostly big shots used to getting what they want, when they want it.
 

pchera01 - 1/29/2008 1:02:16 PM

+13 Boost

"The challenge is to be a level below the customer," he says. "Since I'm only a salesman, I shouldn't drive the same car as you."

I like this part,
in US, when you go to dealership the sales men act like they are even richer that you. sometimes it is really funny

S4cabriofoxone - 1/29/2008 5:49:47 PM

+3 Boost

LOL, yes, that is fun.

I have corrected many a Lexus salesman...

EvoAudi - 1/29/2008 8:19:47 PM

+3 Boost

I absolutely love going to the Audi and MB dealer salesmen in socal and asking them fairly average questions about the engine and such. And then watching them stutter and then say "i dont know, i have to ask the technicions"

EnnNorak - 1/29/2008 8:30:30 PM

+3 Boost

EvoAudi, that is exactly why I keep saying that most car salesmen add no value to the sales process and their managers are stupid for hiring them. Then again, there is much turnover of sales staff because they are initially expected to sell cars to their friends and relatives and as soon as they run out of friends and relatives they find themselves out of a job.

EnnNorak - 1/29/2008 8:32:18 PM

+2 Boost

S4cabriofoxone, I give better training to salesmen as a customer than they can ever get from traditional sources and I do it for free.

Agent009 - 1/29/2008 1:23:03 PM

+7 Boost

developing economics 101

EnnNorak - 1/29/2008 8:35:03 PM

0 Boost

A good friend of mine who is a retired former new car dealer referred to his salesmen as "my rip-off artists".

LexusKindaGuy12 - 1/29/2008 1:54:12 PM

+7 Boost

it is true, the over seas toyotas look a lot better than american versions. They are a bit more lexus-ish.

how does he have it bad? 14 dollars american is about 100 china dollars per commission. if he can sell 60, thats thats 6000 added to his salary.

he looks pretty happy to me...lol

EnnNorak - 1/29/2008 8:37:50 PM

0 Boost

With all this economically destructive outsourcing going on, I'd be happy if the big three outsourced retail car sales to China and simply tack on $14 to the wholesale price to me.

M53R - 1/29/2008 2:43:06 PM

+1 Boost

We get their camry over here, badged as the Toyota "Aurion". It comes here instead of the Camry V6. Nice car, but had electronic problems lately...

S4cabriofoxone - 1/29/2008 5:50:33 PM

0 Boost

UAE

ThierryHenry14 - 1/29/2008 3:01:43 PM

+4 Boost

I saw the Toyota Camry in Thailand (the same ones in the Chinese market) and its so much better looking and much more luxurious than the ones in America. Its more comparable to a Lexus than a Toyota in America. I really love the Camry in Thailand, but am very lukewarm to the US version.

chuck717 - 1/29/2008 3:26:24 PM

+3 Boost

When i was in the business my top salesmen made 125k avg, all suits were hand made and he drove a Porsche to work he didn't care if the public thought he was rich or poor all he worried about was getting top gross for the car. Then a little thing called CSI came into the picture and that is when the top dogs got worried, they had to cater a lot more to the consumers to get those 98 ratings it really changed the car business at the top dealers, you have to perform at all levels or get dinged hard by the MFG's.
There is still good money in the business for those who work hard and take care of their customers, the days of slamming the public or the total lay down with the internet and magazines is just about over, you must be ahead of the game to make a good living today?

M35MT - 1/29/2008 3:56:11 PM

+2 Boost

The camry in that picture looks alot better than ours. Looks like it mated with a Passat.

ThierryHenry14 - 1/29/2008 5:16:01 PM

-1 Boost

it takes styling cues from the Lexus LS... Its gorgeous.

pushrod27 - 1/29/2008 6:01:25 PM

+1 Boost

'Lexus LS' and 'Gorgeous' ?????

Inoffensive, sterile, sedate, and ambiguous are all better adjectives with which to describe the LS.

ThierryHenry14 - 1/29/2008 8:24:13 PM

+1 Boost

well, for those who can make unbias comments, yes, I did say styling cues, not a carbon copy of the LS so its got its own style, and yes, the Camry is gorgeous, not the LS. so please read more carefully next time.

S4cabriofoxone - 1/29/2008 11:56:17 PM

-2 Boost

That sounds even weirder.

"Camry," "gorgeous???" WTF?

This is an attractive car, nothing more, nothing less.

ghosthunter - 1/30/2008 12:20:38 AM

+2 Boost

S4, when you have to pay 300k for a car, you would call that gorgeous as well.
forget about currency conversion, chinese on average makes less than U.S. yet their car cost 10 times more. buy any import car would be like buying a ferrari here in U.S. when was the last time you spend 300k on anything and not call it "Gorgeous"

XYZZ - 1/31/2008 4:44:20 AM

+2 Boost

pushrod, s4--

you guys need to allow for differing tastes. i believe asians in asia (as opposed to those in u.s.) are more conservative.
what you may think is stylish, they may well think is GARISH, if not BIZARRE.

