(Cribbed from www.motortrend.com)
Reuters news service filed a story this week stating that Toyota has "seriously considered" launching a third brand in the U.S. to target Generation Y buyers. In Japan, Toyota has five distinct channels.
Toyota's North American sales growth has been in with older customers, lead by its premium Lexus division and conservative product line. In the numbers game, the PlayStation-weened Echo Boomers represent a population nearly as great as the Baby Boomers, and they are coming into their new-car buying years.
Seeking to attract these young consumers, Toyota established a "genesis" team tasked with seeking ways to create appropriate product, image, and services. Fruits of this creative approach can be seen on the roads in the form of the Celica, Echo, MR Spyder, and soon the Matrix. Officials have given conflicting statements in the media and private, leaving us to study the recently released official statement:
Toyota and Lexus, our two brands in the U.S., have enjoyed tremendous success in the luxury and volume car markets. Toyota is quite satisfied with the buyer profiles of each sales division.
As part of Toyota's ongoing corporate planning efforts, the company is constantly evaluating future needs. The importance of appealing to younger buyers is a high priority.
Toyota's genesis project successfully launched three youth-oriented projects in 1999 (Celica, MR2 Spyder, and ECHO). The genesis project continues to evolve, and helps guide future product and marketing plans aimed at younger car buyers. In anticipation of the launch of the Matrix crossover vehicle, Toyota is considering ways to take the genesis effort to the next level, including marketing a sub group of vehicles to specific buyers.
However, there has been no consideration to introduce an additional dealer network.
An ambiguious statement leaves wiggle room for a "genesis" brand to emerge within the current dealer network, sharing showrooms with Toyota-badged vehicles.
------------------
051/LP/SR/LD/HH
Reuters news service filed a story this week stating that Toyota has "seriously considered" launching a third brand in the U.S. to target Generation Y buyers. In Japan, Toyota has five distinct channels.
Toyota's North American sales growth has been in with older customers, lead by its premium Lexus division and conservative product line. In the numbers game, the PlayStation-weened Echo Boomers represent a population nearly as great as the Baby Boomers, and they are coming into their new-car buying years.
Seeking to attract these young consumers, Toyota established a "genesis" team tasked with seeking ways to create appropriate product, image, and services. Fruits of this creative approach can be seen on the roads in the form of the Celica, Echo, MR Spyder, and soon the Matrix. Officials have given conflicting statements in the media and private, leaving us to study the recently released official statement:
Toyota and Lexus, our two brands in the U.S., have enjoyed tremendous success in the luxury and volume car markets. Toyota is quite satisfied with the buyer profiles of each sales division.
As part of Toyota's ongoing corporate planning efforts, the company is constantly evaluating future needs. The importance of appealing to younger buyers is a high priority.
Toyota's genesis project successfully launched three youth-oriented projects in 1999 (Celica, MR2 Spyder, and ECHO). The genesis project continues to evolve, and helps guide future product and marketing plans aimed at younger car buyers. In anticipation of the launch of the Matrix crossover vehicle, Toyota is considering ways to take the genesis effort to the next level, including marketing a sub group of vehicles to specific buyers.
However, there has been no consideration to introduce an additional dealer network.
An ambiguious statement leaves wiggle room for a "genesis" brand to emerge within the current dealer network, sharing showrooms with Toyota-badged vehicles.
------------------
051/LP/SR/LD/HH
