7 Ways Toyota Can Recover Consumer Confidence
Jason Lancaster | Feb 10, 2010 | Comments 21
Now that some time has passed and Toyota has begun repairing vehicles, it’s likely the media firestorm around the unintended acceleration issue will settle down. While there will certainly be more mentions of this issue in the future, the immediate crisis seems to be over.
The issue for Toyota – once they get all of the cars fixed – will be re-building the confidence that consumers have lost in the Toyota brand. Here are 7 steps Toyota can take to restore their credibility:
1. Re-iterate that all new Toyotas’ will have smart throttles. The brake-to-idle system (aka “smart throttle”) is a simple software upgrade makes it impossible to have a run-away vehicle [read more about the brake-idle failsafe]. This is a feature Toyota needs to emphasize going forward.
2. Hire a celebrity. Someone that the public recognizes and who has a certain layer of trust. Someone who is instantly recognizable. Someone who is smoking hot…
Jessica Biel for Toyota spokesperson. Image copyright Maggie Jump
OK – so maybe Ms. Biel isn’t the ideal option, but Toyota shouldn’t underestimate the power of a pretty face to get consumers back on their side.
3. Improve the warranty on all Toyota vehicles. Frankly, this is a move that Toyota needs to make anyways. GM, Chrysler, Hyundai, and Kia all offer 100k mile powertrain warranties. If Toyota really is the best manufacturer in terms of quality, shouldn’t they offer a warranty that meets or beats the competition?
4. Reward loyalty. A commenter here on TundraHeadquarters.com left a suggestion that Toyota should provide current owners with a $1,000 cash voucher good towards the future purchase of a new Toyota…maybe make this a $1,000 bucks that expires after 5 years? Seems like a classy way to say you’re sorry and a savvy way to make sure your customers don’t abandon the brand when it’s time to replace a vehicle.
Toyota loyalty incentive offer - GET IT, STICKING?!
5. Focus on product. Toyota’s problems now are two-fold: first, they’ve got people questioning their quality. Luckily, Toyota has a long record of producing excellent vehicles that will overcome a lot of people’s quality concerns. However – their second (and more important) problem is that now consumers are more likely to cross-shop them.
While Toyota’s products are competitive when compared to similar models from Ford, GM, Honda, Kia, etc., they’re not nearly as competitive as they need to be to win every comparison. Ford’s Fusion, Fiesta, and Focus, and Hyundai’s Sonata win many comparisons to Toyota products, not to mention the fact that the Tundra’s design is aged compared to newer designs from Ford and Dodge. Toyota needs to emphasize product development now more than ever before.
6. Hybrids, hybrids, and more hybrids. There are three areas where Toyota has a head-and-shoulders lead on competitors:
- Resale value
- Reputation for quality
- Hybrid technology
Toyota needs to preserve these advantages by supporting the market for used Toyotas, reinvesting in product, and building a hybrid version of each and every vehicle in their lineup when it makes sense to do so.
It’s important to market hybrids that actually help the environment – the Union of Concerned Scientists released a “hybrid scorecard” last week that essentially blasted GM’s entire hybrid line-up. GM’s Chevy Malibu hybrid received a score of 3.5 out a possible 10, compared to Toyota’s Camry Hybrid with a 7.1 and the Prius with a score of 9.8. GM’s truck hybrids were all rated as “Low Hybrid Value” vehicles…so making a hybrid that isn’t much of a hybrid doesn’t make sense.
7. Give dealers more money to “make things right” with consumers. Instead of spending a billion dollars on advertising in an attempt to re-build the brand name, why not give Toyota dealers thousands of dollars in discretionary funds to fix quality problems at no charge? Toyota shouldn’t hand dealers a blank check, but giving dealership service departments the discretion to fix things under warranty as they see fit might do more to rebuild Toyota’s image than any ad.
[bonus] 8. Japan Should
Filed Under: Auto News
Thanks, Jason. I like the spin on this in trying to find ways of rebuilding instead of continuing to tear the company down.
1) I knew nothing of smart throttle until now in all the blitz that has been out there.
2) Not sure which celeb would be best to really back this right now….Drew Brees? At least it’s a recent win.
