Marketing communication: principles and practice

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CASE STUDY 13
LAUNCHING THE TOYOTA YARIS
a
Toyota is a car manufacturer with an impressive track record for producing exceptionally
high-quality products. However, few people realize that it is also the world’s third-largest
car manufacturer. As a global player, its statistics are staggering:
•
in 1999 Toyota built over 5.4 million vehicles – that’s one new car produced every six
seconds of every day
•
Toyotas are sold in more than 160 countries around the world

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•
the Corolla is the world’s best-selling car with more than 23 million sold around the globe
since the model was launched in the mid-1960s
•
every year Toyota spend over £1.5 billion on research and development, the most of
any of the major car manufacturers.
By the mid-1990s, Toyota was the market leader in Japan and a major player in the North
American market. The next area targeted for expansion was Europe, where the company
had had a historical market share of approximately 3 per cent, considerably behind the 45
per cent share enjoyed in Japan. In part, this performance resulted from the historical
voluntary quota arrangements Toyota operated under, restricting the number of vehicles
that would be imported into the European market. With the impending removal of quotas
in January 2000, the foundation was set for real expansion in this market. The strategy for
Europe focused around two key points:
1 To develop class-leading cars tailored to European tastes. This was a recognition that
European customers had separate needs from Japanese or American buyers.
2 To develop an emotional and aspirational brand. Market research identified that
reliability, Toyota’s historical strength, was not in itself enough to motivate consumers to
buy Toyota cars. Instead, purchasers were increasingly relying on brands as a statement
of themselves in all their buying behaviour. As such, Toyota needed to make its brand
values relevant to the target customers in the segments the different models sold in.
The model that marked the implementation of this strategy in Europe was the Yaris, a
supermini launched in the UK in April 1999, replacing the Starlet. Having a competitive model
in this volume-selling sector was a significant part of Toyota’s strategy for European growth.
Therefore, for this model, Toyota totally reassessed its launch activity to reflect its new
strategic direction. This case study considers the European level of this strategy before
focusing on the specific communications activity in the UK.