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Toyota owner loyalty slipping: Consumer Reports (http://www.vancouversun.com/business/fp/Toyota+owner+loyalty+slipping+Consumer+Reports/2631391/story.html - broken link)
Quote:
The number of people driving Toyotas who would think of the carmaker first when buying another vehicle declined after the company's safety recalls and ensuing bad publicity, Consumer Reports said on Friday.
Toyota slipped behind Honda Motor Co. among drivers who said they would first look at their current brand, according to Consumer Reports.
"The intense publicity surrounding Toyota's recent recalls seems to be having a pronounced effect on the company's image among its current customers," the magazine reported.
The organization reported that 60 per cent of Toyota drivers surveyed from Feb. 4 to Feb. 8 said they would consider Toyota first, down from 70 per cent in December.
Honda took first place in that section of the consumer loyalty survey, followed by Toyota, Chevrolet, with 52 per cent, and Ford, with 51 per cent.
Quote:
Asked which brand they would consider first for a new vehicle regardless of the brand they are driving now, 17 per cent of survey respondents in February and December chose Ford.
Chevrolet overtook Toyota in the February survey with 14 per cent versus 12 per cent.
Honda was favoured by 10 per cent of the respondents in February.
In December, Toyota was second with 16 per cent.
"Among the top brands, purchase intent among all consumers changed by a notable amount between the two surveys for only one brand; Toyota registered a decline of nearly four percentage points," Consumer Reports said.
I found this really interesting
Quote:
Toyota customers aged 45 and over said they were more loyal to the brand, while those 18 to 44 said they were more likely to switch to another brand, the survey showed.
The last thing Toyota needs is a fiercly loyal but aging customer base. Trends for many of their vehicles including the Camry and Avalon have shown that the average customer age is approaching 60 years old. Studies have shown that younger buyers typically do more research online than older buyers. Online user reviews and auto blogs have typically been more critical of Toyota over the last few years, as opposed to reviews in publications such as newspapers and magazines.
I remember growing up in the 80's my friend's dad (from Japan) would regularly harangue about America's lazy uneducated factory workers who cry about lost jobs and how Japanese schools, way of parenting, manufacturing & gumption were the envy of the world. He bought the 1st Lexus on the block and proudly claimed it was as luxurious as a Mercedes but would never break down. I should email him & find out what he thinks of Japanese quality now.
Honestly though, I think the problems are blown a bit out of proportion. The deaths & injuries due to the sudden acceleration scandal are horribly tragic but taken as a whole, the numbers involved are minuscule. I think the lesson to be learned from this whole sordid mess is that behemoth corporations lie, hide & evade responsibility regardless of what country they're headquartered. I'm just glad that the free market works to preserve our options, so that other auto companies like Subaru, Ford, BMW can carve out a niche & prosper.
It's not all that surprising that buyers in a younger age bracket would be more open to changing vehicle brands. I don't have brand loyalty, I just buy whatever is good for my money at the time that I'm making my purchase while meeting the requirements I set.
Brand loyalty is generally a joke. Why would I choose to ignore the fact that there are possibly better options out there for my hard earned dollar?
The thing is, these current brand-loyal older buyers used to be the non-brand-loyal younger buyers, hence the reason why age demographics plays such a huge role to automakers.
The basic premises on why someone would choose one car over another:
Price ... no Toyota advantage anymore like it was a couple decades ago.
Performance ... they're not the fastest, nor the slowest. Mid-pack, so no stand out, but handling is far from sporty. Isolated driving experience is more like it.
Style ... Toyota aims to be as inoffensive as possible. No bucktooth grills, no nostrils, no silly grins. Not much to make it stand out here, for better or worse.
Safety ... nearly all new cars are safe, so no stand out here.
Reliability ... that's where Toyota used to stand out. Alas, with the current issues and other aspects in the past decade in their quest for profits and sales numbers, one cannot be assured of this anymore.
So with the one key advantage gone, is it any wonder why folks are considering them less now?
One would argue that many of the millions of people who buy Toyota's prefer to have a safe bland driving appliance which is exactly what they will continue to provide once these recall issues are completely addressed. Toyota doesn't offer anything exciting for me to drive (and really hasn't for years) which is why I don't find them appealing, but many people just like to drive comfortable boring sedans.
One would argue that many of the millions of people who buy Toyota's prefer to have a safe bland driving appliance which is exactly what they will continue to provide once these recall issues are completely addressed. Toyota doesn't offer anything exciting for me to drive (and really hasn't for years) which is why I don't find them appealing, but many people just like to drive comfortable boring sedans.
The are not really comfortable. Not with their hard and thin seats.
The are not really comfortable. Not with their hard and thin seats.
I've never sat in a Toyota with hard/thin seats but I prefer sporty cars which generally come without sofas so I may not know what your idea of comfortable is.
I miss the Toyotas of the 1996-97 and previous years.
Breakdown-
Avalon - aside from the oil sludge issue engines, the 2003 and older models were good cars.
Camry - 1996 and older
Corolla - 1997 and older (but even the 98-02 Corollas seem to be really good cars, but not up to the 97 and older quality. I see alot of sagging headliners in the 98-02 Corollas).
I've never sat in a Toyota with hard/thin seats but I prefer sporty cars which generally come without sofas so I may not know what your idea of comfortable is.
I've ridden in my older brother's (actually sister-in-law's) Toyota Camry and my middle brother's Acura TL. They both have hard seats. Almost no give when sat on.
My Cadillacs (and Plymouth) have nice soft and large seats. The '69 Cad, especially, has very thick (original) leather seats.
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