The first half of 2008 has been a good one for Toyota. It not only became the first car company to sell over 25,000 vehicles in Australia in a single month, but it was also named the world’s most respected company and Australia’s most trusted automotive brand.
Survey results
Toyota was ranked first on the list of the world’s 1,000 most respected companies in a new global survey of consumer attitudes. 60,000 people in 27 countries completed the survey, which ranked companies by perceptions of trust, esteem, admiration and good feeling. It was the only automotive company to score in the top tier. Toyota was followed by Google, IKEA and Ferrero.
Locally, Toyota also topped the annual Australian Reader’s Digest poll as the most trusted automotive brand in the land. According to respondents, Toyota earned top spot because it consistently produced high quality models, delivered safe, reliable and economic cars and backed its product.
25,624 Toyotas sold in June
Toyota became the first car company in Australia to sell over 25,000 cars in a single month. Despite high interest rates and the rising cost of petrol, it sold 25,624 cars in June alone – the highest monthly tally ever achieved by a car company in Australia.
June’s sales took Toyota’s tally to 127,400 vehicles sold in 2008 – 60,000 more than the second-placed manufacturer. Its market share for the first half of 2008 sits at an impressive 23.5 per cent, with the Corolla being Australia’s best selling car so far this year.
Is Toyota the benchmark for car companies?
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I’m one of the Corolla buyers from the first half of 08 and I’m more than happy with the decision. I have many cars over the years, european and japanese and I must say toyota are up there. They do the simple things right and that’s what matters to the majority I spose.
I have had a Corolla and Camry for over 5 years and have found them to be fairly inexpensive to run and trouble free
After speaking with many happy Toyota owners over many years I finally changed and for the last 5 years I have only owned Toyotas. I found that Toyota are a world leader in development, with the Prius released in Japan in 1997 or 1998?, whereas Holden and Ford have only themselves to blame by continuing to build the old gas guzzlers, and not develop Hybrids, but then again, what happened to the Ecommodore leading the 2000 Olympics torch relay? buried I guess.
Although I have never owned a Toyota, I can understand why people are drawn to them because of the reliability and build quality. The one thing that continues to amaze me is that many (most?) modern Toyotas are just plain ugly.
My present Camry Wagon is now nine(9) years old and apart from normal service and tyres it has cost me ZILCH, thanks to the reliability and service of Toyota Motors..I also drive,(and have for over 15 years), Toyota buses for Community Aid and Community Transport groups. These vehicles are the most reliable and well respected in this industry .
I have also owned several other Toyota vehicles ,incl. 4WDs and as you can see I’m still a devoted and very satisfied Toyota customer.
Toyota have certainly earned the title of MOST TRUSTED AND MOST RESPECTED..
They have a great product but are let down by pathetic dealer and servicing standards.
I will not buy anything Japanese unless I have absolutely no alternative (and this is rarely the case). Why? Because: Japanese politicians are still honouring Japanese war criminals by visiting their tombs; the Japanese are wiping out Tuna and other fish stocks via long-lining; they are the recipients of millions of tons of Australian wood chips made from felled old growth trees while they maintain 70% of their own forests; they harvest about 1000 whales per year and use the excuse that they are conducting scientific studies; and the cars that they are touting as being efficient such as the Prius are no more fuel efficient than European cars powered by 2.5 to 3 L turbo diesel engines. I drive a VW Jetta and routinely achieve a fuel consumption of 4.5 to 5 L/100km.
I have owned 2 Toyotas so far in my life, and have had several in the family. First one being an ’03 Corolla Ultima, and current one which is the new Rav4.
Both of them are amazing cars, so refined and so many practical features thorugh out. Hard to find something to complain about and its a highly satisfying experience owning this brand. Mind you I have owned a VW Golf and that was one awesome car too, I rate them both up there, only problem I found was the rattles that develop with time in the Golf. I think VW should be up there too as for the money they provide as much as the much more expensive german brands yet at close to jap prices.
thanks
I have an 03 Kluger Grande. It’s the worst car I’ve ever owned! Oil Leaks; electrical faults; auto transmission constantly needs servicing. Worst thing is that the Dealer and Toyota themselves don’t want to know about it.
