A

Project
On
“A Marketing Strategies of Toyota Company”
Submitted to
Asia Pacific Institute of Business Administration
Faculty of Management
In partial fulfilment of the requirement of the award for the degree of Bachelor
of Business Administration

Gujarat University
Under the guidance of

Prof.Vandana Jaisinghani

Submitted by

NAME ENROLMENT NUMBER

Prajapati KeyurKumar DipakBhai 202010101496

1
 DECLARATION

I, ‘Prajapati KeyurKumar DipakBhai hereby declare that the report for Project entitled
Toyota Company is a result of my own work and my indebtedness to other work
publications, references, if any, have been duly acknowledged.

Place: Ahmedabad
Date:

Name and Signature of Principal

Name and Signature of Project Guide

2
 CERTIFICATE

“It is to certify that this Project Report Titled “Toyota Company” is the Bonafide work of
‘Prajapati KeyurKumar DipakBhai who carried out the research under my supervision.

Dr. Bharti Vidhani Name and Signature of Project Guide

Principal I/C

Date:

Place: Ahmedabad

3
 PREFACE
There is a famous saying “The theory without practical is lame and practical without theory
is blind.”

This project report is accompanied with practical experiences to add some worthiness
to education. This practical in B.B.A program developer competencies of business
world. Thus, we have a practical outlook of the managerial experts and witness the
function of management in real business.

My work in this project is, therefore, a humble attempt towards this end, In spite of my best
efforts, there may be errors or omissions, which may please be excused.

This information furnished here is correct and true according to us.

4
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

“The success of any person is not only his hard work but it is also the support and co-operation one gets
for success”.

Apart from an individual effort, the success of any project depends largely on
encouragement and guidelines of many others. We take this opportunity to express
our gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful
completion of this project.

My deep gratitude to everyone who gave their precious time by filling our survey and help us
in successfully completing this project.

I would also like to thank Dr. Bharti Vidhani, Principal I/C, of management for giving us a
peaceful and calm atmosphere to help in our Study, and make this report.

“Vandana Jaisinghani” Faculty of Asia Pacific Institute of Business Administration my

GUIDE who helped me with successful completion of project and give valuable
suggestions and opinions for the project.

I express my Gratitude to the Asia Pacific Institute of Business Administration support

and the environment it has provided.

5
 INDEX

NO. TOPIC Pg.No

1. Declaration 2
2. Certificate 3
3. Preface 4
4. Acknowledgement 5
5. (A) COMPANY PROFILE
6. Brief History 7
7. Mission & vision 8
8. Products 9
9. Organizational structure 10
10. Location issues 12
11. Awards & Achievements 13
12. (C) Social Responsibility 15.
13. Future plans of the Organization 17.
14. MARKETING
15. Product 18.
16. Marketing staff and structure 19.
17. Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning 21.
18. Branding Efforts 23.
19. Stage of PLC 24.
20. Product hierarchy, line and mix 25.
21. Competitor and their strategies 26.
22. Pricing policies 28.
23. Marketing channels and distribution networks 29.
24. Promotion Products 30.
25. Developing new product 31.
26. Marketing research activities 32.
27. Social responsibility of marketing 33.
28. Research Methodology 34.
29. Data Analysis 35.
30. Conclusion 36.
31. Bibliography 37.

6
 TOYOTA COMPANY

(A)COMPANY PROFILE
Brief History
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Sakichi Toyoda invented Japan's first power loom,
revolutionizing the country's textile industry. January 1918 saw him create the Toyoda Spinning
and Weaving Company, and with the help of his son, Kiichiro Toyoda, Sakichi fulfilled his
lifelong dream of building an automatic loom in 1924. The establishment of Toyoda Automatic
Loom Works followed in 1926. Kiichiro was also an innovator, and visits he made to Europe and
the USA in the 1920s introduced him to the automotive industry. With the £100,000 that Sakichi
Toyoda received for selling the patent rights of his automatic loom, Kiichiro laid the foundations
of Toyota Motor Corporation, which was established in 1937.

