The screen is nice, the seats are nice, the design is good, and some materials are awesome (still love that striated metal trim I saw in an F-sport model).
I think BMW might have the 3D buildings thing too, I know they have it on Euro models. But yeah, it's kind of useless. The other way could be too little info, like on my COMAND 2.0...street labels, who could ever want those? :shades:
Once the IS comes around, the C will be the oldest (heavily revised, but still W204) of the pack, if we don't get the W205 first, but I suspect it'll be a 2015 model from what I have read, also rumored to be US built.
I have to imagine the XC90 sells nowadays about as well as the GS did in 2011. As most buyers have no real use for the larger size, the more modern XC60 is an easy choice.
The C is a severe refresh. Interior is all new too. MB knows the competition is fierce, and the A4 and 3er are as popular as ever. C seems to be holding its ground anyway. It will only become more heated with a new IS, especially as that model actually sells a little outside NA.
Other market demand might dictate what versions of the IS we see. A hatch like existed before would be cool, but nobody bought them before, so planners would probably nix it fast. And there is the cabrio version that must sell a few dozen per month, but the average driver is too cautious to ever retract the top anyway.
"Toyota's January-March profit more than quadrupled to 121 billion yen ($1.5 billion), and the automaker gave upbeat forecasts, marking a solid recovery from a sales plunge caused by a tsunami in Japan.
Toyota faces an increasingly powerful Hyundai Motor Co., a resurgent General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG, which remains hard to beat in key growth markets such as China."
Almost makes ya feel bad for those posters who probably spent hours looking at sales stats a year ago to prove that Toyota was on a permanent downward trend... All that effort
the various articles broadcasting the news of Toyota's good fortunes today was one that finally mentioned a new Corolla and implied it would be introduced as a 2013......which full redesign would only be about, oh, five or six years overdue. But why is it that I haven't seen ANYTHING anywhere else about the new Corolla?
And on a broader note, will this be Toyota's new MO now - playing catch-up instead of leading the pack? For a company this gigantic, that may be the only available play - give the customer just enough but never an extra helping. I miss the Toyota of the old days, even as I respect the enormous work it must be to keep a company this big going without falling on the rocks. And they still make decent cars, they just don't make any great ones, at least not ones with a Toyota or Scion badge. And no the FRS won't change my mind about that, as any greatness it has will be solely attributable to Subaru, not Toyota itself.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Honda blinked, and many now view the Elantra as the segment leader for import brands. 40 mpg with either trans, heated rear seats standard on the Limited models. I was reading an article about how much higher their average transaction cost is vs. Toyota and Honda. WAY higher, several grand higher.
Shoot, remember when the Hyundai was the cheaper car? Not long ago.
So I'm sure they are well aware. Make it nice and get people in to loaded up ones, and you might actually make profits on small cars.
Bunt like Honda did, and it'll be rental fleets and fire sale discounts.
Not surprisingly, Toyota continues to dominate other automakers in total hybrid sales and models offered. Its rival Honda, for example, has sold 800,000 hybrids worldwide as of the end of 2011. Honda currently sells seven hybrid models, including the CR-Z, Insight, and Civic Hybrid, with the Acura ILX hybrid on the way.
The study says that BMW’s brand value rose ten percent year-over-year to $24.6 billion, while Toyota’s brand value sank ten percent to $21.8 billion. That’s something of a shake-up: Toyota was ranked as the most valuable brand from 2006 to 2009, and in 2011. BMW temporarily nabbed the top spot in 2010.
Rankings:
#1 - BMW #2 - Toyota #3 - Mercedes #4 - Honda #5 - Nissan #6 - VW #7 - Ford #8 - Audi #9 - Hyundai #10 - Lexus
But most of the first and even parts of the second world, I think. Not as successful as the competition in most, but it has a much broader footprint now.
Can't see how it is really distinguished from Toyota though.
This article really doesn't say anything. One of the components of the "valuation" comes from interviews with people where they ask "which brand is more valuable?"
This boom could just be pent up demand from a few years of people not buying - finally replacing out of necessity/attrition rather than impulse, unlike in the oughts.
I always love it when the Toyota hate club constantly accuses CR of giving Toyota a free pass.
I also enjoy noting that they only show up when there is any bad news, or if someone claims they have a problem with a Lexus or Toyota, they are right there! This just happened on another board - someone had a complaint about a Lexus, and sure enough, the hate group shows up!
RAV4 is 2 cars, too. Europe gets a SWB. We only get the LWB model. It's a lot longer/bigger.
They may ask themselves why mess with it if it's selling well, and not overlapping with the Highlander (which also did well)?
I'd like to see a bunch of changes - DI, 6EAT or CVT, and a lift gate instead of the door that swings the wrong way. I don't even like it very much, which is why I'm shocked about how well it's selling at its age.
I can deal with cheap plastics for the price (not on loaded models, though). It's pulling up to a curb and opening the rear only to find it blocks the curb that was a deal killer for me. Been that way for 3 generations of RAV4.
