Toyota Canada Inc. is abandoning the no-haggle price strategy that was a key feature of its Access Toyota sales system, a radical overhaul of the way the company sells vehicles that is being closely watched by its rivals, but is also the subject of lawsuits in Quebec and British Columbia.

The move to eliminate one-price selling for new cars, trucks, minivans and sport utility vehicles comes about one month before Access Toyota is scheduled to be introduced in Ontario. The country's biggest new vehicle market is scheduled to be the last region of the country to adopt the program, which one industry source described as a "revolutionary" change in the traditional method of buying a new vehicle.

In addition to one-price selling, the program involves training sales people to make them more customer-friendly, changing the sales process to reduce the time spent in a dealership and use of the Internet, to buy instead of entering an outlet.

The program has been in place since 2000, when it was started in Manitoba before a national rollout to the company's 230 dealers.

"Obviously this is the end of the program as the pricing was the key segment," said one dealer.

Dealers said they were notified of the change in a memorandum from Toyota Canada president Kenji Tomikawa last Friday.

Company officials would not talk about the decision yesterday or reasons for the move.

"We don't have anything to discuss at this time," said spokesman David Stone. Announcements to dealers are "privileged communications which we don't normally talk about."

One dealer suggested that the Canadian sales arm of Toyota Motor Corp. was told to change the program because dealers have become considerably less aggressive in the market, and reduced advertising, for example.

A Quebec lawsuit challenging the pricing practices has not yet been certified as a class-action suit but is proceeding, said Daniel Belleau, a Montreal lawyer who is handling the case.

Court documents filed in the B.C. lawsuit said dealers set prices unlawfully, refused to offer discounts from the Access price and would not offer free options or extra features.

The allegations have not been proven in court and the suit has also not yet been certified as a class-action, lawyer Leslie Mackoff said yesterday.

Access Toyota was a key part of the company's Vision 2010 program, a successful attempt to grab 10 per cent of the Canadian market by 2000. Toyota Canada now has about 12 per cent of the Canadian vehicle market.

But it was also controversial with the federal government. An investigation by the Competition Bureau examined allegations that the monthly setting of prices by dealers in a particular region amounted to price-fixing.

As part of a settlement of that probe last year, Toyota Canada agreed to make it clear to dealers and sales people that they could sell vehicles for less than the Access Toyota price.

In addition, the auto maker agreed to donate $2.3-million to charities as part of the settlement.

The Access program involved more than just one-price selling, although one dealer described that feature as the backbone of the program.

The changes to the traditional cat-and-mouse negotiations that many buyers despise included:

guarantees on interest rates for 30 days so customers purchasing near the end of one month were still eligible for low-interest finance rates even if the programs had expired by the time they picked up their vehicles;

standard charges across the country for the predelivery inspection that dealers perform before customers drive away;

full disclosure of all charges.

The move to end one-price selling is "a huge victory for the consumer," said Paul Timoteo, president of CarCost Canada, a consumer advocacy firm for car buyers that charges a fee for members and helps them get discounts on vehicles.

A CarCost comparison of prices in British Columbia and Ontario, done last month, found transaction prices for Toyota vehicles were in some cases just a few dollars less than the Manufacturers' Suggested Retail Price, compared with prices substantially lower in Ontario.

The biggest discount in British Columbia was on the 2004 Sequoia, an SUV that carries an MSRP of $63,620.

The Sequoia was fetching $63,171 at B.C. dealers, while CarCost members could pay $57,881 in Ontario, a $5,290 difference.

In Manitoba, dealers were asking $63,234, according to the Access Toyota website.

On the 2005 compact Corolla sport model, CarCost members in Ontario could pay $18,528, compared with the set price of $19,954 in British Columbia.

The Automobile Protection Association reached a similar conclusion by examining prices in Montreal, said George Iny, president of that consumer group.

Mr. Iny praised the other elements of the program, such as increased training for sales people and full disclosure of all charges.

"Hopefully they'll be able to keep those," Mr. Iny said.

Dealers in regions where the program has been in place for some time disputed the notion that consumers weren't getting a fair deal.

"The whole process is seamless and so much better for the consumer," said one.