Author Archive for Jason Lancaster
Jason Lancaster is the editor and founder of TundraHeadquarters.com. He has nearly a decade of experience on the retail side of the auto industry, and another decade of experience of the part and accessory side of the industry.
Toyota Creates Unintended Acceleration A-Team
Yesterday Toyota announced their new rapid-response S.W.A.T. SMART team to deal with unintended acceleration complaints within 24 hours of being alleged. SMART – which stands for Swift Market Analysis Response Team – is supposed to contact Toyota customers within 24 hours of an unintended acceleration complaint. SMART members will schedule an on-site analysis of the customer’s vehicle, and – if necessary – bring in some Engineers from Japan to look things over.
If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The SMART Team
No, this is not an April Fool’s joke that’s 8 days late – this is real. Here’s the commentary:
Toyota’s Aggressive Sales Incentives – Risk and Reward
Toyota kicked of March with a series of aggressive incentives across the board – zero percent financing, incredibly cheap leases, and free maintenance for many new car buyers. As a result, Toyota enjoyed a 41% year-over-year sales increase in March. In order to keep up that momentum, Toyota has continued many of the incentives they launched in March.
Last week, we talked about how Toyota’s aggressive incentives in March were likely ‘pulling sales forward’, but it’s anyone’s guess as to how many sales were pulled forward and how much was simply pent-up demand. Either way, the fact that Toyota has decided to continue their incentives signals that they feel it’s time to be aggressive and ‘buy’ some business. Here are the risks and rewards that come with this strategy:
Fuel Economy Rules Set Through 2016 – What it Means for Full-size Pickups
On April 1st, the Obama administration released their final rules for vehicle emissions and fuel economy thru the 2016 model year. The big picture is that average vehicle fuel economy (as measured by the EPA) will be somewhere near 35 mpg. However, the actual fuel economy figures are going to very widely from vehicle to vehicle. First, here are some ground rules:
The Politics of Toyota’s $16 Million Dollar Fine
Yesterday, NHTSA announced a record $16.4 million dollar fine against Toyota for “failing to notify the auto safety agency of the dangerous ‘sticky pedal’ defect for at least four months.” Unfortunately, this announcement seems to be about more than penalizing Toyota for making a mistake – this move is political. Here’s why:
Incentives Wake Up Toyota Sales, But at What Cost?
Yesterday Toyota’s March sales numbers came in and they were – in a word – huge. Toyota’s aggressive March sales incentives led to a 44.7% increase year over year, considerably higher than the industry’s impressive monthly gain of 24%. While many analysts have pointed out that Toyota’s 44.7% sales increase isn’t sustainable, that’s not really the point. Of course 40%+ sales increases aren’t sustainable. Here’s the real question: Did Toyota’s decision to get aggressive on incentives kick-start the auto industry, or did they simply pull sales forward?
