Toyota and the National Football League have entered into a multiyear sponsorship agreement designating Toyota as the official automotive partner of the NFL. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed, other than it is “multiyear,” says David Christ, Toyota group VP-GM. The deal was announced on Toyota social media this morning via a 30-second video from AOR Saatchi & Saatchi.
The extraordinary decision by the country’s top automaker underlines how polarizing the Games have become in Japan as COVID-19 infections rise ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony. “There are many issues with these Games that are proving difficult to be understood,” Toyota Chief Communications Officer Jun Nagata told reporters Monday.
Ford, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Honda, and Toyota said they would shut down all factories in the region, citing concerns for employees who work in close quarters building automobiles. Nissan will close U.S. factories. Hyundai shut down its Alabama plant after a worker tested positive for the virus.
Toyota Motor Corp. on Wednesday said that operations at its plants in Japan may be affected by supply chain issues linked to the new coronavirus outbreak in the coming weeks, as the global outbreak gathers pace. And, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is flagging the spread of the coronavirus and potential for a worldwide pandemic as a new risk factor for its business in China and other global operations.
Created by Saatchi & Saatchi, the ad marks the start of the larger campaign for the Highlander, which will run through mid-July.
U.S. CEO Jim Lentz told the Detroit Economic Club Wednesday that car sales fell below 30% of vehicle sales last month, and he thinks that’s close to the bottom. Nationwide, passenger car sales are on pace to be 800,000 vehicles below 2017, while truck and SUV sales should increase by the same amount.
Exclusives
Toyota recently unveiled four ads for the same car — its flagship Camry. Each ad speaks to a different audience, offering a fascinating glimpse into how race and culture figure into American advertising today.
Toyota will not advertise in Super Bowl, ending a five-year run of advertising in the big game. Jack Hollis, group VP for marketing at Toyota Motor Sales, USA, said the timing did not work out for 2017. “We’ve always had a timing of a product launch really close to the game where that could really be a strategic kick-off point,” he said. But for 2017 “we moved our strategy to late spring and summertime for two launches.”
After the Chicago Cubs broke a 108-year World Series winning drought Wednesday night, Nike and Budweiser were quick to seize on the moment. Soon after the final out during Fox’s post-game coverage, Bud aired this classic 1984 spot starring legendary Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray.
Toyota is pulling the plug on Scion, the funky upstart brand it launched in 2002 to appeal to the finicky younger buyers it was struggling to connect with on its own. The reason, according to Toyota: It’s no longer struggling to connect with those buyers. Scion will be discontinued in August, the automaker said today, and its model lineup will be folded into the Toyota brand starting with the 2017 model year.
Toyota Motor Corp.’s global sales for the first three quarters totaled 7.498 million vehicles, down 1.5% from the same period the previous year, according to numbers released Monday. Volkswagen AG of Germany sold 7.43 million vehicles, almost unchanged from the previous year, while GM sold 7.2 million vehicles, down 1%.
Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. announced Wednesday that January-June global sales totaled 5.097 million vehicles, up nearly 4% from a year earlier. Sales grew in its home Japanese market as well in the rest of Asia, U.S. and Europe. Volkswagen of Germany sold 4.97 million vehicles in the first half, outpacing General Motors Co. at 4.92 million vehicles, according to figures released earlier this month.
No injuries or crashes have been reported related to the recalls announced Wednesday. But two reports of fires are linked to one of the problems, a defective engine starter that can keep the motor running. Some vehicles were recalled for more than one problem.
Add automotive giant Toyota to the growing list of marketers prepping for Super Bowl XLVIII. The Toyota division is “definitely” buying commercial time during Fox’s telecast of the first outdoor, cold weather Super Bowl on Feb. 2, said Jack Hollis, VP-marketing for Toyota Motor Sales USA. Toyota will highlight the all-new Toyota Highlander with a 60-second spot.
The Japanese company sold 9.7 million cars and trucks worldwide in 2012, although it’s still counting. GM sold 9.29 million. Both companies saw higher sales, but Toyota’s growth was far larger as it rolled out new versions of popular models like the Camry.
Toyota said it is returning to the Super Bowl with a commercial featuring Kaley Cuoco, a star of CBS’s hit sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
The settlement — unprecedented in its size according to a plaintiff’s attorney — brings an end to claims from owners who said the value of their vehicles plunged after recalls over sudden and unintended acceleration.