One of the greatest legacies left by Kiichiro Toyoda, apart from TMC itself, is the Toyota
Production System. Kiichiro's "just- in-time" philosophy - producing only precise quantities of
already ordered items with the absolute minimum of waste - was a key factor in the system's
development. Progressively, the Toyota Production System began to be adopted by the automotive
industry across the world. Weaving History Rising from the ashes of industrial upheaval in post-
war Japan, Toyota has become the largest vehicle manufacturer in Japan with over 40% market
share. Toyota began to make inroads into foreign markets in the late 1950s. The first Crown models
arrived in the USA in 1957, and by 1965, with models such as the Corolla, Toyota began to build
its reputation and sales to rival those of domestic producers.
7
 Mission & vision

Toyota’s corporate mission is “to make ever-better cars, to build a future where everyone has the
freedom to move.” This mission statement is a combination of the company’s official statements
regarding the mission of its business: “to build a future where everyone has the freedom to move”
and “to make ever-better cars.” Toyota’s corporate mission statement has the following key
elements that reflect the enterprise and the purpose and goals of its business:

1. Make ever-better cars

2. Build an inclusive future
3. Freedom to move for everyone

Toyota’s corporate vision statement indicates the company’s long-term strategic plan in the
automobile industry. This vision statement reads, “Toyota will lead the future mobility society,
enriching lives around the world with the safest and most responsible ways of moving people.
Through our commitment to quality, ceaseless innovation, and respect for the planet, we strive to
exceed expectations and be rewarded with a smile. We will meet challenging goals by engaging
the talent and passion of people who believe there is always a better way.” This vision entails
industry leadership, as well as the various principles and ideals that the company applies to ensure
the competitiveness of its automotive products. Toyota’s corporate vision has the following key
elements that reflect the future strategic direction of the business:

1. Global leadership in safe and responsible mobility

2. Exceptional quality, innovation, and respect for the planet
3. Engagement with talented and passionate people

8
 Product
Toyota Industries Corporation engages in a wide variety of businesses including automobile
(vehicles, engines, car air-conditioning compressors, and car electronics), materials handling
equipment, and textile machinery.

Product List
Toyota Fj Cruiser
Toyota Fortuner
Toyota Rush
Toyota Prado
Toyota Rav4
Toyota Land Cruiser
Toyota Avanza
Toyota Avanza Veloz
Toyota Innova
Toyota Wish
Toyota Alphard
Toyota Previa
Toyota Hiace
Toyota Hilux
Toyota FT-86 G Sports Concept
Toyota FT-CH Concept
Toyota Sports EV Twin
Toyota Prius C concept

9
 Organizational structure

Toyota Motor Corporation’s organizational structure is based on the varied business operations of
the company around the world. As one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers, Toyota
employs its organizational structure to support business goals and strategic direction. This structure
is also linked to the traditional organizational structures used in Japanese businesses. The
effectiveness of Toyota in maintaining a strong global presence shows its ability to use its
organizational structure to maximize efficiency and capacity utilization. In essence, this
organizational structure is a contributor to Toyota’s success in the global market.

Toyota Motor Corporation’s organizational structure defines the patterns or arrangements in the
firm’s resources and processes. This corporate structure facilitates the company’s effective and
efficient business management.

Toyota has a divisional organizational structure. This structure underwent significant changes in
2013. This was seen as a response to the safety issues and corresponding product recalls that started
in 2009. In the old organizational structure, Toyota had a strong centralized global hierarchy that
was more like a spoke-and-wheel structure. The company’s headquarters in Japan made all the
major decisions. Individual business units did not communicate with each other, and all
communications had to go through the headquarters. However, this organizational structure was
widely criticized for slow response times to address safety issues. After the reorganization that was
implemented in 2013, Toyota’s new organizational structure now has the following main
characteristics:

1. Global hierarchy

2. Geographic divisions
3. Product-based divisions

1. Global Hierarchy. Toyota still maintains its global hierarchy despite its reorganization in 2013.
However, in the current organizational structure, the company has increased the decision-making
power of regional heads and business unit heads. In essence, Toyota’s decision-making processes
became less centralized. Nonetheless, all business unit heads report to the firm’s global
headquarters in Japan.

10
2. Geographic Divisions. Toyota’s new organizational structure has eight regional divisions
(Japan, North America, Europe, East Asia and Oceania, China, Asia and Middle East, Africa, and
Latin America and Caribbean). Each regional head reports to the company’s headquarters.
Through these regional divisions, the organizational structure enables Toyota to improve products
and services according to regional market conditions.

3. Product-based Divisions. Another feature of Toyota’s organizational structure is the set of

product-based divisions. The company has four of these divisions: (a) Lexus International, (b)
Toyota No. 1 for operations in North America, Europe and Japan, (c) Toyota No. 2 for operations
in all other regions, and (d) Unit Center, which is responsible for engine, transmission and other
related operations. This feature of Toyota’s organizational structure supports development of
brands and product lines.

