Toyota ramps up marketing budget
Wow what a move by Toyota. Now the thing that strikes me is this seems like something GM would do. As a matter of fact Honda and Toyota seem to be in a position like Detroit circa 1975. In 1975 Detroit had nothing that interesting to sell and just 5 to 10 years earlier had some of the greatest cars in their history . Now we have Honda and Toyota in 2010 with nothing sporty to sell except maybe the Civic Si and their lineup 5 to 10 years previous was massively better than the present or at least Toyota had the Celica and Supra which is better than what they have now.
You know we are all critics here but it seems that some of us seem to be kind of crazy to me . For one the critics keep saying the S has no torque . Well duh. It is a 4 cyl not a 8.0 liter Viper motor for heavens sake. It is like everyone that said that had been driving a V10 or V12 before the S .
Now the next one that bothers me is the Challenger reviews . The critics go in thinking a big American muscle car is going to handle like a freakin Lotus. What is up with that? I drove an R/T and I dig it for what it is. A comfortable luxury muscle car with style and attitude! This thing would be a great road trip car for 2! Imagine a 2 door Camry with this much style and attitude . I think I found what is missing at Honda and Toyota !

 

"Nothing sporty to sell" had nothing to do with the demise of Detroit automakers.

Honda is taking market share, Toyota is arguably losing it and Ford is arguably picking it back up.

There's nothing wrong with any of their lineups from a typical buyer's perspective. They just aren't offering much for the sport enthusiast (Ford excepted, since it does have the Mustang).

 

There is almost no similarity to toyota or honda and the big three after 1973.

 

Have you guys noticed the front end of many of the new toyotas look like yaris. They look very cartoonish.

 

1 BILLLLIIIIOOOONNNN DOLLARS!!!!!!

 

Sporty doesn't sell.

Reliable, low price and good on gas sells.

 

I didn't think Honda was making any market share. I though the biggest winners recently were Hyunda, VW, and Ford?

About the marketing, Toyota has had a slew of bad press recently about its quality control issues and cover ups, so its likely trying to spend its way through damage control.

 

I was lost when I hit this. Civics just arnt sporty no matter how many stickers with DOHC VTEC" you put on them (yes, I have owned 6 myself even with DOHC stickers on them).

 

Hehe.

 

You see this is where I can't understand where you guys are coming from. For one the Civic is an ECONOMY car and yes the Si is a sporty version of that but yet your are trying to make the car even though it is sporty into something its not and you guys are acting like it is a complete failure that it won't run with a V12 Lamborghini .
It is almost exactly like the Hybrid debate . The Prius is what 23 grand or more . I think that is too much money for an economy car . You could buy a Fit Sport and buy 90,000 miles worth of gas before you spend 23 grand on the Fit! And the best thing is if you get the Fit then you have no expensive battery pack to go bad on you. Downside though if you think the S2k has no torque drive a Fit and find out what REAL lack of torque is all about!
Back to Toyota though and this looks like a Detroit move to me . Slick marketing trying to boost weak product lineup! To me these companies are trying too hard with products that try to appeal to the majority of people and yet fail to appeal to a lot of folks. I think we need more niche models targeted to certain groups and the example of that is Subaru . Look how well they are doing .
And proto you did not get what I was trying to say . In 1975 Detroit had no Desireable product when just 5 to 10 years earlier they had great stuff. To me Honda and Toyota have reached the same level in 2010 . Everything desireable is and was in the past!!!