The potential for growth in the auto market isn't limited to emerging economies like China, but is there to be tapped in the developed nations as well, according to Akio Toyoda, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
"People often say the car industry is a 'mature industry' or 'industry of the 20th century,' but this is a total misunderstanding," Toyoda, who is also president of Toyota Motor Corp., said in a recent group interview.
"It is an industry with an annual growth rate of 4 percent, and I want that to be understood," he said, noting that 78 million vehicles were sold around the world in 2011, compared with 48 million units in 1990. Though Europe saw sales drop amid its fiscal crises, China and other parts of Asia more than made up for the fall.