Toyota Motor Co., poised to regain its title as the world’s biggest carmaker this year, said its vehicle sales may rise 2% next year to a record amount, led by demand from overseas markets. Global sales may climb to 9.91 million vehicles in 2013, it said yesterday. The maker of the Corolla and the Camry sedan estimates sales expanded 22% to a record 9.7 million this year, the biggest gain since at least 2000.
The recall of 7.43 million vehicles, spanning more than a dozen models sold around the world produced from 2005 through 2010, include the Camry, the top-selling car in the U.S. “We are not proud of recalls. But there is nothing wrong with recalls per se. Hiding anything would be the problem,” said Shigeru Hayakawa, a senior executive.
The recall affects more than a dozen models produced from 2005 through 2010. The power-window switch on the driver’s side didn’t have grease applied evenly during production, causing friction in the switch and sometimes smoke, according to Toyota.
Disasters Shrink Toyota Quarterly Profit 18.5%
Toyota Motor Corp. declined Tuesday to give a forecast for the full financial year ending March 2012, citing uncertainties stemming from the Thai floods that have disrupted supplies of parts and prompted it to cut some car production.
Toyota Motor Corp. reported an increase in global vehicle production for the first time in 12 months led by a quicker recovery in Japan. Output in August rose 10.6% to 626,817 vehicles, the first increase after the government ended subsidies for fuel- efficient cars last September and the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. That’s according to the company, which is Asia’s largest automotive manufacturer. Domestic output gained 12% to 252,374, while overseas production rose 9.8& to 374,443, it said.
Toyota Motor Corp. plans to halt exports of its Japan-made Camry sedan to North America following the launch of the redesigned version this fall. The phase out of imported Camrys, which currently account for just a sliver of U.S. sales, comes as the company races to boost local production to offset exchange rate losses.
Japan’s tsunami crisis bottomed out in July for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. and American Honda Motor Co. as the pair lost 6.9 points of market share to their Detroit and Korean rivals compared with a year ago. In a flat market, Toyota and Honda got hammered in July. But they are starting to restock U.S. dealerships, and August should be marginally better for both.
General Motors Co. outsold Toyota Motor Corp. globally in the first six months to become the world’s largest automaker after the record March earthquake disrupted production in Japan. GM sales rose 8.9% to 4.536 million units in the half-year ended June 30, the Detroit-based automaker said yesterday. That compares with 4.13 million units at second-ranked Volkswagen and 3.71 million units for Toyota, including its luxury Lexus marque and affiliates Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd., according to statements by the companie
Toyota USA signs as charter advertiser of the African-American targeted broadcast multicast network that’s set to launch Sept. 26.
General Motors is almost certain to claim the title of world’s biggest automaker this year, retaking it from Toyota, which has been hurt by production problems since the Japanese earthquake and still can’t escape the shadow of major safety recalls.
Toyota is restarting production of the Prius and two other hybrid models in Japan as Honda extends its shutdown. The Prius is made at the Tsutsumi factory in western Japan, while the two hybrid Lexus models are produced in the southern island of Kyushu. Toyota has nine other factories in Japan. Toyota has only said shutdowns will last at least until Saturday. It will have lost production of about 140,000 vehicles by then.
Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and Subaru suspended production at plants in Japan today and were assessing damage after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast, triggering a tsunami and shaking buildings as far away as Tokyo. The shutdown could affect exports to the United State.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Toyota Motor Corp. recalled 2.17 million vehicles in the United States on Thursday to address accelerator pedals that could become entrapped in floor mats or jammed in […]
Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it was recalling a wide range of models, including the IS and GS Lexus luxury models in North America and the Avensis sedan and station wagon models in Europe. The largest number of the affected vehicles was in Japan at nearly 1.3 million.
The National Football League prodded Toyota Motor Corp. to edit a television commercial, removing an image of a helmet-to-helmet tackle at a time when the effects of concussions have come under heavy scrutiny, representatives of both sides said. The Japanese automaker, one of the largest corporate advertisers, changed the TV ad after the U.S. sports league complained and warned that the spot would not be allowed to air during its highly watched games.
The automaker wil pay the money to the family of four people killed in a runaway Lexus crash that led to recalls of millions of its vehicles.
The civil penalties will settle investigations into how Toyota dealt with recalls over accelerator pedals that could get trapped in floor mats and steering relay rods that could break and lead to drivers losing control.