I have a very bad experience when I shopped in a so called No. 1 Toyota dealer. The salesman just asked me to put the deposit even though I have not seen the car. After I paid the deposit, the salesman told me that I had to wait for another month to get the car. After one week, the salesman phoned me that the colour of the car has been changed …… wow, when I tried to get back my deposite, I have to go to the Tribunal of Fair Trading Department.
Although many people told me Toyota cars are very good, I dont think I will go to such a Toyota dealer again!
I drive a (17 years old) 1991 Lexus LS400 which was purchase second hand at 15,000km in 1992. The Lexus has done over 650,000km and has not skip a beat. Only regular schedule maintenance are carried out by myself. Our Lexus has gone around Australia three times and gets driven everyday 6 days a week. The motor does not drip oil, loose oil or blow smoke and has never left me stranded in the middle of the road.
I have owned Toyotas in one form or another for the last 20 odd years and will certainly stick with the brand. They are a very reliable vehicle that just keeps on keeping on.
I have owned all types of vehicles over the years and have had Toyotas since 1991. They are reliable, well built, back up spares are never more than 2 days away. I can take off, and many times off the beaten track and not once had concern about the capability of the car.
My only wish if for a small – mid size Toyota – say Corolla size with a diesel engine. One day maybe!!
I continue to be amazed at the strong following Toyota has in this country, having driven many different models of the brand as fleet or hire cars over the last decade. A new Prado turbo-diesel I hired in NZ two years ago was possibly the worst vehicle I have driven in the last decade with uncomfortable seating (particularly in the rear), very poor handling and ride, poor hill descent capability (even in low range) and poor space efficiency. The luggage for 5 that my commodore wagon easily swallowed on leaving Australia would not fit in the rear of the Prado – leaving people nursing bags for the trip to our accomodation. I found a new Corrola to be sluggish and cramped. I have also driven the Aurion on a couple of occassions and while the engine- transmission combination is excellent I was underwhelmed by the floaty ride and excessive understeer, thought that the trim materials felt and looked quite cheap and found the driver’s seats uncomfortable on a long trip. Reliability surveys and the experience of a number of friends would indicate that this reputation is not well deserved either.
Our first Camry has just turned 21! We still own it, is now used mostly as a “family courtesy car”, and everyone agrees it still goes like a rocket. We have proudly owned it for 18 of those years, it has travelled close to 300,000 kms and needed very few repairs. Several family members bought and re-bought Camrys after seeing how reliable ours is. Is there any wonder we are now onto our third Camry (as well as 3 other Toyotas during that time) and will certainly still be driving a Toyota in the future!
Remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder…all our Camrys have been beautiful, and saved us money with their reliability, but there sure are some other ugly cars around now!!!
Based on reputation of quality build etc. I have just purchased a Toyota Aurion top of the range Presara. Very disappointed as the dash made a lot of creaking and rattling noises. I rang the service dept and they tell me this is a common fault. I took my vehicle in to be repaired and had to pay $33 for a loan car as they needed it for a full day. I now have it back and guess what. It’s better, but still creaks and rattles. I now wish i had bought a Honda!
I have packaged a number of vehicles through my employer over the past 6 years and spend many hours on country roads every week. Earlier this year, my employer, purchased a Toyota Aurion. I have to say as a motoring enthusiast, it is the most overated, uninspiring & bland motor vehicle I have ever driven. Yes it has 200kw, but what good is it if it is linked with the worst gearbox ever encountered. Whenever you power down then accelerate (eg in a roundabout) it appears to be in ‘angel gear’ forever before finding an appropriate gear. Getting stuck in this situation on the wrong side of the road whilst overtaking frightened me. I gave it back and bought the Honda.
My wife and I had a 2006 Corolla wagon until we were sideswiped by a truck on the M4 a few weeks back. We were doing 100 km/h at the time, were spun around and kept going backwards into the cabling on the median strip (the truck kept going). We didn’t suffer a bruise between us even though the car was written off. I think that’s a pretty good recommendation
Sad to read John Wilkes’ note. He will not buy Japanese because of their war history so he drives a German Folks Vagen. Come again?
