NEW YORK -

Toyota wants to be more than just a big car company.

After rattling off some of the automaker’s accolades and future products Toyota Motor Sales USA president and chief executive officer Jim Lentz made a profound statement during his address at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2012 New York Auto Summit on Wednesday.

“Phenomenal products coming now, and in the near future,” Lentz insisted.

“We strongly believe that we have all the ingredients to make 2012 a break-out year for Toyota, and we’re in a great position for even stronger growth in the future,” he continued.

“It’s not about being the biggest in the world; it’s about being the best for our customers all around the world,” Lentz went on to say.

That last statement came after the Toyota executive highlighted why not only his company but the entire auto industry is poised for better fortunes.

Lentz insisted there are several elements supporting healthy new-vehicle sales in the future, including:

—Strong population growth
—The high average age of vehicles on the road, now 11 years
—Continued high costs of used vehicles
—Readily available credit to purchase new models
—Better vehicle affordability on average than during the 1980s and 1990s
—A huge slate of 2012 vehicles from all brands that will draw people to showrooms
—Research that shows nearly 10 percent of U.S. households intend to buy a new vehicle in the next year

So how are Toyota — and especially its franchised dealers — positioned to capitalize on those conditions?

“We’re ensuring our dealers are among the most profitable in the industry by holding our dealer count around 1,500,” Lentz pointed out.

“And, our dealers are so confident about the future that they plan to spend $1 billion on facility improvements this year alone,” he continued.

“Along with improvements across the board, we’re in the midst of the most ambitious product launch in Toyota’s 54-year history in America,” Lentz added.

The top Toyota executive also mentioned the company is launching 19 new or updated products during this calendar year — a record for the OEM.

“And when you factor in full-year sales of the new Camry, Yaris and Prius v we introduced last fall, 40 percent of our sales growth this year will come from new products versus 7 percent during 2011," Lentz tabulated.

“What’s more, our new products are even better in quality and are attracting new and younger buyers to the Toyota family,” he also noted.

To illustrate the example, Lentz cited the Camry, which the company believes has been “a big hit,” with buyers.

“Traditionally, quality goes up over a model’s lifecycle and then goes down when a new-generation launches. However, based on data for the first six months, the quality of our new Camry is scoring better than the model it replaced,” Lentz indicated.

“That’s unheard of in the industry,” he declared.

With a pipeline full of product the company thinks its franchised dealers can turn, Lentz believes Toyota still can get the sales numbers it needs to be highly successful.

“In a nutshell, Toyota is getting back to the top of its game,” Lentz concluded.

Lentz’s entire speech can be found here.