Why Toyota Has Become Such a Successful Automaker Essay Example

150,000 vehicles next year.It is part of marketing strategy to keep the brand special and, above all, cool” (Chon, 2007). This was a marketing technique they also used successfully employed when first introducing their cell-electric Hybrid SUV’s to Japan and the U. S.

(Toyota, 2007). Only it was in the introduction of the cell-electric Hybrid SUV that a “soft opening” was used to test consumers response. Even Toyota’s “green and clean” self-promotion is seen as much or more of a marketing technique as reality (Welch, 2005).The article, “Toyota’s Myth and Myth Marketing” accuses Toyota of using this clean, green, tech-savvy advertising as “slick marketing ploy” (Welch, 2005). The article points out that some of Toyota’s hybrids like the Lexus RX 400H and the Highlander SUV don’t have much better mileage than their gasoline counterparts and that Toyota along with the Detroit automakers are suing to stop pending legislation in California that reduces greenhouse gas while Toyota continues to oppose tough fuel-economy regulations in Washington (Welch, 2005).Competitors were betting that Toyota’s marketing of their lower-priced Scion by having hip-hop artists introduce it would fail.

However, Toyota again proved it knew its marketing better than its competitors since the Scion is selling in record numbers and “has become a ubiquitous presence within the underground hip hop scene” (Gonzalez, 2007). Brand Name Unlike most American auto manufacturers, it is not uncommon for a Toyota customer to buy a Toyota model and 10-15 years later buy a Toyota car with that same model name.That is one of the many things that differentiates many auto manufacturers from their Toyota counterparts. Some credit Toyota with making this part of their success

plan. When the customer has purchased a Corolla, driven it for 200,000 miles later, and begins to consider their next purchase and the model name Corolla is still being manufactured, it would only be common sense that the customer would consider purchasing another Corolla.

If a customer purchased an American model car and was pleased with it, when the time comes to purchase another car, odds are that company has changed the model name even if a similar model is being manufactured. This is just one of the areas addressed in the article, “Why is Toyota Successful? ”: It is worth noting that, while German automakers tend to use symbols and numbers, and Americans tend to throw away names frequently, Toyota sticks by a name as long as a car is successful, and doesn't toss names onto cars that don't fit them.The Land Cruiser started in 1950; the Corolla in 1966; the Celica in 1970; the Camry in 1983; the 4Runner in 1984… (Why, 2007). Some even think it is Toyota’s modest demeanor as a company that has something to do with their success. Toyota’s world headquarters in Toyota City which is a quiet industrial city 150 miles SW of Tokyo has what one writer referred to as a “deceptively modest demeanor” (Collier, 2006).