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Automotive News & Views Toyota in decline in 2009?
3784 messages, Last post on Dec 06, 2009 at 11:56 AM
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Replying to: scape2 (Apr 18, 2006 6:28 pm) I do agree with you that we get drilled in the US with Toyota's repuation but you can't deny that the Toyota has a great repuation for reliability purposes. See, most car sales are made by word of mouth and I'm sure people reccomend Toyota's to alot of their friends, and in-laws. Another scenario why people buy Toyota's is they have been burned by a problematic car by another brand so that person who had a bad experience with another brand may get a Toyota. I am a Honda fan but I have liked Honda for awhile. I like Mazda too and would buy another. As far as GM and Ford's bad repuation they have improved I just don;t like any of their products except for their SUV's. I think GM and Ford have a bad repuation for what they produced in the 80's/early 90's. Some of the 20 somethings who are buying cars now think that the domestics don't build a quality car because their parents of that 20 something probably had a bad experience with a GM or Ford. Some of the product planning by GM and Ford in the 90's was awful I have to admit even as an import fan. Ford;s product planning has gotten better in the 00's but GM's product planning its still the same old thing it was in the 90's with the exception of Caddy, new Buick Lucrence, and their SUV's of course. BTW, My parents have owned Gm, Ford, and Chrysler in the 80's, 90's, 00's and they have served my parents well except for 1 Chrysler and 1 GM. |
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Interesting reading all the posts on here. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'd definitely say that Toyota quality is slipping. My Mom has been a loyal customer of Toyota since 1975. That influenced my decision in buying a Toyota as my first car. Of course I had the misfortune of owning the infamous Toyota Tercel that came complete with an oil burning, sludge producing, prone to failure 4 cylinder engine. Now, I realize that the Tercel was Toyota's cheapest car and that many people were not affected by this crappy engine. If you were, however, boy did it leave a bad taste in your mouth! I don't buy into the argument that your cheapest vehicle cannot be well built. Isn't that how Toyota built their reputation in the 70's and 80's? I'm in my late 20's now. Bought a used Mazda, 5 years ago, and my car is now 7 years old and I've had NO problems. Toyota has totally turned me off for life as a customer. They are cutting costs too much and their vehicles do not feel much better built to me than the competition. Some of the interior bits in my Mazda may not be as solid or look as nice as what was in my Tercel, but the engine was built much better and frankly, that's what counts with me! Toyota REALLY needs to pay attention to their quality control. After all, isn't that why GM, Ford, and Chrysler lost so many sales to the Japanese? They weren't making quality autos? Personally, I was so disillusioned by my Toyota that I do not intend to ever buy another, let alone pay a premium (!?!) for one of their products! I had no first-hand experience myself with Toyota until that car and a cheaply built, flawed car is not the way to hold on to a young consumer for life. Their dealer network was not great either. They did not care about some unhappy 20-something customer with a cheap auto. They were too busy coddling their baby-boomer bread-and-butter customers to care about me! Yes, I went to numerous Toytoa dealers and it was pretty much the same everywhere. In the end I ditched Toyota. If they do not get their stuff together, the future looks grim for Toyota. Exhibit A is VW which has lost many buyers due to quality issues and charging too much for their cars. (Sound familiar?) Notice that many younger buyers are buying Mazdas, Nissans, and other makes besides Toyota. If Toyota seriously wants younger customers, they are going to have to give their 20-something customers quality products that are worth the premium Toyota is charging. The reason Toyota had to launch Scion is because the Toyota name means almost nothing to younger consumers except  ! Okay, I'm done with my rant! Thanks for letting me vent!