Toyota’s new organizational structure provides a greater degree of flexibility compared to the old
centralized hierarchical organizational structure. With this new structure, the company is now
more capable of responding to regional market conditions. This flexibility empowers Toyota to
speedily respond to issues and to provide higher quality products. However, the increased decision-
making power of regional heads has reduced headquarters’ control over the global organization.
Still, this organizational structure facilitates business resilience and continued grow.

11
 Location issues

It would be difficult to overstate Toyota’s role in shaping the modern approach to quality
improvement. Beginning in the early 1960s, Toyota, together with its supplier companies,
pioneered numerous quality improvement methodologies, providing the operational basis for
Japanese total quality control. TQC, in turn, provided the basic building blocks for the Six Sigma
methodology, which has been actively embraced by leading U.S. companies such as GE and
Boeing. In the 1960s, Toyota management began to understand the critical links between quality,
customer satisfaction and profit. The importance of these connections became deeply rooted in
Toyota’s management philosophy and an integral part of the company’s employee training and
growth. Quality emerged as a central element in Toyota’s global strategy and became embedded
in the renowned Toyota production system. In this context, referring to Toyota’s recent quality
problems as a “fall from grace” is not an exaggeration.

Toyota’s quality problems in the United States were signaled with the initial recall in late 2009 for
problems with floor mats, but they didn’t end there. Over the next four months, the company
recalled 3.4 million more vehicles in three separate recalls over and above the initial 3.8 million,
for a total of more than 7 million. There were several issues: potentially sticky gas pedals, pedal
entrapment and software glitches that affected braking on some models.

Back in 2006, well before Toyota’s difficulties became public, the company’s management
commissioned a survey of U.S. consumers that included the following question: How much
influence does having a recall on your current vehicle have on subsequently purchasing that same
automotive brand again? At the time, 11% of U.S. car owners said a recall was influential, and
20% said it was highly influential. But in Toyota’s case, at least, the actual reaction was harsher
than the hypothetical: A Galup national survey in late February 2010 found that 31% of Americans
believed Toyota vehicles were unsafe; the percentage among Toyota owners was only 14%, but
for non-Toyota owners the figure shot to 36%. Even if the media exaggerated the seriousness of
problems and politicians politicized them, customer perception is the final arbiter.

Moreover, the number of safety-related recalls kept growing. Between February and August 2010,
there were 13 separate Toyota recalls. They affected old and new models and were based on a wide
range of issues (including steering control and fuel leakage). Just as things seemed to be settling
down last winter, the company announced two further recalls in January and February 2011.

12
 Awards & Achievements

There is no denying that the Camry leads the way as a popular choice for buyers looking to buy new
Toyotas each year. The car was first recognized as the top selling passenger car in the U.S. in 1997,
and the car continued to earn the title for fourteen consecutive years. Early research for 2015/2016
shows that the Camry continues to reign as the number one choice of American car buyers.

While being the only vehicle to hold the status as a bestseller for such a long time is impressive, it
is the diversity of reasons that leads buyers to choose the model time after time that is most
impressive. According to the auto maker’s website, these include:

13
 -Star Overall Safety Rating
More Than 90% of All Camry’s sold over the Last Ten Years Are Still on the Road Today

While the Toyota Camry is the best-known vehicle produced by the car manufacturer, buyers can
also feel confident when they buy any new Toyota at the Toyota dealers. Toyota has long been
recognized for producing safe, durable, high-performance vehicles of all kinds. Some of the
awards and accolades achieved by the Toyota Company include:

-Lasting Vehicles of Any Full-Line Automotive Manufacturer

-Cost Maintenance Plan

Brand

14
 (C)Social Responsibility

We, Toyota Motor Corporation and our subsidiaries, take initiative to contribute to the harmonious
and sustainable development of society and the earth through all business activities that we carry
out in each country and region, based on our Guiding Principles. We comply with local, national,
and international laws and regulations as well as the spirit thereof, and conduct our business
operations with honesty and integrity. In order to contribute to sustainable development, we
believe that management interacting with its stakeholders as described below is of considerable
importance, and we will endeavor to build and maintain sound relationships with our stakeholders
through open and fair communication. We expect our business partners to support this initiative
and act in accordance with it.

