Report: Toyota says there is "no meaning" in being No. 1

[Rania Elhoseny]

Toyota has said that the company is no longer interested in being the world's largest automaker in sales, according to Automotive News. Satoshi Ozawa, executive vice president for Toyota, was quoted as saying that there was no meaning behind the brand being in the top slot, and that customer service and satisfaction were more important to his company. Ozawa also said that he believes that Toyota will never have the goal of being number one.

In the past, the Japanese automaker had said that it intended to carve out a 15-percent slice of the global sales market. That would have made the company first in sales by default.

Toyota eclipsed General Motors as the world's largest automaker in 2007, but a recent rash of recalls, quality and reliability concerns have been attributed to the company's quick expansion. This year, Toyota expects to see profit fall by 31 percent compared to last year due to the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters of March of this year.
[Source: Automotive News – sub. req. | Images: Copyright 2011 Drew Phillips / AOL]