Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) expects sales in Europe of its premium Lexus brand to rise to 65,000 units by 2010 from around 45,000 this year, Toyota Motor Europe Executive Vice-President Takis Athanasopoulos told Reuters on Tuesday.
Toyota aims overall to sell more than 1 million vehicles in Europe in 2006 including Turkey, Athanasopoulos said.
European group sales including Lexus but excluding Turkey -- where the group had around 30,000 unit sales last year -- rose 5 percent in 2005 to 964,208 vehicles in a flat overall market, driven by demand for its Toyota Corolla and Corolla Verso.
Athanasopoulos said European sales of its Prius hybrid were set to advance to around 25,000 this year from 19,000 last year and 8,000 the year before, but could be higher if enough of the Japanese-made cars were made available to meet demand.
"Our sales plan is to increase to 25,000," he said at the Geneva car show, adding supply constraints were limiting the model's sales potential.
The up-market Lexus faces stiff competition from established premium brands in Europe, but Toyota is determined to make it a success, Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe told reporters in Geneva.
Lexus boosted its European sales by 16 percent to 28,777 units last year thanks to a seven-fold rise in deliveries of its revamped GS full-size model.