Sabanc? Holding has completed the transfer of its shares in Toyotasa to Saudi Arabian Abdul Latif Jameel Co. Ltd. (ALJ), the world's largest independent Toyota dealer. Sabanc? had a 64.99 percent stake in Toyotasa, with the remaining share belonging to Toyota Motor Europe and Mitsui. The company received $84.9 million in return for its shares. ALJ is planning to sell a total of 50,000 vehicles in the next five years in Turkey and is aiming to become the leader in the Turkish domestic auto market by 2020. Following the signing of the contract of sale, board member and CEO of the Saudi company Ali Haydar Bozkurt, Vice Chairman Rif Abou Richeh and ALJ Group CFO Sidhesh Kaul held a joint press conference in ?Istanbul on Wednesday evening. Bozkurt said ALJ has Toyota car sales operations in 12 countries, adding that the group's target is to reach an annual sale of 500,000 vehicles in the medium term. The name of Toyotasa will be changed in a few months' time, Bozkurt said. “We want to increase the market share of Toyota's Turkey dealership from 6 percent to 10 percent as soon as possible,” Bozkurt said. ALJ's investments will not be confined to the purchase of Toyota, he underlined, saying the company will soon introduce Toyota's luxury model Lexus to Turkish drivers. “We will be starting talks immediately with Toyota Motor Europe to bring the Lexus model to Turkey by 2010,” Bozkurt noted. Meanwhile, German new cars sales jumped once again in September in what might be a last hurrah also seen elsewhere in Europe as car scrapping premiums continued to turbo-charge the sector.