3) I’ve never had to use the warranty on the 60K so they should safely be able to match others with 100K.
4) DEFINITELY a good idea….I bought 3 within a 6-year time frame and still have all of them ranging from 43K – 130K mi. I know there are other owners out there with even more in both number and miles.
5&6) No comment
7) YES! That’s who we interface with and ultimately “blame” when things go wrong. Give them something to help us out and alleviate some stress from them as well. A solid relationship is built through service, not sales.
8) Doubt that would happen and somewhat don’t blame them. They just need to be a lot more sensitive to cultural differences.
Thanks again for taking a new spin on things.
TXTee – From your lips, the golden truth: “A solid relationship is built through service, not sales.” This should be carved into the forehead of every automotive marketing exec. I highly doubt Toyota would take the suggestion, but giving dealers the leeway to take care of good customers would sell more cars than any P.R. blitz.
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I think you make a good point about Toyota not being willing to loosen the reigns on Toyota USA in a truly meaningful way, but I think they have to do so if they want to be successful long-term. GM and Ford both have profitable overseas operations (GM China and Ford Europe), and in many ways they operate as independent partners. I think Toyota would be wise to copy that arrangement.
DREW BREES would be the perfect spokes person.
GEAUX SAINTS! WHO DAT?!!!
I’ld rather look at Jessica Biel instead of Drew Brees! But you’re right, Toyota needs a spokes-person that the public feels they can trust. Didn’t know anything about the smart throttle….a great way to restore some public confidence. I like all of your ideas Jason, its going to interesting to see if Toyota agrees with you.
All excellent examples and all very good points on what toyota should do from here on out for their loyal toyota customers to keep buying toyota and not look elsewhere in the near future. Send this article to Toyota corporate and tell them mk said to do it. Think they will listen and do exactly what you said above! Instead of Drew Brees or Jessica Biel, they should have gotten Brett Favre like Hyundai did in the super bowl ad having him be MVP of 2020, 10 years later just like the 10 year Hyundai warranty has. Very clever add just like the when Energizer battery company had Brett Favre do the commercial to show their batteries keep going and going and going! I dare say it, but the Hyundai commercials in the super bowl were very clever and rememberable. And, if I find out my new 09 Corolla (along with 2010 corollas) has a recall out just heard today about the electric power steering having issues steering the wheel, I will be shopping at a new Hyundai store near me. I was just about to highly consider buying the 09′ Hyundai Elantra over my 09′ corolla new, but I felt the Corolla had better resale value and reliability. This may change in the near future seeing as I have had 1 recall, 1 TSB, and a driver’s seat and track replaced due to it being a piece of crap moving/shaking/rattling around in the track and reclining mechanism after 3 failed attempts at repairing it all within 10K of driving my new corolla. I do agree my new 09′ corolla has very vague steering (harder to control a straight line no questions asked) since run by electronics instead of power steering fluid like all past corolla and almost all other cars have, but I cannot believe it has caused the corolla to wonder all over the road enough to cause accidents. If this is found to be true and another recall is in the future, I will have lost faith in Toyota 100% for sure. Hope this is not going to be true – sorry to change subject!
How about a sincere apology from Mr. Toyoda? Why get Brees when you can get Pacman Jones or Micheal Vick, at least then it fits the Toyota brand. The whole idea of copying other brands releations (Ford, GM, Chrysler), why not they copy everything else.
Remember, Jesus loves you. We just tolerate you.
Rich – Thank you! I’ve always dreamed that someone at Toyota will call me and say “Jason, I’d like to get your opinion…”, but the phone isn’t ringing (and probably never will). Sigh.
mk – Good call on the Hyundai ad – that got a chuckle out of the people on my couch for sure.
Anonymous – LOL. Maybe Plaxico Burress, seeing as how Toyota basically shot themselves in the foot…
Jeremy – Congrats, Saints fan!
#1 way they can recover consumer confidence is by fixing the problem. I have seen the ads saying they have shut down production just to fix the problem, it has been on TV for about two weeks now. To date I have received no notification from Toyota to bring my truck in to have the shim installed … has anyone? anyone???