Customers
Based on our "Customer First" philosophy, we develop and provide innovative, safe, and
outstanding high-quality products and services that meet a wide variety of customer demands to
enrich the lives of people around the world. We will endeavor to protect the personal information
of customers and everyone else we are engaged in business with, in accordance with the letter and
spirit of each country and region's privacy laws.

oyees
We respect our employees and believe that the success of our business is led by each individual's
creativity and solid teamwork. We support personal growth for our employees. We support equal
employment opportunities and diversity and inclusion for our employees. We do not discriminate
against them. We strive to provide fair working conditions and to maintain a safe and healthy
working environment for all our employees. We respect and honor the human rights of people
involved in our business and, in particular, do not use or tolerate any form of forced or child labor.
Through communication and dialogue with our employees, we build and share the value "Mutual
Trust and Mutual Responsibility," working together for the success of our employees and the
company. We recognize our employees' right to freely associate, or not to associate, complying
with the laws of the countries and regions in which we operate.

Business Partners
We respect our business partners such as suppliers and dealers and work with them through long-
term relationships to realize mutual growth based on mutual trust. Whenever we seek a new
15
business partner, we are open to any and all candidates, regardless of nationality or scale, and
evaluate them based on their overall strengths. We maintain fair and free competition in

Shareholders We strive to enhance corporate value while achieving stable and long term growth
for the benefit of our shareholders. We provide our shareholders and investors with timely and fair

philosophy of respect for people by honoring the culture, customs, history, and laws of each
country and region. We constantly pursue safer, cleaner, and improved technologies that satisfy
the evolving needs of society for sustainable mobility. We do not tolerate bribery of or by any
business partner, government agency, or public authority, and maintain honest and fair

we do business, we actively promote and engage, both individually and with partners, in social
contribution activities that help strengthen communities and contribute to the enrichment of
society.

16
 Future plans of the Organization

Bangalore, 02nd January 2020: Following its announcement on 10th December, 2019 of TKM’s
Senior Leadership Organizational Changes for the year 2020, Toyota Kirloskar Motor today
announced the realignment of its Regional Offices as three new Strategic Business Units (SBU) to
enrich and empower its sales & service functions with all the resources to execute its goals.

Based on the principle of Increased Organizational Agility to enable quick decision making, the
idea behind the revamped organization structure is not only to focus on ROI (Return on
Investment) & KPI (Key Performance Indicator) based competitiveness but to also ensure
sustainable growth of the company.

Apart from the changes made in the senior leadership management team, TKM is realigning its
regional office organization structure to get closer to the marketplace & its customers. Based on
the same, TKM has announced three SBU heads; Mr. Atul Sood, Associate Vice President- North
& East SBU, Mr. R. Venkatakrishnan, Vice President- South SBU & Institutional Sales & Mr.
B.Padmanabha, Vice president- West SBU. The three zonal SBUs will further be supported by
Group SBUs and State SBUs. With this, the company aims to further strengthen the objectivity
and agility of the regional management team.

Commenting on the new regional organization structure, Mr. Naveen Soni, Sr. Vice President-
Sales & Customer Service, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “In our efforts to achieve Sustainable
Growth and Organizational Agility, we are excited to announce the formation of three new SBUs
which will not only focus on the company’s ROI & KPI based competitiveness, but also focus on
the sustainable growth of the company. Moreover, these SBUs will ensure that our regional teams
headed by the three Vice Presidents, help us come closer to the markets and our customers &
partners alike. This structure will not only enrich & empower our sales team but will also provide
us with the resources to execute our goals. I am certain that our new team with their passionate
leadership and strategic vision will steer the company to greater avenues”.

17
 MARKETING
Product
Toyota India product portfolio is set to expand in India, with the automaker likely to have up to 16
vehicles on sale in our country by 2022-23.Having teamed up with Maruti Suzuki to produce
badge-engineered vehicles, the carmaker had already introduced the Glanza hatchback and is
getting ready to launch the Urban Cruiser compact SUV. With the introduction of the latter,
Toyota’s India product portfolio will increase to eight models, with the other six being the Camry,
Fortuner, Innova Crysta, Innova Touring Sport (yes, Toyota classifies it as a separate vehicle),
Vellfire and Yaris.

Some of the models that are expected to join the portfolio include the Corolla Cross, Hilux pickup
truck and RAV4. These cars will be joined by future cars produced in partnership with Maruti
Suzuki.

They include a Ciaz-based sedan, an Ertiga-based MPV, a Hyundai Creta-rival, among others,
while the carmaker will also refresh the Fortuner and Yaris within the said period. A
communication from Toyota about the product portfolio expansion has already reached dealers
across the nation as well.

