Word: toyota
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...first, it sounded like a major marketing disaster in the making. Last December, only three months after the highly touted Lexus LS400 luxury sedan had been introduced in the U.S., Toyota announced the recall of all 8,000 cars it had sold at that point. The news sent a shudder through Lexus' spanking new North American dealership network. "My first reaction was, 'Oh, my God, here comes trouble," ' says Ken Meade, owner of Lexus of Lakeside in suburban Detroit...
What happened next, however, might be called Zen and the Art of Automobile Maintenance. Toyota had taken its sweeping action on the basis of just two consumer complaints, one about a defective brake light and the other concerning a sticky cruise-control mechanism. "The company didn't run and hide," recalls Meade. "They stepped right up" and made changes in all 8,000 cars. Lexus owners did not even suffer the inconvenience of a trip to their dealership: within a few weeks, their cars were picked up, repaired and returned to them. To serve 10 Lexus owners in Grand Rapids...
...opportunity to cement our relationship with the customer right from the beginning," says Dave Illingworth, general manager of Lexus in the U.S., which picked up the undisclosed cost of the recall operation. That assiduous concern has paid off in spectacular fashion: from a cold start one year ago, Toyota's luxury division in July swept past both Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the vital U.S. auto market. Although Mercedes retook the lead during August, the Lexus performance sent shock waves through the global auto industry. BMW and Mercedes have seen their U.S. sales dip 29% and 19%, respectively, over...
...Toyota's fast trip to the top came courtesy of just two models: the $38,000 LS400, a four-door sedan powered by the first Japanese V-8 engine to hit the U.S. market; and the $21,300 ES250, a smaller, six-cylinder sedan. The bulk of sales have come from the LS400, a model that Car and Driver magazine rated as better than both the $63,000 Mercedes 420SEL and the $55,000 BMW 735i in terms of ride, handling and performance. Up against the industry's pedigreed names, Lexus has created virtually instant brand loyalty, a feat unprecedented...
...improved their fuel economy in the past 10 years, they still lag behind the Japanese. GM raised the average efficiency of its fleet from 19.1 m.p.g. in 1979 to 26.9 m.p.g. last year, while Chrysler boosted its fuel economy from 20.5 m.p.g. to 27.7 m.p.g. At the same time, Toyota raised the average economy of its models from 24 m.p.g. to 31.7 m.p.g., and Nissan from 26.8 m.p.g. to 30.2 m.p.g...