IMV Project commenced

In conjunction with the expansion of production in Asia, the need for reciprocal supplies of parts within the region increased. TMC therefore established Toyota Motor Management Service Singapore Pte Ltd. (TMSS) in 1990 and introduced a brand-to-brand parts complementation scheme within the ASEAN region. Later, a reciprocal parts supply system was created with the aims of enjoying tariffs benefits and lower costs through volume effects. This facilitated the rapid expansion of multi-country logistics setups for parts and vehicles known as MSP (multi-source parts) and MSV (multi-source vehicle).

As this reciprocal parts supply system was being developed, as a new global business, TMC set up a project in 2002 for the international division of roles for vehicles sold exclusively in overseas markets. This was the IMV (Innovative International Multi-purpose Vehicle) project. IMV series vehicles, which are "Made by Toyota" rather than "Made in Thailand" or "Made in Japan", are supplied to more than 140 countries around the world. The IMV project, which consisted of three types of pickup trucks, a minivan, and an SUV based on a common platform, was set up as a reciprocal supply system aimed at achieving 100 percent local procurement.

Production of major components was divided, with diesel engines produced in Thailand, gasoline engines in Indonesia, manual transmissions in the Philippines and India, and so on, and vehicle assembly performed in four countries: Thailand, Indonesia, South Africa, and Argentina. The market launch of the IMV series began in Thailand and Indonesia in 2004. Also, in the same year, under the U-IMV (Under-IMV) project, a joint initiative undertaken with Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. for compact IMV series vehicles, production and sales of the Avanza (Xenia under the Daihatsu brand) began in Indonesia. The IMV project not only made use of the extensive know-how that TMC accumulated through its multinational logistics operations, it also led to an increase in the market share of Toyota vehicles in a number of emerging market countries.

TMC Senior Managing Director Akio Toyoda, who oversaw the IMV project, noted during an interview conducted in October 2004 for an in-house publication that Toyota's globalization had entered a phase of establishing more efficient supply systems on a worldwide scale. He was quoted as saying, "We hope to be able to provide more appealing products at more affordable prices and at equivalent periods of time to customers around the world."

The IMV project gradually increased its production and sales volume, achieving total sales of five million units around the world in March 2012, 10 years after the project's inception.

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