Currently, Toyota is gearing up to launch the Urban Cruiser compact SUV in the Indian market
and bookings for the same began on 22nd August.

Toyota to have 16 cars in its India product range by 2022-23.

Hilux pickup truck, RAV4, Corolla Cross, expected to be launched here. Carmaker is now set to
launch the Urban Cruiser.

18
 Marketing staff and structure

New Delhi: Toyota Kirloskar Motor India Ltd on Wednesday said it will bear the cost of covid-19
vaccines for its employees and their immediate family members in the coming months. The local
unit of Japan’s Toyota Motor Co plans to cover both permanent and contractual employees under
this initiative. The Bengaluru based company joins a host of other automobile manufacturing
companies like TVS Motor Co, Skoda Auto Volkswagen Indian Ltd and others who have decided
to cover vaccines costs for their employees.

To efficiently run their production lines, it is imperative for automakers and their suppliers to
reduce cases of covid-19 in their factories and office premises. Hence, most companies are offering
to bear the cost to vaccinate as many employees as possible to ensure smooth running of their
operations as demand inches back to normalcy. A Toyota Kirloskar employee can choose to
reimburse the cost of vaccination or get it free of charge at the company's identified healthcare
facility, whichever is convenient, the company said in a statement.

“With this gesture, we aim to safeguard the health and safety of all our employees, their family
members and the community at large," said Shankara G, vice-president, human resources and
services group, Toyota Kirloskar Motor. Automobile manufacturers have been ramping up
production at a rapid pace since September as demand has gradually recovered to pre-covid levels.

Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in

Toyota, Aichi, Japan. It was the world’s largest automobile manufacturer in 2016 when it produced
over 10 million vehicles. It is also the world’s fifth-largest company by revenue with a revenue of
over $250 billion (USD).

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd is a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan which was
founded in 1997 in a joint venture with the Kirloskar Group. Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd
(TKMPL) also informally known as Toyota India was founded for the manufacture and sales of
Toyota cars in India. It’s the fourth largest automobile manufacturer in India after Maruti Suzuki,
Hyundai and Mahindra & Mahindra .In November 2017, Toyota sold 12,734 cars in India and had
a market share of 4.68%. While this market share might look very insignificant, don’t let this
number fool you. Toyota has one the highest profit generating vehicles in Innova Crysta and
Fortuner. What 20,000 models of Maruti’s Dzire generate can be triumphed by 8,000 Innova
Crystas. This is the biggest example of Toyota’s marketing strategy to target the upmarket
customers.

19
Before getting into this, one should understand the basics of the Indian automotive industry. This
industry is ruled by Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai which had nearly 70% market share in November
2017. This is possible because the Indian market runs on affordable vehicles especially hatchbacks.
Hatchbacks account for over 51% of the total vehicles sold and majority of these hatchbacks come
from the under 6 lakh segment and Maruti and Hyundai have plenty of models there. Many big
companies have tried to enter the lower segment with affordable products but have failed
miserably. Even Toyota tried its hand with the mildly successful Toyota Etios Liva.But Toyota
adopted a new strategy to avoid this cut-throat segment and has dominated a segment with larger
margins. With Innova Crysta MPV and the sports utility vehicle Fortuner, Toyota has found a way
to make money without having a huge market share. Nearly 9,000 units of these two cars were
sold in November 2017 and this a great number considering that these vehicles are in the ₹14-32
lakh price range.

Customers are attracted to these models because of their quality, performance and indestructible
nature. Add to this a good service support and Toyota gets good sales, good margins and most
importantly a great brand image. Now for the future Toyota aims to bring this quality to their
cheaper offerings. Naomi Ishii, Managing Director of Toyota Kirloskar Motors said, “We don’t
want to just introduce a price-competitive car, in case we introduce a smaller car, it should have
very advanced features in safety, fuel efficiency and exhaust emissions. The price might be higher,
but we can show this is the direction.”

This clearly shows that Toyota aims to bring the Indian automotive industry out of its current
backward mindset which is only price-focused and isn’t serious about important things like safety
features.

