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Carsales Staff27 Feb 2009
NEWS

TRD axed on green altar?

Toyota is saying TRD was not axed to greenlight Camry Hybrid... And that technology, not performance, is the new currency for youth

Toyota Australia has rebutted suggestions its local performance division TRD was axed to greenlight Camry Hybrid.

David Buttner, Toyota's Senior Executive Director Sales and Marketing, debunked the claim this week, saying there had been no "trade-off between TRD and hybrid Camry".

TRD was established in early 2007 with the announcement of the supercharged TRD Aurion. It was the first time a TRD production car manufacturing division had been established in the Toyota world.

After adding only one extra model (the TRD Hilux, that went on sale in April 2008), the announcement to axe the operation was made just before Christmas 2008 (more here).

Speaking at the pre-Melbourne International Motor Show unveiling of the third-generation Prius and HCCV Camry Hybrid show car (more here) this week, Buttner said the TRD closure was the result of a whole-of-business review.


"At the time we went forward with [TRD] it was an appropriate thing to do. In the Australian marketplace at the moment, when you're trying to maximise the efficiency of your spend you have to look where you're going to get that biggest bang for your bucks," Buttner explained.


"To continue with the type of spend we had in the face of a very, very difficult marketplace, where a lot of those performance vehicle segments are struggling severely [was not appropriate].


"We would rather be spending our money on introducing this type of technology [hybrid Camry] into Australia, looking at what we can do down the track in terms of localisation and supporting [mainstream] manufacturing here," he said.


Initially TRD had been pitched as a strategy to bring new and younger buyers to the Toyota brand. At the launch of the go-fast Aurion, Toyota Australia's Product Management head, Peter McGregor said of TRD: "The entire business case is built around the belief that the TRD brand is going to be worth far more than the immediate sales it generates.


"That's not to say we don't expect each TRD vehicle program to turn a profit -- we do... But in the medium to long term, and not necessarily in the short term," he said.


McGregor then termed TRD the carmaker's "pinnacle brand" Down Under. He says it would attract younger buyers to Toyota, improve customer retention and "engender great brand loyalty".


Fast forward to February 2008 and boss Buttner says Toyota will now rely on technology to attract youth.


"You've got to make decisions that are suitable to the environment you operate within and ensure you're sensitive to the nuances of the marketplace... We're hoping through vehicles like concept cars that demonstrate the design capability and engineering capability; through the technology of hybrid and future technologies such as these [the 1/X concept car] that the early adopters and a much better educated youth coming... that we can bring the excitement [to the brand] through that sort of technology.


Buttner says the iQ model "if we could bring into the country at the right price" is an example of how Toyota would spice up its offering in years to come.


He stresses, however, that the closure of TRD was not a precursor or requirement for the local assembly of Camry Hybrid getting the go ahead.


"When funds are tight in a global sense in any business, you have to make the appropriate investment decisions as you go forward and we think the investment to build Camry Hybrid in Australia is a very, very positive one that embraces what's happening in the marketplace. It recognizes the shift in terms of going towards a greener Australia and the way people's minds are thinking at the moment.


"We don't look at playing one [project] against the other -- we look at the total investment we make as a company, where we invest the funds, and make our decision based on that. There's been no trade-off between TRD and hybrid Camry," he stated.


According to the sales and marketing boss, the door is not closed on locally produced special interest models, though performance models per se are now probably off limits.


In qualifying the extinction of 'Aussie' performance Toyotas, Buttner opined: "We [Toyota Australia] can be a one-stop shop... We're very focused on what can we do in our own [area of] control, Toyota Australia, to still bring innovative, exciting product into the marketplace utilising the brands that [currently] exist... [But] If you are talking about pure performance, that's a pretty fair statement."


 

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