Toyota Is Said to Discuss Rebates, Warranties to Lure Customers
02-12-10, 11:10 PM
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Toyota Is Said to Discuss Rebates, Warranties to Lure Customers
Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. is considering longer warranties and cash discounts to woo U.S. consumers after recalls that forced the automaker to halt sales of eight models, dealer executives familiar with the talks said.
Ideas being considered include warranties of as long as 10 years and rebates of thousands of dollars per vehicle that would start in March, said three executives from retailer groups with Toyota franchises. They declined to be identified because the discussions are private.
“Toyota has got to be aggressive on this,” Mike Maroone, chief operating officer of AutoNation Inc., the biggest U.S. retailer of the automaker’s vehicles, said in an interview yesterday at an industry conference in Orlando, Florida. “Toyota has to put a wall around its customers.”
Boosting incentives might help Toyota keep customers as it tries to recover from recalls linked to unwanted acceleration that included about 8 million vehicles worldwide. The Toyota City, Japan-based company’s U.S. sales fell 16 percent in January while the industry total rose 6.3 percent.
Mike Michels, a spokesman at Toyota’s U.S. sales unit in Torrance, California, wouldn’t comment about any planned incentives. Maroone also declined to discuss details of the plan.
Toyota’s American depositary receipts rose $1.05, or 1.4 percent, to $77.05 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The automaker has declined 8.4 percent this year.
Like Hyundai
In 1998 Hyundai Motor Co. offered an industry-leading 10- year warranty on the engine and transmission of its vehicles to neutralize consumer worries about durability. Hyundai said in 2006 it would continue the warranty at least through 2010.
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, headed by California Democrat Henry Waxman, is among three congressional panels that have scheduled hearings on Toyota’s recalls and their handling by the Transportation Department. The hearings are scheduled for Feb. 24 through March 2.
Toyota won’t offer a new warranty program until the hearings are complete, said one of the executives.
To contact the reporters on this story: Doron Levin in Southfield, Michigan, at Dlevin5@bloomberg.net
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...4iMAT.oY&pos=2
Ideas being considered include warranties of as long as 10 years and rebates of thousands of dollars per vehicle that would start in March, said three executives from retailer groups with Toyota franchises. They declined to be identified because the discussions are private.
“Toyota has got to be aggressive on this,” Mike Maroone, chief operating officer of AutoNation Inc., the biggest U.S. retailer of the automaker’s vehicles, said in an interview yesterday at an industry conference in Orlando, Florida. “Toyota has to put a wall around its customers.”
Boosting incentives might help Toyota keep customers as it tries to recover from recalls linked to unwanted acceleration that included about 8 million vehicles worldwide. The Toyota City, Japan-based company’s U.S. sales fell 16 percent in January while the industry total rose 6.3 percent.
Mike Michels, a spokesman at Toyota’s U.S. sales unit in Torrance, California, wouldn’t comment about any planned incentives. Maroone also declined to discuss details of the plan.
Toyota’s American depositary receipts rose $1.05, or 1.4 percent, to $77.05 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The automaker has declined 8.4 percent this year.
Like Hyundai
In 1998 Hyundai Motor Co. offered an industry-leading 10- year warranty on the engine and transmission of its vehicles to neutralize consumer worries about durability. Hyundai said in 2006 it would continue the warranty at least through 2010.
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, headed by California Democrat Henry Waxman, is among three congressional panels that have scheduled hearings on Toyota’s recalls and their handling by the Transportation Department. The hearings are scheduled for Feb. 24 through March 2.
Toyota won’t offer a new warranty program until the hearings are complete, said one of the executives.
To contact the reporters on this story: Doron Levin in Southfield, Michigan, at Dlevin5@bloomberg.net
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...4iMAT.oY&pos=2
02-13-10, 02:20 PM
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02-13-10, 03:05 PM
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Rumor has it that Hyundai might reduce their warranty in the next few years.
It would be the ultimate irony if Hyundai reduced their warranty while Toyota increased their warranty
.
It would be the ultimate irony if Hyundai reduced their warranty while Toyota increased their warranty
.
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02-13-10, 04:48 PM
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I think it's premature for them to even consider it.
Long warranties like Hyundai's suggest a troubled past that needs to be put to rest and shows a backing by a desperate company. That's NOT Toyota.
If people are too ignorant to think that Toyota's now suck because of a few mundane recalls, then that's their problem. Still though, going forward if Toyota can avoid more recalls and goes back to their bullet proof reputation, customers will be plentiful. It's one bad year out of decades of excellence. Most other automakers have survived many, many bad years. Actually ALL automakers except Toyota and Honda have chunks of history with bad quality/reliability records (Toyota and Honda as well if you count their early starting years).
It's just silly to think Toyota needs to do what Hyundai needed to do to win customers.
Afterall, people buy Toyota's because they don't need warranties.
Toyota could offer 200,000 mile power train warranties and the claims would still be minuscule.