ThierryHenry is FULLY justified to consider a car GORGEOUS, whatever YOU may think.

you guys are likely among those who criticized the previous generations of u.s. camrys as "bland." obviously, the '07 is "gorgeous" to MANY AMERICAN eyes, otherwise it would not be outselling earlier versions.

toyota apparently considers it too radical for asia, and hence the simpler, cleaner design there. so who are YOU to criticize asians who think their version is gorgeous too?

XYZZ - 1/31/2008 4:56:28 AM

+2 Boost

why should toyotas NOT be considered high end in asia?

they ARE more reliable than anything from europe or america, and offer the same power eqpt and accessories and leather options. prestige aside, buicks are acknowledged to be more reliable than caddys; and toyotas are even more reliable still.

toyota also offers the toyota (not lexus) Century model, a v12 limo fully comparable to Rolls Royce. (which until only recently, just had a pushrod, gm-sourced v8).

if MB status can 'trickle down' from the S-series to lowly C's, then EVEN MORE status trickles down from toyota centurys to camrys.

XYZZ - 1/31/2008 5:28:53 AM

+1 Boost

if the picky customers call their salesmen in the middle of the night, to handle problems with their new cars, imagine how little sleep non-toyota salesmen get!

then again, the other dealerships may not OFFER the level of service and attention those toyota salesmen do. if only so they can have TIME to sell cars. lol!

EL34 - 1/29/2008 9:06:52 PM

0 Boost

Most people in China make pennies per hour.

nSun - 1/30/2008 12:44:57 AM

0 Boost

LOL camrys are bought by bigshots in China? oh please, have any of you ever been to china before? camrys are FAMILY CARS just like honda accords and nissan teanas. get your facts straight. Now India, is a different story.

XYZZ - 1/30/2008 2:35:57 AM

+2 Boost

the REAL big shots in china buy $200,000 Lexuses.

krackerhatesme - 1/30/2008 8:46:00 AM

+1 Boost

Real Chinese bigshots buy Bentleys and Rolls with a side of that fancy mustard.

ThierryHenry14 - 1/30/2008 1:16:05 PM

0 Boost

obviously you don't know too much about the chinese high end market...

XYZZ - 1/31/2008 4:25:22 AM

+1 Boost

they may well buy bentleys and rollers too.

i was mainly pointing out the fact that there ARE $200k lexi. not in u.s., but they do get that kind on money in china.

bet'n that and $30-$40k camrys, its no wonder toyota is just rolling in $$$.

XYZZ - 1/31/2008 5:07:33 AM

+1 Boost

that kind of money...

jt716 - 1/30/2008 5:53:12 AM

+1 Boost

I have seen the Camry in Singapore, and I was shocked that it looked so good compared to the US model. When I saw the previous model it was exactly the same as the US version.

Htay7500 - 1/30/2008 3:09:11 PM

+1 Boost

in ASEAN and chinese markets, the camry is more like the avalon in the US, a low end pseudo-luxury car. same with the accord. corolla and civic are in place of the camry and accord in the US.

speedmaster - 1/30/2008 3:27:00 PM

+2 Boost

A few comments. Camries are for bigshots in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Everything there is double here (double taxed). A Camry sells for $60K in Vietnam,. So does a C-Class 220 Merc. They all pay in cash. There is no financing. I assume it is the same in China. So yes, you have to be rather wealthy (to the median income) to afford a camry.

Now, the big time ballers own cars like Astons, Bentleys. An Aston DB9 sells for $744,000 cash in Vietnam. I know. A Bentley was just bought for 500K.
The government double tax everything.

You guys don't know how lucky we have it here. A friend of mine just visited me from Hong Kong and was floored because my Range Rover Sport sells for $220K in Hong Kong. I smiled and told him it was the same price for as a luxed up camry.

ThierryHenry14 - 1/30/2008 5:34:05 PM

+2 Boost

are you vietnamese? because I am thai, and I know for sure that the prices in Thailand is far more than double for European Imports. a Bentley Continental GT is priced at 29M baht, which equivalates to about USD 900K and astons are roughly the same. I saw a Maybach 62 in Thailand and could not believe that the asking price for it is 95M baht, which is about 3M USD.

XYZZ - 1/31/2008 5:16:26 AM

+1 Boost

have either of you guys seen any Toyota Centurys in Asia? i know they're offered in Japan, and maybe some are exported to a few other Asian countries?

Htay7500 - 1/31/2008 4:13:04 PM

+1 Boost

ThierryHenry: I might be wrong but, ferraris in thailand are usd 1mil, caymans are 200k and passenger cars are taxed there so pickups are more popular (they aren't taxed for that reason). and Im from Burma, where new imported cars were cut off by the government and only burmese made suzukis and isuzus remain...


toyota centuries aren't sold anywhere else but Japan.

Htay7500 - 1/31/2008 4:16:08 PM

+1 Boost

and btw, camries rival the accord and the teana/cefiro(think tweaked maxima). hard to imagine how much a veyron is in ASEAN countries.

XYZZ - 2/2/2008 6:34:06 AM

+1 Boost

i would think at least the Sultan of Brunei mite have a toyota Century or two.

what about toyota Majestas and Crowns, positioned just below the Century. any of those in Thailand, Singapore, or elsewhere?