I am retired and took my last company car Vienta into retirement. It is my third Camry wagon V6 (151000 Ks) and has had no parts except the usual tyres brakes etc. None of my Toyotas has ever let me down.My family have owned eleven Toyotas from Corollas, Coronas, Tarago and Camry, one of which we let go at 300,000 Ks. It used one alternator in that time, nothing else of note.
In an earlier life I was a motor mechanic and drove mostly Valiants, One ford, (never again) and took over a VN Berlina company car which physically collapsed at 85000 Ks. The worst car I ever drove.
Even though Toyota’s are great reliable cars, I find Honda’s a much better engineered car.
Always owned honda cars, for the last 10 years and their engines and build quality are a step above Toyota.
Toyota’s are too generic and boring for me.
Wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole.
There are many other car brands out there that are far better engineered with superior performance and reliability than the heavily promoted and over-priced Toyota range. That old adage – if you hear it often enough you will eventually believe it – is very fitting in this case.
Many years ago someone said that if Toyota were to put as much money into the development of their cars as they do in promoting them, they could build a good car.
I’m surprised to see so many people drawn in by their relentless promotions. I might add that popularity does not imply a good product.
Pros: reliable, cheap to maintain
Cons: overprized, bland in looks, over-confident sales people
People might want to visit JD Power website which does very comprehensive studies on automotive industry and even country specific. In terms of customer satisfaction, latest stats have it that Mazda is the brand leader in Australia, followed by Honda and Toyota. Ford and Holden are way below the average.
I did consider Toyota, Nissan, Mazda and Honda when I was looking at buying a new car early this year. Found the latest Accord to be the best amongst the rest at a very good price, loads of extras and the sales people did not demonise other brands (just told me what their car was capable of doing).
Toyota has retained the same level of quality and reliability over the past few years, only problems with that is Mazda and Honda nipping at their heels and increasing and working towards better build quality, customer service etc.
And Frank, 2nd last comment before mine… How much do other companies spend on Research and Development? toyota spends more than pretty much ANY company in R&D, over 1 Million per hour… nearly 10 billion a year… lol, as far as I’m concerned Toyota’s advertising is quite useless, and more advertising is needed to show the technological advantages Toyota has…
anyhoo… lol
Our 10 y.o Corolla delivers 15 klms/ltr better than the 2008 model, we are now up to 206,000 klms and the only problem we have had is ummmm, hang on, ummmm, thinking thinking, ummmmmm, damn, still thinking, nope, not a problem.
30 yrs ago, the NRMA said 70% of australian roads can be driven on by 2WD, well Toyota has proved that, we have gone on 4WD tracks and met other 4WD coming the other way and they give is a long stare as to what the blazes is a Corolla doing here?
When I meet up with that postman from Moonan Flat who said we can travel on this road, I will point out the road is 4WD only, Oh what a feeling.
Good one Doug, about Mr Wilkes, jolly good laugh, it reminded me of Fawlty Towers, what-ever you do, don’t mention the war, it was Hitler who got the humble bug up and running and it has killed more ppl than all those who served in the wars, hitlers revenge and the other classic useless information, it was German engineers who put the first man on the moon, after building the V2 rockets and jet fighters, the scientists were granted safe living in good ol USA in return for their theories of rocket-propelled craft.
I cannot believe this Toyota cult following ,I drive a European made car and it’s just as economical and more solid on the road than it’s japanese competitors .
I have driven a 2005 corolla and it feels like jelly compared to my car ,also it is gutless and the interior is cheap ,Japanese cars are for people who want reliability but no comfort or solid feel on the road .
The Japanese have a long way to come in terms of comfort and ride quality but most people don’t care I guess and that’s where they win ,one tells their freind it’s a fabulous car so the freind goes and buy’s one ,Like Duhhhh!!!
I was looking at buying a Toyota but decided on a Hyundai and I’m very pleased that I did.
For me, the Toyota Corolla has the best features, styling and bang for the back sedan.