Toyota goal: Price overhaul in light of global sales slump
#1
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Toyota goal: Price overhaul in light of global sales slump
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Allscion -- an e-commerce website with news and accessories for your Scions
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123543506243454263.html
Allscion -- an e-commerce website with news and accessories for your Scions
http://www.allscion.com/store
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123543506243454263.html
Toyota Motor Corp.'s incoming president, Akio Toyoda, has a sobering message for the giant company founded by his grandfather: It has gotten too fancy for its own good...
He is expected to focus, most of all, on abandoning kakushin, or "revolutionary change," current president Katsuaki Watanabe's term for changing the way Toyota designed its cars and factories. It spawned technological advances, but led to cars that were often costlier to produce.
The 52-year-old Mr. Toyoda is also working to fix a pricing strategy that put the company at odds with some U.S. dealers, who felt its cars were getting too expensive, according to people familiar with the situation. ...
Mr. Toyoda blames more than the recession, according to people familiar with the matter. He is sending the message that his predecessors worsened the problem by straying from core ideas of thrift and efficiency.
Among other things, there's a move away from technologically sophisticated in-car gizmos like a solar-powered cooling system designed for the new Prius. ...
Akio Toyoda has long preached a traditional Toyota practice called genchi genbutsu, a leadership maxim that boils down to get out of your office and visit the source of the problem. For the past year, Mr. Toyoda has been practicing genchi genbutsu to quietly collect evidence that the company had strayed, according to people familiar with the situation. ...
They say he was particularly concerned that Messrs. (Katsuaki) Watanabe and (Mitsuo) Kino____a placed strong emphasis on achieving two trillion yen in annual operating profit, a level it passed in the year ended March 2007. ... Driven by that profit objective, Toyota executives reasoned American consumers would be willing to pay a premium for a Toyota -- a change from a long-held strategy of pricing cars at a value. ...
Cliff Cummings, a veteran southern California dealer, warned Mr. Toyoda over a steak dinner with a dozen other dealers last March that premium pricing was the wrong way to go. Toyota had built an image of sturdy affordability, "but now they were wrecking it," Mr. Cummings says he told Mr. Toyoda.
Based on subsequent conversations with the younger Mr. Toyoda and other executives, Mr. Cummings says he expects the company to overhaul its pricing strategy."
He is expected to focus, most of all, on abandoning kakushin, or "revolutionary change," current president Katsuaki Watanabe's term for changing the way Toyota designed its cars and factories. It spawned technological advances, but led to cars that were often costlier to produce.
The 52-year-old Mr. Toyoda is also working to fix a pricing strategy that put the company at odds with some U.S. dealers, who felt its cars were getting too expensive, according to people familiar with the situation. ...
Mr. Toyoda blames more than the recession, according to people familiar with the matter. He is sending the message that his predecessors worsened the problem by straying from core ideas of thrift and efficiency.
Among other things, there's a move away from technologically sophisticated in-car gizmos like a solar-powered cooling system designed for the new Prius. ...
Akio Toyoda has long preached a traditional Toyota practice called genchi genbutsu, a leadership maxim that boils down to get out of your office and visit the source of the problem. For the past year, Mr. Toyoda has been practicing genchi genbutsu to quietly collect evidence that the company had strayed, according to people familiar with the situation. ...
They say he was particularly concerned that Messrs. (Katsuaki) Watanabe and (Mitsuo) Kino____a placed strong emphasis on achieving two trillion yen in annual operating profit, a level it passed in the year ended March 2007. ... Driven by that profit objective, Toyota executives reasoned American consumers would be willing to pay a premium for a Toyota -- a change from a long-held strategy of pricing cars at a value. ...
Cliff Cummings, a veteran southern California dealer, warned Mr. Toyoda over a steak dinner with a dozen other dealers last March that premium pricing was the wrong way to go. Toyota had built an image of sturdy affordability, "but now they were wrecking it," Mr. Cummings says he told Mr. Toyoda.
Based on subsequent conversations with the younger Mr. Toyoda and other executives, Mr. Cummings says he expects the company to overhaul its pricing strategy."
#2
i guess toyota is doing the "lean" process too.
if it means cheaper toyotas with the same build quality, than that'll be great because 15,000 for a ____ing yaris is ridiculous. it doesnt even have a RPM gauge inside a manual transmission hatch when the yaris sedan auto does.
if it means cheaper toyotas with the same build quality, than that'll be great because 15,000 for a ____ing yaris is ridiculous. it doesnt even have a RPM gauge inside a manual transmission hatch when the yaris sedan auto does.
#4
Originally Posted by ricennoodle
i guess toyota is doing the "lean" process too.
if it means cheaper toyotas with the same build quality, than that'll be great because 15,000 for a flippin' yaris is ridiculous. it doesnt even have a RPM gauge inside a manual transmission hatch when the yaris sedan auto does.
if it means cheaper toyotas with the same build quality, than that'll be great because 15,000 for a flippin' yaris is ridiculous. it doesnt even have a RPM gauge inside a manual transmission hatch when the yaris sedan auto does.
I wonder if this low-price philosophy is already filtering down? A Toyota dealership near me is selling Corollas for about $1200 off plus another $2000 in rebates. That finally gets the price down to where it should be to start with.
#8
I kind of like the flex for the price. But overall the consumer will hopefully benefit from this approach to toyota.
However Toyota did bring us the Prius. I wondering if they will go away from be technologically advanced in their automobiles. I loved the features I got in the tC to start with. I chose the tC for the ipod adaptor with a stock stereo over the Mazda3.
Should be interesting to see the direction Toyota goes.
However Toyota did bring us the Prius. I wondering if they will go away from be technologically advanced in their automobiles. I loved the features I got in the tC to start with. I chose the tC for the ipod adaptor with a stock stereo over the Mazda3.
Should be interesting to see the direction Toyota goes.
#10
I think Scion will survive. I'm not sure I agree with "leaning" things out. They need to continue to strive for new technology but they need to make it affordable at the same time. But I agree car prices have climbed and at least in the American market you were getting ripped a new one. $16k for a Cobalt, lets be realistic.
#11
Originally Posted by tCb00b
I think Scion will survive. I'm not sure I agree with "leaning" things out. They need to continue to strive for new technology but they need to make it affordable at the same time. But I agree car prices have climbed and at least in the American market you were getting ripped a new one. $16k for a Cobalt, lets be realistic.
Our local chevy dealer was doing BOGO on chevy products..
If you bought a chevy silverado at sticker price you got a free chevy cobalt!
#16
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Originally Posted by Murbyrne
Originally Posted by HeavyMetalBox
Yeah I was pretty shocked to see the average msrp on a Venza is around $37000.
at$13,900 the Cube is gonna be next
#18
Why would they kill Scion? They have a great thing going here. Bring in kids with Scion. If they get a great buying experience they'll pick up a Camry or something more family oriented in the future and hopefully pick up a Lexus for retirement. It's the perfect plan. (this is just what I assume)
#19
They wont eliminate scion. Insted they will put the toyota name on scion cars and eliminate the overhead of a second company. High quality, low price. family cars, the XB should be their flag ship.
#20
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Originally Posted by Sciond
Originally Posted by Murbyrne
Originally Posted by HeavyMetalBox
Yeah I was pretty shocked to see the average msrp on a Venza is around $37000.
at$13,900 the Cube is gonna be next