Toyota's Image Remains Strong in Troubled Home Market
4 December 1998
J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Toyota's Image Remains Strong in Troubled Home Market
Purchase Intentions Increase Among Younger Buyers
AGOURA HILLS, Calif., Dec. 3 -- Despite continued economic
difficulties in the Asian market, Toyota's brand appears to remain strong as
they occupy the top position for purchase consideration, according to the
second annual J.D. Power Asia Pacific Japan Auto Image Study(SM).
The study, which includes a comprehensive brand awareness, purchase
consideration and image evaluation for 30 manufacturers and importers in the
Japanese vehicle market, comes at a time when J.D. Power and Associates Asian
forecasting group predicts Japan's 1998 light vehicle sales will be the lowest
in more than a decade.
Toyota's ranking increased by nearly four percentage points with 83
percent of survey respondents indicating they would "definitely or probably"
consider purchasing a Toyota. With the exception of Toyota, all vehicle makes
experienced a decline in the percentage of respondents who would consider
purchasing them since last year.
"The economic situation is negatively affecting the willingness of car
owners to consider purchasing a vehicle," said Aiko Morton, product manager of
the Japan Auto Image Study at J.D. Power Asia Pacific. "However, Toyota has
been able to increase consideration for its vehicles by actively recruiting
from the younger buyer segment," said Ms. Morton. "With more than 30
nameplates struggling to increase sales in a retracting market, it becomes
ever more important for manufacturers to define their image and effectively
communicate it to their target buyer group."
Respondents to the study were asked to identify each make from a battery
of 27 images out of the 30 makes. Toyota was most closely associated with the
image "environmentally friendly," followed by Mitsubishi. The study shows
that although most manufacturers have emphasized environmental preservation,
only Toyota and Mitsubishi experienced a significant increase from last year
in the number of respondents who associated the makes with this image. This
indicates one of two things: either manufacturers are not performing to the
environmental standards that are expected by the Japanese consumer, or
manufacturers are not effectively communicating their environment-oriented
activities to the Japanese car-buying public or to their target audience.
The 1998 Japan Auto Image Study is based on 1,050 responses, yielding
approximately 350 evaluations per manufacturer. The study was designed to
provide manufacturers with the tools necessary to identify their brand image
and strength, as well as to determine the level of familiarity and purchase
consideration among different respondent segments. The survey was conducted
door-to-door at random throughout nine major cities in Japan. Fieldwork was
conducted between April 21 and May 7, 1998.
J.D. Power Asia Pacific, Inc. was established in 1990 as the Asia and
Oceania branch of J.D. Power and Associates. J.D. Power Asia Pacific conducts
customer satisfaction research and consulting in the automobile, information
technology and finance industries. Information regarding J.D. Power Asia
Pacific and its products can be accessed through the World Wide Web at:
http//www.jdpower.co.jp. Media e-mail contact: amorton@jdpower.co.jp
Headquartered in Agoura Hills, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a
global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors
including market research, forecasting and customer satisfaction. The firm's
quality and satisfaction measurements are based on actual customer responses
from more than one million consumers annually.
This press release is provided for editorial use only. No advertising or
other promotional use can be made of the information in this release or J.D.
Power Asia Pacific survey results without the express prior written consent of
J.D. Power Asia Pacific.