20
 Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning

The Japanese carmaker is looking to strengthen its market share in India, which is currently driven
by two models - the Innova Crysta and the Fortuner - and stands at less than five per cent of the
Indian four-wheeler industry. Even though Toyota already has a presence in the mass segment
with the Etios sedan and Etios Liva hatchback, these cars haven’t managed to make as big an
impact as, say, the Fortuner or the Innova Crysta have in their respective segments. To increase its
share, it needs to have cars at multiple price points giving buyers an ample number of options.
Earlier, we reported that Toyota could introduce the Yaris in India and the recent statement from
Viswanathan is in sync with our earlier report. Launching the Yaris Ativ sedan in India will also
open the doors for the Yaris hatchback, which is based on the same platform. These models are
expected to enhance the company’s market share as the premium hatchback and mid-size sedan
segments are bigger in volume when compared to the segments in which the Innova Crysta and
the Fortuner belong. If launched, the Yaris Ativ would take on sedans such as the Honda City,
Hyundai Verna and the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, while the Yaris hatchback would lock horns with the
Maruti Baleno and the Hyundai Elite i20.

DETROIT – For the past half-dozen years, Toyota Motor Corp. has been highly focused on
appealing to younger buyers, going as far as creating a whole new division – Scion – aimed
exclusively at attracting Generation Y consumers, the youngest car-buying demographic. But on
Monday, the company made it clear it isn’t going to forget about the demographic that made it the
global powerhouse it is today: Baby Boomers.

“For all of our emphasis on youth, we cannot ignore the size and influence of the mature-boomer
consumer group. It is an ever-evolving and dynamic consumer base that is constantly looking for
products that are new and different. Not only do they have money – they are willing to spend it,”
says Don Esmond, senior vice president and general manager-Toyota. The world’s largest car
maker, would like to enter the small car space in India, a segment it had overlooked since 2011
after launching the Etios Liva. This is so far its only small car in the Indian market.

The Japanese automobile company faces challenges in sales of its diesel sports utility vehicle
models, the Innova and Fortuner, after the Supreme Court (SC) said there would no sales of any
vehicle powered by a diesel engine bigger than 2,000cc till end-March 2016 in Delhi and the
National Capital Region.

21
 Toyota works strategically to establish a firm position on the mind of their consumer. Their main
motto is “moving forward” and “Pursuit of perfection”. With these mottos on their mind Toyota
tries to develop their product up the quality of the consumer’s choice. Toyota positions its fuel
efficient hybrid car- Prius as high tech solution to the energy shortage. “How far will you go to
save the planet?” it asks to the consumers to make a great position on their mind and to think about
the environment as Toyota believes their product is ecofriendly. One of the stronger sides of
Toyota is that they offers better car in affordable price comparing to the other car industries. On
this basis they produce highly affordable cars for the people of higher middle and middle class
creating a better positioning on their mind. We have always believed that Indian customers want
global quality products & we are proud that they choose us. We are thankful to our customers for
their continued patronage towards brand Toyota. We shall strive to achieve 'customer delight' with
our QDR approach.

22
 Branding Efforts
TKM Strategic Marketing division organized a Dealer Business Meet [DBM] in 2016, with an
objective to connect with all our 150 Dealer Principals and CEOs spread across the nation. TKM
top management across all the functions participated in the meet. In line with the theme for this
year 'Win on Wow', review was conducted on the first half yearly performance, and insights were
given on the way forward for the following year's performance. During the meet, The New
Platinum Etios and New Liva were unveiled for the dealer preview. The Dealers selling highest
no. of Etios presented their success stories to all other Dealers. We also had 13 Dealers sharing
best practices through Obeya style presentation. Amongst these, 6 Dealers were awarded for their
Kaizen efforts in Sales & Service area along with Best Dealers in celebrating National Road Safety
week and World Environment month.
The journey of the Etios began at the Delhi Auto Expo in the year 2010. Inspired by Toyota’s QDR
(Quality, Durability and Reliability) philosophy and designed to best suit the needs of the Indian
consumer, not surprisingly the sedan went on to become one of the most dependable car in the
country.

23
 Stage of PLC

During its whole life, each product passes through certain distinct stages; this is called the product
life. The utility of the PLC concept lies in the fact that each stage in the product life cycle is
characterized by a typical market behavior and each stage lends itself to the application of certain
specific marketing strategy. The four stages of the product life cycle are market pioneering stage,
market growth stage, market maturity stag, and market decline stage (Hill O'Sullivan & Hill,
2003). There are several non-North American Companies whose products have reached to the
maturity stage of the product life cycle. Toyota Motors is also a famous company which has several
products in the maturity stage. Toyota Motors is a Japan based company which is one of the world's
largest automaker companies. The company mainly manufactures automobiles. The products of
the company are popular all over the world. The company continuously launches innovative
products for its customers. The product list of the company includes cars, trucks, vans and other
hybrid products. The company has various popular products which have reached to the maturity
stage. Among all the world class automobile products of Toyota Motors, one of the most popular
products which have risen to the product maturity stage is its car named Toyota Qualis. Toyota
Qualis is an eight to ten seater car. The engine of Toyota Qualis is very high powered with 2.4 liter
diesel engine capacity. The engine of the car has a very smooth start and it also has very powerful
acceleration. The maximum speed of the car is 130 kilometer per hour. The capacity of the fuel
tank of Toyota Qualis is 53 liters. The car also has very low fuel consumption. The body of the car
is very protective and safe for the passengers (Toyota Motors, 2009). The car has power steering,
central locking, fabric seats, power windows and locks, etc. Thus, the Qualis is a very popular car
of Toyota Motors which has reached to its maturity stage.