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Replying to: juniorswa (Jun 11, 2006 9:36 am) The engine's terrible, but the car does have quality touches that other cars in its class (and time period) don't. The interior panels... no sign of screws. They're well hidden. The steering is better done than Nissan's manual steering. The ride, while pathetic, beats some of its competition (all but the Civic CX, I'd say). The manual transmissions hold up better than Sentras' and Sunbirds'. The Echo wasn't bad in its trunkless version sold in the rest of the world (under different names). It did very well. It was basically the same car as the small Scions, and those haven't turned out to be bad. Toyota's improving in the budget car segment, and the current Corolla is popular with buyers (if not magazines). So I don't know if I see much degredation in quality, myself. |
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that Toyota is having quality trouble. Then again, I am seeing people like the guy above really starting to get up in arms over Toyota quality control problems. I happen to really like the new Toyota Yaris sedan and I am eyeing one for later, maybe. One very cool thing about the Internet is that we can constantly study consumer trends. I wouldn't say that one of the latest trends is that Toyota is heading downhill quality-wise. I would say that there are more people unhappy with them than I've ever noticed on the Internet. The thing new with the Yaris hatch and sedan is that I really like the body style of them. I am a loyal Kia fan first but am open to looking at all brands for what's new. I am going to look at the new Nissan Versa as well as the new Dodge Caliber and the new Hyundai Accent and, of course, favorite Kia's new Rio LX sedan and Rio5 hatchwagon. The Honda Fit is so homely that one needs to look away from it after a short spell, but early reports on it are that it is the real thing for driving dynamics. So I have a certain amount of respect for Honda's job producing it. I just don't think this little Fit is the Honda I would buy for my wife and I. I could change that view if a great deal came my way but I am more interested in the new Obvio! 828/2 or the new Dodge Hornet, which, incidentally, may be built for Dodge by VW. Oh, so many choices for small car enthusiasts, all the while I'm enjoying owning one fine little SUV from Kia called a 2001 Sportage 4x4. Happy motoring and over and out. 
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...as saying Toyota means to younger people as much as it says "Mom's car." Levis suffered the same fate becoming "Mom's jeans."
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Replying to: lemko (Jun 12, 2006 5:37 am) It reminds me of the late 60s/early 70s. B-boomers were moving away from their parents GM, Ford and Mopar vehicles to buy Toyotas, Nissans and Hondas. I see a lot of first time buyers in Hyundais and Kias now. It should lay a good foundation for the future of the Koreans as their customers age and have higher incomes.
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Replying to: scott1256 (Jun 12, 2006 7:32 am) Yeah but some baby boomers have that "buy american theme" in their heads. I think Honda's are more of a generation X and even Y thing even though they are popular with some of the boomers. One advantage that Honda has had that Honda has over Toyota is that Honda has moved in terms of extertior styling to cater from the boomer to the X and than Y crowd. Toyota really doesn;t move styling wise of what a particular generation of people exterior styling wise. Thats why Toyota is stuck with the boomer crowd right now and maybe Xers that grew up on the brat pack and Madonna. The only thing Toyota has for Generation Y currently is the Scion TC. In the 90's Toyota really had nothing for the Generation X type that grew up on Pearl Jam or 2Pac. The 94-99 Celica really didn't do much on the market. The Celica for 2000 initially did well selling 52K in its first year of sales I think in the US but after that sales of the Celica fell in the US leading to its cancellation in the US market. The 93-97 and 98-02 Corolla's weren't really catered to the youth the way that Toyota's archrival Honda catered the 92-95 and 96-00 Civic to the younger set of people in the 90's. In my opinion the current Corolla while I don;t like the styling of it has won more youth buyers than the 93 or 97 Corolla but it doesn;t have the following of younger people like Mazda 3 and Honda Civic Coupe have. Maybe the 08 Corolla will have more younger buyers than the 03-07 model has had. Time will tell........ |
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Replying to: scott1256 (Jun 12, 2006 7:32 am) Well as long as Kia and Hyundai make a quality product for their younger buyers they can have customers for life. I do think Mazda, Honda, and Nissan have the best following with young people right now. The Chrysler 300 has alot of young drivers too due to the 300's popularity in rap video's and rappers that are big fans of the 300 themselves. |
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engine problems. "Toyota.....420,000 vehicles globally over a faulty engine, the latest in a string.....raised doubts over whether the automaker can maintain quality standards.." "...police investigated three Toyota officials...negligence.....allegedly shirking recalls for eight years.." See details at link. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060718/ap_on_bi_ge/japan_toyota_recall
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| Yep, toyota had its run, it was just to good to be true. All companies have their faults and toyota is beginning theirs I think. They will weather it, but I think that their position and reputation will fall. | |
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