Toyota Motor and captive arm Toyota Finance will start offering Japanese buyers a new vehicle purchase plan that will enable a customer who uses a loan to cover the purchase of a new car to make a down payment and defer loan repayments for three years.
The new plan, which will be offered from 22 July at many Toyota dealers across Japan, is aimed at propping up sales. It is the first time that such a scheme will be offered by a Japanese automaker, they told Kyodo News.
Under the plan, customers will pay the remaining amount three years after making the down payment but will be allowed to return the car to the automaker, in which case they would be exempted from paying the remaining amount.
If the price of a car is JPY2m, a customer would be able to use it for three years by making a down payment of JPY1.2m and paying a commission of JPY50,000.
If the customer chooses to continue using the car after that period, the remaining JPY800,000 could be paid either in a lump sum or in instalments. No additional payments would be necessary if the customer returns the car, the companies said.

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By GlobalDataAfter the three years, the customer could also choose to purchase a new car instead, in which case the old car could be traded in for JPY800,000 yen, giving the purchaser a discount of the same amount for the new vehicle.
The plan will be offered by around 100 of 290 Toyota dealerships nationwide. Down payments and commissions will differ according to the type of vehicle and dealership, the companies said.