Honda fixed that on the gen 3 CR-V, and guess what? Today it's the best selling SUV in the market. Gen 4 continues that trend.
Could be. A lot of people bought new cars after WWII because their current cars were pretty much shot. I beleive the average age of a car during WWII was 7 years-old which was ancient then. The newest car in my fleet is five years-old, but it's a long, long way from needing to be replaced. My 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis crossed the 100K barrier two Saturdays ago.
A 7 year old car in 1945 would be like a 25 year old car today. Back then you were amazing if you could nurse something alone to 100K, and engine overhauls every 20-25K or so would be no fun.
My E55 is 10 years old, doesn't feel old or look old.
"Camry and Corolla did amazing volume. Corolla still has an antique for an auto trans, so that's mind boggling"
And people constantly bash it. Take a look at CR real world mpg a few months ago - Corolla still one of the best, beat only by a hybrid and a diesel in it's class. The latest CR that just came out also listed the Corolla mpg as just about #1 in it's class. Just imagine if it had a 5/6 speed auto.
My Dad was telling me that when shopping used cars in the 1950s, if a car had 50K on it, it was considered "shot." He'd tell the seller the car probably needed valves and rings and such just to get it in satisfactory condition and he'd want to look at something else. Not only that, the dealers were often crooked and would pull all kinds of stunts to mask a car's maladies such a stuffing a manual transmission full of sawdust to mask trouble with the gears. There were no consumer protections back then. If you bought a dog, you were stuck.
I think in prewar days, someone running a car to 100K would make the local paper, and probably would be after 2 or more engine rebuilds. Even through the 60s, it seems overhauls by 50K were routine - can't imagine that now! There's been a lot of devolution in the past 40 years, but machines anyway are better than ever in terms of durability and ease of service.
It is easy to armchair quarterback. But my guesses:
1. Small cars = low profit margins. But with the Corolla, since it is older technology, you have already amortized the costs, so this thing is making Toyota big money, compared to the other manufacturers' comparable cars. And, after all, the income is what matters to a company, right?
2. Since the Corolla is selling extremely well, then why spend the extra $ earlier than you have to? Good business sense here.
3. Since the Corolla already is one of the tops in fuel efficiency (even with that horrible 4 speed ), then why bother?
4. The Corolla is also pretty quite at speed, so the extra ratios are not going to be that big of a benefit in NVH.
No question about it, Toyota (like any company) has made some mistakes, but they learn and react quickly. I don't think the Corolla not currently having a 5/6 speed auto is a mistake, nor is it arrogance. A thorough study of TMC will show you that they are VERY well run. I like my Toyota stock, especially since I bought it at the height of the sudden-acceleration joke, media story, b.s., etc. :shades:
Comments
Just read an article on the XC90, which came out in 2003! Yikes...
The XC60 is doing well and prices overlap, which tells you how old big brother is.
I think BMW might have the 3D buildings thing too, I know they have it on Euro models. But yeah, it's kind of useless. The other way could be too little info, like on my COMAND 2.0...street labels, who could ever want those? :shades:
Once the IS comes around, the C will be the oldest (heavily revised, but still W204) of the pack, if we don't get the W205 first, but I suspect it'll be a 2015 model from what I have read, also rumored to be US built.
And the coupe is new.
Wonder if the IS will come in other body styles? I like the IS SportCross or whatever it was called, but it only came in automatic. Boo.
Other market demand might dictate what versions of the IS we see. A hatch like existed before would be cool, but nobody bought them before, so planners would probably nix it fast. And there is the cabrio version that must sell a few dozen per month, but the average driver is too cautious to ever retract the top anyway.
Toyota faces an increasingly powerful Hyundai Motor Co., a resurgent General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG, which remains hard to beat in key growth markets such as China."
Toyota's quarterly profit quadruples on recovery (Detroit News)
Should we change the thread title to "Is Toyota's hot streak sustainable?".
And for the past couple of months? Not a peep.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-10/toyota-tops-gm-in-global-vehicle-sales-- in-year-s-first-quarter.html
Now xlu's gone for good.
And on a broader note, will this be Toyota's new MO now - playing catch-up instead of leading the pack? For a company this gigantic, that may be the only available play - give the customer just enough but never an extra helping. I miss the Toyota of the old days, even as I respect the enormous work it must be to keep a company this big going without falling on the rocks. And they still make decent cars, they just don't make any great ones, at least not ones with a Toyota or Scion badge. And no the FRS won't change my mind about that, as any greatness it has will be solely attributable to Subaru, not Toyota itself.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Shoot, remember when the Hyundai was the cheaper car? Not long ago.
So I'm sure they are well aware. Make it nice and get people in to loaded up ones, and you might actually make profits on small cars.
Bunt like Honda did, and it'll be rental fleets and fire sale discounts.
Not surprisingly, Toyota continues to dominate other automakers in total hybrid sales and models offered. Its rival Honda, for example, has sold 800,000 hybrids worldwide as of the end of 2011. Honda currently sells seven hybrid models, including the CR-Z, Insight, and Civic Hybrid, with the Acura ILX hybrid on the way.