Long warranties like Hyundai's suggest a troubled past that needs to be put to rest and shows a backing by a desperate company. That's NOT Toyota.
If people are too ignorant to think that Toyota's now suck because of a few mundane recalls, then that's their problem. Still though, going forward if Toyota can avoid more recalls and goes back to their bullet proof reputation, customers will be plentiful. It's one bad year out of decades of excellence. Most other automakers have survived many, many bad years. Actually ALL automakers except Toyota and Honda have chunks of history with bad quality/reliability records (Toyota and Honda as well if you count their early starting years).
It's just silly to think Toyota needs to do what Hyundai needed to do to win customers.
Afterall, people buy Toyota's because they don't need warranties.
Toyota could offer 200,000 mile power train warranties and the claims would still be minuscule.
02-13-10, 06:52 PM
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02-13-10, 06:57 PM
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02-13-10, 07:13 PM
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10/100k warranty would help toyota alot. toyota has to do whatever it takes to keep their valued customers. 10/100k warranty has a tremendous psychological impact.
Last edited by joe80; 02-13-10 at 08:59 PM.
02-13-10, 07:21 PM
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I think it's premature for them to even consider it.
Long warranties like Hyundai's suggest a troubled past that needs to be put to rest and shows a backing by a desperate company. That's NOT Toyota.
If people are too ignorant to think that Toyota's now suck because of a few mundane recalls, then that's their problem. Still though, going forward if Toyota can avoid more recalls and goes back to their bullet proof reputation, customers will be plentiful. It's one bad year out of decades of excellence. Most other automakers have survived many, many bad years. Actually ALL automakers except Toyota and Honda have chunks of history with bad quality/reliability records (Toyota and Honda as well if you count their early starting years).
It's just silly to think Toyota needs to do what Hyundai needed to do to win customers.
Afterall, people buy Toyota's because they don't need warranties.
Toyota could offer 200,000 mile power train warranties and the claims would still be minuscule.
Long warranties like Hyundai's suggest a troubled past that needs to be put to rest and shows a backing by a desperate company. That's NOT Toyota.
If people are too ignorant to think that Toyota's now suck because of a few mundane recalls, then that's their problem. Still though, going forward if Toyota can avoid more recalls and goes back to their bullet proof reputation, customers will be plentiful. It's one bad year out of decades of excellence. Most other automakers have survived many, many bad years. Actually ALL automakers except Toyota and Honda have chunks of history with bad quality/reliability records (Toyota and Honda as well if you count their early starting years).
It's just silly to think Toyota needs to do what Hyundai needed to do to win customers.
Afterall, people buy Toyota's because they don't need warranties.
Toyota could offer 200,000 mile power train warranties and the claims would still be minuscule.
02-13-10, 09:09 PM
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I think it's premature for them to even consider it.
Long warranties like Hyundai's suggest a troubled past that needs to be put to rest and shows a backing by a desperate company. That's NOT Toyota.
If people are too ignorant to think that Toyota's now suck because of a few mundane recalls, then that's their problem. Still though, going forward if Toyota can avoid more recalls and goes back to their bullet proof reputation, customers will be plentiful. It's one bad year out of decades of excellence. Most other automakers have survived many, many bad years. Actually ALL automakers except Toyota and Honda have chunks of history with bad quality/reliability records (Toyota and Honda as well if you count their early starting years).
It's just silly to think Toyota needs to do what Hyundai needed to do to win customers.
Afterall, people buy Toyota's because they don't need warranties.
Toyota could offer 200,000 mile power train warranties and the claims would still be minuscule.
Long warranties like Hyundai's suggest a troubled past that needs to be put to rest and shows a backing by a desperate company. That's NOT Toyota.
If people are too ignorant to think that Toyota's now suck because of a few mundane recalls, then that's their problem. Still though, going forward if Toyota can avoid more recalls and goes back to their bullet proof reputation, customers will be plentiful. It's one bad year out of decades of excellence. Most other automakers have survived many, many bad years. Actually ALL automakers except Toyota and Honda have chunks of history with bad quality/reliability records (Toyota and Honda as well if you count their early starting years).
It's just silly to think Toyota needs to do what Hyundai needed to do to win customers.
Afterall, people buy Toyota's because they don't need warranties.
Toyota could offer 200,000 mile power train warranties and the claims would still be minuscule.
after all this recalls after recalls do you still think toyota is a bulletproof, problem free car? I got rid of my 03 accord coupe at 35k because it started to make annoying little problems. maybe mine was a lemon, but i believe no car is safe at any miles no matter what brand it is. i've seen plenty of camry buyers complaining in their forums.
Toyota can't afford to be cocky. medias already did enough damage to toyota's brand image. i wouldn't be shocked if toyota do something drastic this year. they need to eat a humble pie and do whatever it takes to keep customers. giving out better warranty will only help their image. it only means that they are confident.