I should have really said the headline implied toyota wasnt being affected, yet the figures displayed in that very article showed a reasonable drop off in the last quarter, in some cases worse than other manufacturers

Andrew M, the headline wasnt wrong, Whilst sales in Australia where down a small amount it didnt go with the trends of the world. In that Whilst overall Toyotas sales where down a few percent, they increased there market share. So there proportion of cars they sold was growing!

Too many people very quick to say that they’re crumbleing and going to fail when Toyota have one of the best organised and managed motor companys in the world. If anyones going to come out ontop, who else would it be?

“Toyota record sales defy global trends”

Today sales are “plunging”

Which one is it?
…………………………………………………..

the headline yesterday was wrong.
the figures displayed in that article contradicted what the headline said

And in a wayt Toyota have lost focus. The car on which their reputation is built on is the Corolla [makes sense its their biggest seller in oz].

Whereas in the past those looking for a small hatchback would often head straight for their local Toyota dealer and order a Corolla without even considering any other manufacturers becasue the Corolla WAS so much better than the competition

But now the competition have released a range of new small cars in the same class as the Corolla which are better value for money as they have equally as good [if not better] performance; safety; fuel efficiency; reliability; build quality; standard features etc as the Corolla does.

Which is why companies such as VW and Mazda for example have steadily made their way up the sales ladder.

The only real reason Corolla is still the best selling hatch is because almost 75% of em are rental cars.

Luckily for Toyota though ATM there is virtually nothing to comare to the Landcruiser however that is changing too

Improving the looks performance of their cars.in an attempt to make them more appealing to a wider demographic such as car enthusiasts.

Make them better value for money. There are some cars win Toyotas range such as the Corolla which used to be the Benchmark in its class but now there are so many more better alternatives/options – such as the VW Golf

Make them more technologically advanced. That is actually be the first to create or introduce an all new safety feature instead of copying BMW or Mercedes Benz.

Instead of wasting BILLIONS of dollars being an also ran in F1.

That way they wouldn’t have to rely aso much on thre smoke and mirrors they use in their advertising campaigns.

Yes ford and GM are in trouble but at least in regards to Ford and Holden [the local market] at least they have:
Spent more on Research and Development.
Introduced more “Firsts’ on an Aussie built car.
Designed and Created more Attention Grabbing Concept Cars
and won more Awards than Toyota have

Both of them have also been more successful in Australian motorsport than Toyota.

Hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahaha

How the mighty are crumbling….

Toyota losing billions, now suspending production, looks like they are train crash waiting to happen

A new Prius……….mmmmmmm thats going to pull them out of the s..t and a Prado ? Now that’s impressive! All hang on to our hats with anticipation for that to come out ! More mind numbing boring cars .

If Toyota didnt do such a great job on marketing and they had to rely on the looks of their products I doubt they would be where they are today! Good on them for that !

Their the King in marketing just like Macdonalds…..yuk!

Toyota AUSTRALIA posted Excellent results, As we are not so directly affected by the credit crunch (although read the papers and they’ll tell you otherwise)

So another country being down on sales Will of course affect the plants, wich is why they are slowing production. Toyota are not however stopping any of the major projects.. New Prius (youll see the official car at the Detroit Motor show shortly) and the New Prado! both being released this year! Unlike some of the american counterparts ditching a sale ready car before its released!

Im Sure youll see in the not so distant future toyota back on track for profits again as they produce the cars they need to make and not too many of them! The down turn happend extremely quickly and to evaluate how many cars they need to produce would be impossible at the drop of a hat.

The long and short of it is that its buisness, and sometimes youve got to make sacrifices to ensure future survival instead of clutching onto straws and running up debt.

In terms of people saying that Ford & GM build the wrong cars for the climate, I find it amusing that the new F truck has gone against the trend, and Toyota who (so we get told over here) are able to read the market and build what the public want, have a carpark in the US of 9 SUV/Pickup vs 8 passenger/ hybrid vehicles has reported their first loss the very same year (in a long long over twenty year period) that passenger vehicles outsold SUV’s.
Yet both GM & Ford saw increased sales numbers in Dec.
Interesting bunch of facts that can be split many ways to give many different points of view, No????

Quote “Toyota will be around for years after Ford and GM have either hit the wall or gone Government owned.”

You know this for a fact how ????????? Its an opinion !

Toyota have made a loss,Fact! Throw as many “buts”in there as you like !

quote “The sales slump is Toyota’s biggest in more than 25 years, and in the US at least, is worse than the declines seen at rivals General Motors and Ford.”

See what happens to braggers Dingo………….This is just the top of the slide for Toyota in 2009 ,there on their way down !

“Toyota record sales defy global trends”

Today sales are “plunging”

Which one is it?

Guess you’ve no comments now.