Blog

What auto brands are likely to appeal to younger buyers? What's the next hip auto brand, in other words, for 18-27 year olds, a/k/a Generation Y? Scion! Toyota's offering for customizing kids. It worked. Scion has, almost since inception, had the youngest buyers in the business. A new study by TrueCar says the company still has its mojo. The study, which is based on purchase behavior of more than four million car buyers in 2009 and 2010, gave Scion, Mitsubishi and Mazda the nod as the auto brands with the highest concentration of under-27 buyers. Jesse Toprak, head of industry analysis at TrueCar, says Gen Y buyers set trends via social media. Per TrueCar data for 2009 and 2010, Scion had 21.2% of Gen Y buyers, Mitsubishi 20.3%, and Mazda 10.7%. On a model basis, Generation Y buyers opted for vehicles that were good for customizing or that made the experience easier: Scion tC, Mitsubishi Lancer and Honda Civic Si lead. "Scion targeted its vehicles from the outset to Gen Y, from styling and customization standpoint. It's a brand that was completely marketed and sold to that age group, and they succeeded," says Toprak. Toyota Yaris, Ford Focus couple, Scion xD, Volkswagen GLI, Subaru Impreza, Kia Forte and Toyota Corolla were the other vehicles in the top-ten list of cars purchased by Gen Y. Click here for the statistics!

June 29, 2011 – Chicago, Ill. – Toyota Launches National Program to Expand Efforts to Help Schools, Hospitals and Community Organizations Make the Most of Every Dollar At Clinton Global Initiative Meeting, the Company Announces It Is Donating Toyota Production System Expertise to Benefit Up to 20 Organizations in the First Year Initial Project to Focus on New Orleans Nonprofit That Expects Toyota Techniques to Help It Accelerate Post-Katrina Rebuilding Click here to read the full story.

June 28, 2011 – CINCINNATI, OH – Toyota today announced a $1 million commitment to support the national expansion of Buckle Up for Life, a safety program developed by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, to help address the extraordinarily high number of African American and Hispanic children, teens and adults killed or injured in automobile crashes. Click here to read the full story.

"Toyota has continued to take major steps to become an even more responsive, customer-focused organization – and to strengthen its leadership in automotive quality, safety and innovation. Sweeping Product Innovations & Continued Environmental Leadership - Ten new or updated models this year– including the new Prius v – with six new hybrid vehicles to market by 2012– including the plug-in electric hybrid Prius - A zero emission Toyota RAV4 electric vehicle, produced with California’sTesla Motors, due next year - New partnership with Microsoft to provide affordable, advanced vehicle “telematics” - One millionth Prius sold in the U.S. – more than 3 million sold worldwide..." To read more from the website click here!

Salesforce.com and Toyota are forming a strategic alliance to build 'Toyota Friend,' a social network for Toyota customers and their cars. Click here for the details!

Toyota has 4 of the 10 Cheapest Cars to Maintain! “Smaller is better when picking a car, based purely on upkeep, according to Vincentric, a research firm in Bingham Farms, Michigan, that calculates ownership costs for every vehicle on the market. Just look at the top 10 vehicles from the 2011 model year with the lowest maintenance and repair costs on the list: Six of them are small by U.S. standards…” click here to read the full article and find out about the 4 Toyota Cars on the list!

“Toyota has suffered a few blows recently - from the massive vehicle recall, to the production-halting natural disasters in Japan. The company has managed to stay afloat thanks to a culture of responsibility within the organization,” says one researcher. Click here to read the entire article and watch the interview with Jeffrey Liker on his book titled: "Toyota Under Fire: How Toyota Faced the Challenges of the Recall and the Recession to Come Out Stronger…"

Everybody wants to think they’ve made a great car purchase, one that will hold its value three to five years down the road, especially if it’s a family car. Kiplinger used data from Kelley Blue Book, specifically new vehicle data from 12/28/10, and resale values from January and February 2011. To win the best resale award, a vehicle had to be selected as one of the top 25 in its category, and no model could be selected if another trim of the same model won in a previous category. The Toyota built, 2011 Scion xB has the highest resale value among cars under $20,000! The safe, affordable and unique small car is a Kiplinger winner in its category for three-year resale value of 57 percent, clearly way ahead of the rest in its class. Kiplinger cites the Scion xB’s low insurance costs, 22 cubic-foot cargo space and good fuel economy as additional pluses.

Toyota Motor Corp. has regained its position as the world's most valuable auto brand despite the carmaker's massive recall campaign. Click here for the entire story! Worthy Brands World's most valuable car brands in $ billion; rank in top 100; % change 1. Toyota $24.2 -- 27 --11% 2. BMW $22.4 -- 30 -- 3% 3. Mercedes $15.3 -- 50 -- 12% 4. Honda $14.2 -- 56 -- -1% 5. Porsche $12.4 --66 -- -3% 6. Nissan $10.1 -- 88 -- 17% 7 VW $7.4 -- * -- 6% 8. Ford $7.4 -- * --5% 9. Audi $3.8 -- * -- 5% 10. Lexus $3.7 -- * --new * Did not qualify for the top 100 Source: Millward Brown

The all-new 2011 Scion tC just received a Five Star Overall Rating for crash tests! Check out this article to read more about the Scion tC!

Great news! Toyota was recently recognized for its commitment to environmental excellence by the EPA! See below for an excerpt from the press release: “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded Toyota Motor Engineering Manufacturing North America, Inc. (TEMA), with its 2011 ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award in recognition of its continued leadership in protecting the environment through energy efficiency and management. TEMA received the award at a special ceremony in Washington, D.C. today. . . ." To read the full press release, CLICK HERE.

REDMOND, Wash., and TOYOTA CITY, Japan — April 6, 2011 — Microsoft Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. (TMC) today announced they have forged a strategic partnership and plan to build a global platform for TMC’s next-generation telematics services using the Windows Azure platform. Telematics is the fusing of telecommunications and information technologies in vehicles; it can encompass GPS systems, energy management and other multimedia technologies. READ MORE. Click here to read the press conference excerpts.