24
 Product hierarchy, line and mix
Product mix (or product assortment) is a set of all products and items offered for sale by a company.
A product mix consists of multiple product lines and can be characterized by such parameters as
width (number of product lines in a product mix), length (total number of items in a product mix),
depth (number of variants in the product line), and consistency (Kotler & Keller, 2012).
Toyota offers for sale a full line of cars, from family and sportive ones, to minivans and trucks. The
product mix of Toyota consists of sedans, coupes, hybrids, vans, SUVs and trucks. The width of
Toyota’s product mix is quite substantial. Product line length is a number of different models in a
product mix: Prius, Avalon, Corolla, Camry, Lexus, RAV4, Land Cruiser, Tacoma, Tundra, Scion
and others. An example of a depth of Toyota’s product mix could be the possible variants of Lexus
model (ES300, ES 350, IS Series).
Toyota Industries develops and manufactures automobiles and automobile-related products, such
as vehicles, engines, car air-conditioning compressors, car electronics components and devices,
and stamping dies. Toyota Motor Corporation produces vehicles under five brands: Daihatsu,
Hino, Lexus, Ranz and the namesake Toyota.

25
 Competitor and their strategies

Toyota is a major global vehicle brand and a tough competitor for Ford, Hyundai & Volkswagen.
It is a globally well-known maker of cars, SUVs and electrical vehicles. Toyota has focused now
on sustainable growth and the production of electrical vehicles that have a very low impact on the
environment. North America is the largest market for Toyota, followed by Japan and Asia. In 2017,
North America accounted for the highest sales of Toyota vehicles at 32% of the total 8,970,860
total sales. Toyota has 364,445 employees. Its number of manufacturing plants and companies
around the world was 69 in 2017. In 2017, its net revenue was 27,597.1 Billion Japanese yen which
was 2.8% lower than the previous year. The brand’s net income in 2017 equaled 1831.1 Billion
Japanese yen. The brand brought the world’s first mass produced hybrid vehicle Toyota Prius in
1997. It plans to invest more in the production of electrical vehicles and bring new and improved
versions of Prius. It has brought some luxury models to the market too including Camry which is
now available in a hybrid version.

This is a list of the main competitors of Toyota Motors. Major names among its competitors
include – Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Suzuki, Hyundai, Nissan, Honda, FCA (Fiat
Chrysler Automobiles), BMW & Mercedes.

The success of failure of any business enterprise depends upon the strategy adopted by its owners
or managers. But one needs to differentiate between corporate strategy and business strategy at the
outset before taking the discussion any further. Corporate strategy comprises of the entire gamut
of decisions taken by the top brass that sets in clear and unambiguous terms the basic goals,
objectives and purpose for existence of the organization. It also states what the organization wants
ultimately to evolve into in terms of human, social and economic parameters and how it would
like to interact with its stakeholders that consist of employees, customers and the community as a
whole. Corporate strategy is applicable to the whole organization and is reflected in its policy
decisions over a long period of time and is more often than not embedded in the inherent cultural
ethos and power structure of a company. Business strategy, on the other hand, is not so all
encompassing and often times relate to how a company would respond to certain specific business
and market conditions especially in devising ways and means to beat competition in a particular
business environment (Rumelt 2011). Corporate strategy determines what would be preferred field
of operation while business strategy determines how best the company would operate in a given
market situation.

The corporate strategy of Toyota was to maintain highest possible levels of quality at minimum
possible cost. With this objective in mind the top brass of Toyota went about setting a production

26
process that was not only unique but could never be replicated by any other automobile company
in the world. This production process was unique in more senses than one. It was extremely rigid
and simultaneously flexible and allowed innovations while laying down in minutest details about
how many turns each nut should have in order to make a perfect fit while fixing seats on an
automobile body. Further, it was almost fastidious in keeping in-process inventory in control so as
to lower production overheads to the minimum. After all, Toyota had to also compete on price
front and be able to produce quality which bettered western standards at less than half the cost.
The basic corporate philosophy of Toyota of maintaining a lean and agile company was also
evident in how it entered the intensely competitive western markets and how it succeeded to beard
the reigning lions in their own dens.

