Toyota history, 1985-2005. Options

[IGloo]

Been searching for some stuff regarding the Toyota´s premium and sports production cars, so I bumped into this article...which is (IMHO) about 120% true (unfortunately), so I wanted to share it with you all...

Anyway, I don´t know who the author is, but max respect for the article!

So here it goes...

1985. Toyota could not do anything wrong. In the important U.S. market the product line was solid. Product for product, Toyota models bested offerings from other car manufacturers. Car of the Year Awards all over the place. The Corolla GTS, MR2, Celica GTS, and Supra- the Toyota enthusiasts were well served. Toyota USA President, Mr. Togo, set personal goals for the U.S. company, and he achieved them all- Motorsports, Manufacturing, Exporting, Mini-Trucks, even Aviation !

On a visit to Japan, we learned about Toyota Global Ten: Toyota’s corporate goal for 10% of the world automotive market. In Japan, Toyota owned the industry. Aggressive expansion in Europe had begun and Toyota was on a fast learning curve. The Corolla was the best selling car in the world. The Camry was being Americanized. And the enthusiasts had their choice

By 1990, a new decade, Toyota was still on top, with a brand new division Lexus.. Toyota products were world-class products. Toyota sporty cars had the best engines in their class. Industry insiders and Trade magazines who predicted that Honda will surpass Toyota were proved wrong- if you added the Toyota truck and van sales. Honda was on track to capture the entry-level market. (Even Acura had an entry-level model, a Twin Cam.) Toyota had all it’s bases covered: Luxury, Sporty, Van, and Trucks.

Toyota , however, started to loose a generation of die-hards interested in performance cars and interesting entry-level cars. Cars that performed the best in their class. Cars with state-of-the art engines. Cars you are proud to drive. Cars you can have fun with. And can ultimately afford.


1995. Toyota remained on top of the Import market, with the Camry, SUV, and truck sales. In five years, Lexus became an award-laden and established Luxury brand. Even mighty Mercedes, the historic and iconoclastic purveyor of benchmark automobiles was forced to reposition and reinvent their stars. To achieve yearly Sales Records and Profits, Toyota concentrated on improving the Camry and trucks, gaining on new markets and keeping millions of loyal customers.

Toyota Motorsports in the U.S. had won numerous Championships, making Toyota enthusiasts real proud. Even Toyota USA , caught in the excitement continued buying out TRD Japan’s interests in TRD USA- the better to serve the U.S, market. The Supra and MR2 Turbo gained cult-like status, making Toyota enthusiasts even prouder. You almost did not miss the disappearance of the real GTS Corolla and Celica models.

A Japan visit was dismal. Japan was in Recession. At that time, Nissan and Mazda were at the brink of collapse, which would have caused Japanese and World recession. The Japanese Trade ministry “advised” Toyota about market expansion. This resulted in Toyota trying to maximize profit on model lines and unit sales, not market share. There was less emphasis on entry-level, low margin vehicles.

As Lexus continued making history in the Luxury field, Honda had entrenched and owned the entry-level and aftermarket. Even the U.S. Honda Twin Cam engines were better than U.S. Toyota’s! Toysport had to import the real Toyota Twin Cams from Japan (just like in the 80”s) to keep parity in the streets. U.S. magazine surveys showed the different Toyota car models became also-rans in their test / review categories.

Toyota Corporate in Japan and the U.S. realized the situation and the Genesis Group was formed. Record sales and profits in Toyota, overshadowed the gradual disappearance of interesting Toyota niche models.

In 2000, the new millennium, Toyota’s product line-up has lost favor with the performance enthusiast core. The Turbo and GTS models were gone. Toyota SUV’s RAV4, Highlander, 4Runner, Sequoia, and Land Cruiser represented Toyota’s commitment to the emerging market. The entry-level products were dismal and demanding attention. It would take a major impetus from Toyota to recapture the Sporty and entry-level market.