That's quite the head start...
The study says that BMW’s brand value rose ten percent year-over-year to $24.6 billion, while Toyota’s brand value sank ten percent to $21.8 billion. That’s something of a shake-up: Toyota was ranked as the most valuable brand from 2006 to 2009, and in 2011. BMW temporarily nabbed the top spot in 2010.
Rankings:
#1 - BMW
#2 - Toyota
#3 - Mercedes
#4 - Honda
#5 - Nissan
#6 - VW
#7 - Ford
#8 - Audi
#9 - Hyundai
#10 - Lexus
I found it odd to see Toyota and Lexus broken up as well, but Lexus only has a few markets that it is offered in.
Can't see how it is really distinguished from Toyota though.
Then again, add Mini to BMW's numbers, too.
Imagine Volvo.
I don't think his real name would have done as well as Ralph Lauren has.
Way above supply-choked 2011 but also way above 2010 levels.
Market is up 17% as of now, but that could change.
It was a good month.
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2012/05/carscom-recommends-the-2012-toyota-pr- ius-c.html
Cars.com defends the Prius c when CR said they didn't like it.
Let's see who is right.
Or maybe one of them means Toyota/Lexus combined, the other means just Toyota the division.
So much for my theory that the $3000 price advantage on Altimas would hurt Camry sales, supposedly it had a stellar month.
Ford up 13%
GM up 11%
VW up 28%
Nissan up 16.4%
Infiniti up 65.8%
Man how long has it been since all those major brands have been up in the same month?
Sales rate is supposed to be at 14.5M.
Maybe the auto industry will finally recover for real. Great for Edmunds. Great for everyone.
Ironic, eh?
This boom could just be pent up demand from a few years of people not buying - finally replacing out of necessity/attrition rather than impulse, unlike in the oughts.
I also enjoy noting that they only show up when there is any bad news, or if someone claims they have a problem with a Lexus or Toyota, they are right there! This just happened on another board - someone had a complaint about a Lexus, and sure enough, the hate group shows up!
Totally meaningless, of course.
JD Power reliability survey 2012 - the best car brands
Prius was absolutely red hot, more than tripling sales.
So even accounting for 3 models, they're still up.
Camry and Corolla did amazing volume. Corolla still has an antique for an auto trans, so that's mind boggling.
Avalon was down but the replacement is due any day now. tC also down, I liked the previous one better.
HS way down but that's because it's being phased out.
RAV4 (4 bangers still have the same 4EAT from the Corolla) and Highlander are still on fire.
Venza only up slightly, so it's kinda cold. They just toned down the nose, wonder if that'll help?
Interesting that the Prius and the Land Cruiser/LX were among the top gainers, given they are the most and least fuel efficient in the lineup.
I'm curious what is going to happen with the next RAV4, especially with the improvements and resulting success of the new CR-V.
Ownership Satisfaction - I guess Jag is the best at pampering.
They may ask themselves why mess with it if it's selling well, and not overlapping with the Highlander (which also did well)?
I'd like to see a bunch of changes - DI, 6EAT or CVT, and a lift gate instead of the door that swings the wrong way. I don't even like it very much, which is why I'm shocked about how well it's selling at its age.
It's that V6...
#1 on my list would be an interior worthy of the pricetag...
Honda fixed that on the gen 3 CR-V, and guess what? Today it's the best selling SUV in the market. Gen 4 continues that trend.
Fix it, Toyota.
Cash for Clunkers was interesting because all it did was pull a few purchases forward, then we suffered the hang over shortly after.
My E55 is 10 years old, doesn't feel old or look old.
And people constantly bash it. Take a look at CR real world mpg a few months ago - Corolla still one of the best, beat only by a hybrid and a diesel in it's class. The latest CR that just came out also listed the Corolla mpg as just about #1 in it's class. Just imagine if it had a 5/6 speed auto.
So why doesn't it? Maybe their joint venture with GM taught Toyota management arrogance???
1. Small cars = low profit margins. But with the Corolla, since it is older technology, you have already amortized the costs, so this thing is making Toyota big money, compared to the other manufacturers' comparable cars. And, after all, the income is what matters to a company, right?
2. Since the Corolla is selling extremely well, then why spend the extra $ earlier than you have to? Good business sense here.
3. Since the Corolla already is one of the tops in fuel efficiency (even with that horrible 4 speed
4. The Corolla is also pretty quite at speed, so the extra ratios are not going to be that big of a benefit in NVH.
No question about it, Toyota (like any company) has made some mistakes, but they learn and react quickly. I don't think the Corolla not currently having a 5/6 speed auto is a mistake, nor is it arrogance. A thorough study of TMC will show you that they are VERY well run. I like my Toyota stock, especially since I bought it at the height of the sudden-acceleration joke, media story, b.s., etc. :shades:
Lone exception - Mazda3 SkyActiv.
I'm glad someone leap-frogged them because maybe that will wake them up.