I'll tell you why - and this is public knowledge ... 
Because the government taxes Toyota on parts and stuff it needs to build the vehicle, raising its price. Nowhere in the world is a vehicle 100% from parts sourced at that plant. In the global automative manufacturing world, certain suppliers build, say, brake systems or catalytic converters which are then shipped to factories where they're used in assembly. In many cases whole engines have to be imported. 
Then the guvvamunt also gets VAT from the transaction.
It's easy to blame "car makers". Rather blame guvvamunt.
jacko you know that companies can claim input VAT back?
VAT is an airy fairy thing that gets paid by the last party in the line
the f*ckup is you pay VAT on a new car and then pay VAT on a second hand car - so your paying VAT over and over on the same thing 
wrt the vat, yes, you do pay on a 2nd hand car if bought from a vat registered dealer. the dealer, however, would have claimed vat on the purchase price (i.e. what he bought it for), so the dealer will pay vat only on the value added by him. if the dealer does not take the vat claimed into consideration in haggling a price, he is screwing with you. eg
dealer uses 100% mu
purchase price for dealer: 57
input vat: 7
cost to dealer = 50
dealer sells for 100 + 14 vat = 114
dealer's profit = 50, vat paid to gvt = 7
so, if ever you do a trade in, remember that the dealer gets a vat benefit even if he buys it from a non-vendor.