2005. The Celica and MRS /MR2 bow out. The Supra moved on 5 years ago with the Levin and Trueno. The AllTrac and GT4 Celica disappeared 6 years ago. Even in Japan, there are no more sporty Toyotas. All followed the Toyota 2000GT- gone to Toyota’s great museum in the sky, a couple left parked in our garage. Cherished orphaned nameplates now. Abandoned, decommissioned, discontinued, and seemingly given an unappreciated exit.

The 4AGE and 3SGE had been retired. The 3SGTE is hiding in some non-sporting Toyota. The 2JZGTE is soon to follow all the other great legendary Toyota Twin Cams of the performance variety: 3M, 9R, 2TG, 3TGTE, 18RG, and 7MGTE. This has got to be the lowest point in Toyota product and engine line-up for the Toyota enthusiast. The 2ZZGE is hiding under some hoods.

And you, we, all of us supposed Toyota enthusiasts and racers are to blame. The Toyota performance cars did not sell in the #s Toyota needed. Simply put, Toyota does not need our business or opinion. So do not bother calling Toyota and registering your grief or indignation, there were not enough of us to support and buy the performance products.

Toyota Marketing trounced Toyota Engineering and Product Planning. They will show you charts, projections, studies, trends, and 1000’s of reasons to shut you up. Do not despair there are still some enthusiasts in Product Planning, but It is a pure money issue. We could only wish that Toyota Marketing appreciated the legacy of the sporty Toyotas as much as the now disenfranchised Toyota enthusiasts still do.

The Toyota future looks pure Prius, SUV, and Scion. Hopefully you are brushed up with RC car technology, have 7 friends to drive around, and not adverse to flash marketing and fashion fads. Or inane limited editions or numbered series. Decals, emblems, and paint jobs do not make a car special- performance engines do. If you look hard enough, 2ZZGE engines still lurk under some hoods in generic sedan bodies. A candle in the darkness in the middle of a storm.

Eventually Toyota will be # 1 in the world. The Camry Hybrid and Lexus line will continue to high profile as the quintessential Toyota products. Toyota trucks will rule Texas. Toyota will continue posting yearly RECORD SALES. Toyota tried to emulate Chrysler and became even better than it. Toyota’s Global 10 became Global 15- the corporate goal to capture the market share percentage. Not the Toyota we loved.

Toyota will continue racing IRL, NASCAR, and F1. Maybe even dominate, as it has done before to promote the then current Twin Cams. The better to impress people who never experienced the joy of a TE27 with a 2TG, RA20 with an 18RG, AE86 with a 4AGE, ST205 and SW20 with a 3SGTE, JZA80 with the 2JZGTE. But who is the target market for all this motor sport greatness? Win on Sunday, mass transit on Monday? At least the Toyota Factory teams have fun. Paid for by the boring cars.

For Toyota enthusiasts, life is not fair. Probably, we did not make enough money to afford the …… And market dominance screws up corporate values. Money talks and enthusiasts walk. Toyota has showed their real spirit, cannot call it soul: it has become an unexciting but efficient automobile manufacturer, dependably boring, hugely profitable. Performance glorified in marketing, not under the hood. In the current season of factory 500HP luxury cars and SUVs, the high revving multi-valved supercharged turbocharged Toyota Twin Cam engines did not matter. The Nameplates that made Toyota famous and legendary (and the envy of other manufacturers) in the different international / local racing circuits and in the import show / street scene have run out of Toyota Corporate supporters.

Even TRD in Japan and the U.S., with all their good intentions will be hard pressed to change the new Toyota image, so do not blame them too- their jobs maybe next.

1985 to 2005. Twenty years of radical change in Toyota. For the Toyota enthusiasts, twenty years from the top to the buttom. The cars we love have become clichés. The Supras, Celicas, MR2s, Levins and Truenos ….. will all become “old School”. A tunnel with no light at the end…..

2025. Who knows? Or do we even care?

[IGloo]

I´m kinda guessing that there will be a lot of people who´s thoughts are (or will be) similar...

My next car is already decided to be a Lexus IS 300...it´s close to the Toyota Badge, isn´t it?