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New Toyota Site

20 December 2000

Toyota Site Strikes a New Balance Between E-motion and E-fficiency

    TORRANCE, Calif., Dec. 20 For the first time since it was
launched in 1995, Toyota Motor Sales USA (TMS) corporate web site,
http://www.toyota.com, received a complete makeover.  The new web site
provides site visitors a more emotional interactive experience and uses new
functional technology to connect the customer to Toyota's growing line up of
cars, trucks and SUVs.
    To achieve a more emotional bond with Internet consumers, Toyota has added
animation on the home page and put more product photography throughout the
site.  "Our research told us that site visitors wanted to see more of the
vehicle, so we've increased the number of product shots," says Steve Sturm,
Vice President of Marketing for Toyota Motor Sales.
    Toyota has also put a new twist on 360-degree vehicle revolutions that
allow a vehicle shopper to take a virtual walk around a vehicle.  "We went to
great lengths to put the consumer in the vehicle and allow them to experience
the product in an environment in which they might want to imagine themselves,"
says Sturm.  "The Internet provides us with an opportunity to give the user an
emotional experience they can't necessarily get in a ten-minute test drive at
the local dealership."
    As an example, the Toyota 4Runner SUV was placed on the side of a cliff
with intricate scaffolding built around the vehicle.  The camera angles
simulate the effect of going over the edge of the cliff, which enables the
user to see the vehicle from underneath as if they were climbing the rock face
below.  The visitor can also climb inside the 4Runner and get a panoramic view
of the same scene, including gazing into a sunny sky through the sunroof.
    "Toyota.com is running from a completely new technical platform," says Irv
Miller, Vice President Office of the Web.  "We're offering consumers more
choice, convenience and control with improvements to site design, navigation
and functionality."
    More new site features include an "Assess Your Needs" section that asks
carbuyers about the type of vehicle they want, how many people it should seat,
gas mileage and price.  "It takes all those variables and shows consumers
which vehicles from Toyota's expanding product line meet their selected
criteria," says Sturm.
    "Many of the improvements we made to the site you're not even able to
see," says Sturm.  New "sniffer" technology allows the site to sense the
software capabilities of the buyer's internet browser and deliver the most
cutting edge applications possible.
    Saatchi & Saatchi, Toyota's interactive agency of record, developed the
content for the new site, working closely with Washington-based Proxicom who
developed the site architecture and facilitated all back-end development.
    After selecting their vehicle of choice, a consumer can access the
comparison module, created by Automotive Information Center (AIC), the leading
independent automotive information database.  This feature allows site
visitors to accurately compare Toyota vehicles to those of other manufacturers
and quickly summarize the Toyota advantages.  Toyota.com has been linked to
this independent comparison module since 1997.