When you think of Toyota, sex appeal does not spring to mind - more likely the workhorses of suburban streets and paddocks, the
Corolla or the
LandCruiser.
Toyota hopes to change all that with the launch of its new car, the Rukus, its first attempt in this country to add some real sizzle to its dependable but plodding brand. The squat "urban utility vehicle" was to be officially unveiled last night, not to the motoring media but to 250 of Sydney's hippest at a restaurant in North Bondi, who were to see two cars painted specially by the designers Fernando Frisoni and Kirrily Johnston.Billed as a new class of car aimed at young singles and young urban families, the Rukus is the first of what
Toyota says will be a stream of vehicles aimed at niche audiences, says Mike Breen of Toyota Australia. "If you think of the Corolla or the Camry,
Toyota has always really been about vehicles with mass appeal. This is a market that we've never really explored before. It's a very focused offer and a new thing for us." For years Toyota successfully marketed itself as sellers of the everyman's car, of good quality and dependable. But even before this year's recall of US models dented those values, the halo has been slipping. Toyota is losing market share; its 23.6 per cent share of the automotive market in Australia has fallen to 20.5 per cent. The need for
Toyota to innovate and reinvigorate its brand is clear. "
Toyota Rukus is not a mass-market car: it's an acquired taste that will polarise opinions," said Scott Thompson, Toyota's marketing manager. He said it was aimed at trend-setters who had never considered a Toyota before. In the US the
Toyota Rukus was launched in 2003 as the xB under the Scion brand Toyota created specifically for younger car buyers.
Toyota Australia has elected to keep the Toyota name.
Mark Green, a partner in the ad agency Three Drunk Monkeys, worked on the
Toyota business at Saatchi & Saatchi for many years. Now he is behind the work for the
Kia Soul, another box-on-wheels type car his agency launched last year. It encouraged people to customise their cars so no two are alike - almost exactly the strategy
Toyota is using to push
Toyota Rukus onto a market that is never going to buy into a cookie-cutter corporate car brand. Fewer than 200 Souls have been sold in the past year. Green believes only a break from
Toyota's design, styling and marketing would convince those who had not considered a
Toyota to think again. "To have a genuine youth product you have to be a lot more radical than the other products. They have moved by degrees in the past with some Corollas and to an extent the
Yaris, but they are still the cars your parents would like you to drive."
Toyota Rukus Wallpapers
Toyota Rukus Wallpapers
Toyota Rukus Wallpapers
Toyota Rukus Wallpapers
