Toyota Swot Analysis 2013

Global competition in the industry: There are many vehicle manufacturers throughout the world. A few common vehicles seen in my state are GM, Chrysler, Lexus, VW, Honda, Toyota, Ford, and Jeep. Each company tries to stay ahead of the rest. Toyota, based in Japan, for example was one of the first businesses to introduce hybrid vehicles. This was a direct result of the oil embargo. After having three oil shortages automobile manufacturers are creating more fuel efficient, environmentally friendly products.

For more than 50 years, Toyota Motor Corporation has been one of the world’s leading manufacturers of motor vehicles in the United States. It was born a Japanese company in 1935 and came to America in 1957. Now headquartered in Toyota City, Japan, it employs more than 300 thousand employees globally (Toyota Motor Corporation Company Profile, 2012). In addition Toyota is a global marketing organization. It strategically operates primarily through Japan, Asia, Europe, and North America; but its vehicles are sold in more than 170 countries and regions across the globe (Toyota Motor Corporation Company Profile, 2012). The Toyota brand is traditionally defined by brand attributes such as global leadership, innovation,

Toyota is a leading company, and for over 70 years. It has been expanding business all over the world and

Should the new Toyota president accelerate the launch scheduled for the Toyota Prius? The plan to introduce the car “at the end of 1998 with expected production of 1000 units per month…” (Reinhardt, Yao & Egawa, 2006) is an extremely aggressive and ambitious goal; but, is it in TMC’s best interest to speed up the planned launch? There is no doubt that the new president (Hiroshi Okuda) is under extreme pressure to compete in a global market, he believes the company should radically alter its image to attract new customers and gain a competitive advantage while systematically facilitating environmentally-socially responsible practices. It may very well be that TMC should push for a faster

Toyota is currently the biggest car maker in the world. Toyota’s production model has been for long the envy of Detroit’s big three and the benchmark for the auto industry. The auto market in the US has showed signs of improvement, a sign of encouragement for the company (Toyota History: Corporate and Automotive, 2011). Toyota has invested billions of dollars to develop manufacturing capabilities and supplier networks to supply those markets. Toyota has many comparative advantages over it peers: a strong operational model that generates high margins; a strong global brand synonymous for quality and a

Over the years, the U. S. auto industry's market has been experiencing fluctuations due to many reasons including: price, quality and foreign competition. General Motors Corporation (GM) which had been the leading car and truck manufacturer had been experiencing declining market share and facing stiff competition from both U.S manufacturers and foreign imports such as the Asian auto producers that included Toyota, Honda and Nissan. The main reason for increased foreign competition was that foreign cars were more fuel efficient, smaller, less expensive, and often more reliable than their American counterparts.

The natural environment such as our main natural resource for fueling our vehicles, oil, has aided in the increased sales of the Toyota Prius. Since gas prices increased in 2008, a fuel efficient car such as the Prius is economically and environmentally friendly. Toyota created the hybrid that “combines a gas engine with an electric motor” using less gas than the usual sedan. (Kotler & Armstrong, Principles of Marketing, 2010)

The Volkswagen Group (VW) is a famous Car manufacturer established in 1937, which headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. They are operating in various parts of the world, supplying vehicles to more than 150 countries across the globe including Malaysia. The greatest ratio of market share for the organization is associated with the European market, about more than 24% vehicles present in Western Europe are manufactured by the Company (VW).The management has actively pursued growth strategy as manifested through the manufacturing of diesel engines apart from the production of automobiles (Volkswagen,2013).

G. According to US News, the 2016 Toyota Prius was ranked #9 in compact cars, #5 in hybrid and electric cars, #8 in hatchbacks, and #10 in small cars (“2016 Toyota Prius | U.S. News & world report,” n.d.). It retails between $24,200 and $30,000 which is considered a compact car. “The Toyota Motor Corporation is a multinational corporation and now the world 's largest automaker in terms of sales, net worth, revenue, and profit according to Fortune Global 500. Toyota is positioned in the moderately low-price, high volume market” (“Strategic analysis of Toyota motor corporation,” 2003). They did move more into the higher-priced market with the Lexus brand and worked to fill the need for electric vehicles with the Toyota Prius. The company is diversified in various markets within the automobile industry and are able to branch out in several directions.

The company is engaged in designing, manufacturing, Assembly and sale of passenger cars, The company and its subsidiaries produce auto parts and related components through more than 50 Manufacturing companies in 27 countries and regions along with Japan. Toyota sells its cars through a network of Distributors in 170 countries and regions.

In 2009 Toyota Motors (TM) posted a net loss of $4.6 billion ("Market watch," 2014). From 2009 to 2011 Toyota encountered a number of factors contributing to their economic downturn. It began with recalling millions of vehicles, for quality related problems, followed by natural disasters hitting northeastern Japan. These disasters wiped out Toyota’s production capabilities (Tabuchi & Vlasic, 2014). While these events were occurring, the cloud of the 2008 global financial crisis was still being felt. This crisis weakened demand in the automotive industry. This weakened demand increased the competitive landscape for all automotive manufactures. This drove down automotive prices and effectively contribution margins (i.e. sold less

Currently recession is prevailing in the market so the global car sale of Toyota is showing a downward trend. Also changes in interest rates, inflation and currency rates can act both as a threat and an opportunity. Inflation rates differ from country to country for instance in Japan the inflation rate is relatively low as compared to USA. The lower the interest rate, the better its for Toyota since the

Toyota is a key player in global automotive market. Its structure constitutes if various production plants in different locations and a very strong branding which helps it capture a major market share. Like other enterprises, Toyota has several strengths and weakness which makes it what it is now. Toyota heavily invests in Research and development which helps it come up reputable product line which is spread out throughout the world because of its strengthening global distribution network however its recent product recalling, loose grip in key geographic areas and wrong allocation of resources shows that even a strong brand like Toyota has its weaknesses.

main strategy for the North American market is to aim for higher sales, while raising the proportion of locally produced automobiles. Toyota Motor Corp have reached a stage where investments made over the last several years to expand production capacity are beginning to show returns and improved profitability can be expected. Toyota’s goal is to bolster local production through additional investment, and contribute to the regional economy by expanding its operations. At present, our production capacity in North America is approximately 1.25 million units (including our joint venture with GM). However, Toyota Motor Corp plan to boost this to 1.45 million units during 2003.

One potential threat for Volkswagen is that Toyota may respond strategically by also cutting its prices. However, given Toyota’s quality problems over the past year, they will not be able to lower prices, as this possibly would create the perception of lower quality.. First and foremost, Toyota needs to ensure it handles its quality problems to its customers’ satisfaction. The auto maker needs to ensure the public perception is that Toyota is being upfront, honest, and responsible in dealing with recalls and the