Case study - Toyota's strategy and initiatives in Europe: the launch of the Aygo

Résumé du document

Toyota Motor Corporation is one of the most important car manufacturers in the world. In 2005, Toyota was one of the nine members of the $10 billion club, which refers to the $10 billion of net income generated in one year. And in 2006, Toyota with its 35 percent of the total market capitalization in the global automotive industry nearly overtook the American General Motors, the world's largest car manufacturer. Despite these excellent results, the company continued to set ambitious goals for the future. Thus, the Japanese firm expected to reach 15 percent global shares by 2010. However, to reach its objectives, increasing its market shares in Europe was a paramount necessity. In 1999 Toyota launched the Yaris model with success. The initial goal of reaching a European sale volume of 800,000 units was reached two years ahead. But this success was only the first step of its strategy in Europe. In July 2005, the Japanese manufacturer launched the Aygo, a 3.41-meter car, with the intention to penetrate an unexploited market, which is the minicar segment. Buyers in different countries are attracted to different product attributes, as said 'what is good for one country may not necessarily be good for another'. That's why Toyota decided to recruit 10 artists from different countries to redo the outside of the Aygo. Among the different European countries, we can see differences in the manner of which people perceive car attributes. For example, in Italy people would generally prefer the style and the design of the car. In Germany, customers are generally more interested in the performance and the reliability of the car.

Extraits

[...] But since 2001, Toyota has completed its international strategy by doing strategic joint ventures. This strategy has proved to be popular and viable vehicles for companies to edge their way into the markets of foreign countries. Generally, the foreign company can take advantage of local company by using its knowledge of the market and its supplier/distribution network. But it also permits to realise scale economies in production and thus allow cost reductions. Thus, Toyota and PSA announced a 50/50 joint venture in late 2001. [...]

[...] In my opinion the company's marketing strategy will be effective in enabling the company to meet its sales goals. One of the reasons we can think that is if we look at the figures in Exhibit 10 we can notice that the Aygo has better results than its siblings. Moreover, if we compare the launch of the Aygo and the launch of the best-seller BMW mini in 2001, we can see that the Aygo is doing as well as the Mini. [...]

[...] Indeed, TME is using the same competitive low-cost strategy[2] in all country markets where the company has a presence. All European plants apply the Toyota's Production System, which has made Toyota one of the most competitive car manufacturer of the world. Moreover, some strategic choices have to be respected by all European product managers like keeping Toyota's reputation –under any circumstances-concerning safety on board. But at the same time the division is accommodating cross-country variations because as we said before, Toyota has to face a multi-country competition. [...]

[...] Possible bibliography Science SQC, new quality control principle [Texte imprimé] : the quality strategy of Toyota / Kakuro Amasaka - 2004 Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way by Jeffrey Liker, Michael Hoseus, and Center for Quality People & Organization (Hardcover - 2008) The Boston Consulting Group on Strategy: Classic Concepts and New Perspectives by Carl W. Stern and Michael S. [...]

[...] La stratégie de Toyota et ses initiatives en Europe - le lancement de l'Aygo 1 What is competition like in the minicar segment of the European automobile industry? What do we learn about the nature and strength of the competitive pressures Toyota Motor Europe (TME) faces from doing a five- forces analysis? Toyota Motor Corporation is one of the most important car manufacturers in the world. These last years the Japanese firm had posted record growth: between 2000 and 2005 the sales units increased from 2.5 million to 7.97 million. [...]