Report: U.S. Model Toyotas to See Price Increase on Back of Strong Yen

[AF News Desk]

According to a recent Reuters report, Toyota plans to raise the price of U.S. models of their automobiles as the Yen gains value on the U.S. Dollar:

Originally Posted by Reuters - 3/31/11

Toyota Motor Corp's (7203.T) U.S. sales arm said it will raise retail prices for its models sold in the U.S. market to counter Japanese yen gains on the U.S. dollar.

The price rises will be placed on cars that arrive from Japan in May, or are made in North America that month, Toyota said.

The price rises are not related to recent supply and production disruptions caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, said Bill Kwong, a spokesman for Toyota's Lexus brand.

The average price rise for all three brands Toyota sells in the U.S. market is 1.7 percent, the company said, and range from 1.2 percent to 2.2 percent.

The world's biggest automaker by number of vehicles sold sells its main Toyota brand, the youth-oriented Scion brand and the luxury Lexus brand in the U.S. market.

Kwong said the company has not decided if it will have to adjust prices due to the impact of the current crisis in Japan that began with the earthquake on March 11. (Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Gary Hill)

For those of you considering the purchase of a new Toyota, how much - if at all - will this impact your decision to purchase a Toyota? Even if you're not a prospective buyer, how do you think this will impact (again, if at all) the current market for Toyota in the U.S.?

[Brian R.]

The dealers are probably going to pass on this price increase to the customer in every car, not matter whether it was made before or after that date. It will be up to the consumer to determine the manufacturing date and call them on it if the car is priced the same as identical cars made after that date.

[PaulD]

This is the problem of having a strong dollar, overseas stuff is more expensive.

[curtis73]

It doesn't really affect me much since I rarely buy new cars. I think the main effect will happen in 5 years. Most new car buyers are pretty brand-loyal, so the increased pricing won't affect things much... but in 5 years when they sell, the ratio of purchase price to used value won't be quite what they expect from Toyota and it may affect their decision to follow it up with a new Toyota.