Michael I already had the fix done to my 07 Crewmax. I didn’t get a notice but I emailed my dealership and they called me to set an appointment. I did and it’s done. The pedal has a slight difference in feel. It has less resistance so I find it easier to floor it. There goes mpg’s.
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As usual anonymous you start off good and then flop. Why not use another failure Howard Stern.
100k mile bumper to bumper warranty would be nice. When Lexus had their commercial showing the vehicle parking itself, I thought this is gonna be a big lawsuit in the future. I guess I was partially right. All this electronic, computerized stuff can backfire and cause problems that are very hard to fix. Not even sure the pedals are the culprits. And what happened to the Data Loggers Toyota put in their vehicles? Its supposed to provide info in the event of a crash and to help find out what was happening right before the crash.
I must say Hyundai has been doing a great job beefing up the offerings. But I still would get Toyota over them at this point. I regularly drove a friend’s Hyundai Accent in comparison to another friend’s Corolla. The Corolla is much nicer, smoother, and aesthetically appealing than the Hyundai. I haven’t compared the costs, maintenance, insurance, etc but overall wasn’t pleased with the Hyundai’s performance or the fact that the transmission kept feeling like it was slipping.
Michael – Some have received notices, but Toyota is staggering the letters because dealers can’t handle everyone asking for the fix at the same time. It’s possible your letter won’t arrive for a few weeks (I would guess Toyota is starting with the oldest cars and working backwards).
art64 – A 100k mile bumper-to-bumper would be nice, but I don’t think Toyota has to go that far. As far as I know, no manufacturer is including that type of warranty in a new vehicle. A 100k mile powertrain warranty would be sufficient I think, and it wouldn’t kill them to go to a 4yr/50k mile bumper-to-bumper…that would put a lot of pressure on the other manufacturers to do the same.
TXTee – I hear ya. I like the Sonata a lot, but I still have some doubts (unfounded, I might add). The Accent has a CVT, correct? That’s probably why it felt so weird.
Jason – I’m not sure but I told my friend to take it in and get it checked out before her warranty expired. It’s very jerky and unresponsive. She never hammers the thing so it’s not from misuse/abuse. I would try to recreate the problem to see if it occurred at certain speeds/RPMs but couldn’t duplicate it…weird!
While I believe Toyota needs to address these and other customer complaints promptly, as well as reverse the trend toward deteriorating build quality overall, they are still better than average in quality overall among the other auto manufacturers. http://autos.yahoo.com/article.....ut-toyota/
They are all great ideas, too bad Toyota does not get these messages of displeasure from it’s customers. It makes you feel like they don’t give a S#@T!!
Maybe they will when their sales start to tank.
It goes back to point 8 in the article…..so maybe you’re right Jason. They need to follow suit a bit more and realize you can’t do business the same way or it will backfire. Latest post I’ve seen says that 2 top officials had discussion with NHTSA back on January 19th and were aware of issues with pedals a year prior. I still wonder what other manufacturer has these pedals and issues because I highly doubt it’s just Toyota.
The newest Toyota problem…8000 2010 Tacoma’s are being recalled for possible faulty front drive shafts……I think that Toyota is going to be involved in quite consumer uprising, and I can’t say that they don’t deserve it.
TXTee – That Hyundai sounds like it has a CVT – continuosly variable transmission – they drive, for lack of a better word, weird. As for your 2nd comment, agreed.
Matt – Good point and good link. Thank you.
Frenchy – I’ve spoken to dealers and most people are doing OK with their Toyotas. Matt’s link and others like it show that consumers aren’t ready to explode. As for the Taco recall, I think it’s fascinating that Honda recalled 370,000 vehicles for an airbag recall a few days ago and no one says boo, yet Toyota recalls 8,000 2010 Tacos for a problem that hasn’t even begun to cause trouble yet and it makes the front page of CNN.com. Media. Hysteria.
Agree Jason media Hysteria. Same went for the Ford Hybrid brake issue which happens to be the same as the Prius. Imagine that…..
Mickey – This is what Toyota gets when they have a problem…it’s the American way, right? LOL