Toyota rationalizes IMV

The Executive Chief Engineer in charge of the broad range of multipurpose vehicles for developing markets discusses local optimization of one global vehicle architecture.

IMV, which stands for Innovative International Multipurpose Vehicle, is the name given by Toyota to its versatile architecture for three vehicle types manufactured in five countries (Thailand, Indonesia, South Africa, Argentina, and India) and assembled in five more (Malaysia, Philippines, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Pakistan), with major components supplied by the former five manufacturing bases. Taiwan will also join the family. They are truly world vehicles with aggregate sales of about 600,000 units in 2006, sold in 140 countries around the world except Toyota's two biggest markets, North America and Japan.

“It is as important as the Camry and Corolla platform lines in terms of products and volume [and] its significance [in] encompassing Toyota's new way of conducting its global automotive business in engineering, manufacturing, sales, and service,” asserted Executive Chief Engineer Kaoru Hosokawa, who is responsible for the IMV project.