However, any strategy can be successful only when it is flawlessly matched with available
resources so corporate strategists must not only be able to minutely assess corporate capability and
available resources but also current and future market demand along with associated risks in
pursuing a particular trajectory. This indeed is a process that is not only complex but also fraught
with innumerable risks and based on accurate quantification and identification of corporate
competence and resources (Andrews 1997) and equally accurate estimation of threats in business
environment. Such an analysis is often referred to in business parlance as SWOT Analysis.

27
 Pricing policies

Their main objective is to make profit by allowing credit payments to their customers at low
interest. The pricing strategy in the marketing mix of Toyota is based on competition, segment,
geography and demand. Their prices are flexible to changing market conditions and prices of
competitors thus affecting their selling prices. The price range of their cars changes according to
the model, add options and make. Toyota’s profits mainly increase because of the pricing and
features offered with their products. They have always stood by the company’s mission of
satisfying customers’ needs and wants by producing high quality automobiles at affordable prices.
Such affordable prices also help the brand in their marketing.

Toyota’s prices vary widely, depending on the product line and the product type or model. This
element of the marketing mix identifies how the firm sets the prices of its products. Toyota uses a
combination of the following pricing strategies:

1. Market-oriented pricing
2. Value-based pricing

Toyota uses the market-oriented pricing strategy to determine prices based on market conditions
and the prices of competitors. This pricing strategy is notable in the vast majority of Toyota
products, such as sedans and trucks. However, the firm also uses the value-based pricing strategy,
which sets prices based on the actual and perceived value of the product. The company uses value-
based pricing for high-end or more expensive products, such as the Prius and Lexus cars. This part
of Toyota’s marketing mix shows that the company determines price levels based on market
conditions and customers’ perceptions.

28
 Marketing channels and distribution networks
The definition of PLACE (Distribution) in marketing sense means the availability of product being
properly distributed in a convenient location at the right time. “Whatever you need, we will have
it ready for you right way,” or else the customers might take the business somewhere else. This is
why it is so important to have the product available at the right time at the right ‘Place’. Thus,
place strategy, which is sometimes referred to as distribution strategy plays a fundamental role in
the marketing mix of a product or a service. It outlines the placement of the products and services
in order to gain market share and consumer purchases. The products and services may click the
stores either physically or online or by any other means by which the companies can reach the
consumers. To determine the best possible distribution strategy, the company understands the need
of the consumers and determines which avenue provides the ability to put the product or service
in front of the potential buyer.
The distribution of these cars is placed in areas that are inhabited by the ‘rich’ and competes with
other premium car segment players such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. Toyota also does
not use its brand name or logo just so that the premium image that Lexus brand has garnered is not
minimized. Let’s look at how Toyota goes about its business in its hometown Japan. Toyota uses
four sales channels namely Toyota, Toy pet, Corolla and Netz. Another sales channel, Lexus was
introduced to the Japanese market in 2005 to increase its presence and competitiveness in the
luxury car segment in Japan. The firm’s sales distribution network is the largest in Japan. Looking
at the worldwide automobile market, Toyota has managed to gain the reputation of being the
world’s biggest automaker both as a brand and also in terms of the number of cars sold.
As mentioned earlier, the main places for the distribution of Toyota’s products are Dealerships.
These are the places where customers can access Toyota’s products. For an automobile industry
player like Toyota, distribution channels are limited. The firm relies on either the dealerships or
retailers. It is the dealerships that see majority of sales transactions be it cars, spare parts,
accessories or servicing. How well Toyota manages this distribution channel in collaboration with
marketing channels is the key to Toyota’s success.
TOYOTA-LOGO One of the successful automobile companies that have effectively used its
distribution channels is ‘Toyota.’ Toyota mainly relies on its dealership for the sales of its products.
A Toyota dealer relies upon the parent organization to outline the car designs according to the
needs of the consumers. Thus, Toyota relies upon the dealer to pull in customers, influence them
to purchase Toyota cars, and service cars after the deal has been made. The organization
additionally relies upon different dealers to give great sales and services that will maintain the
reputation of Toyota and its dealer body. Indeed, the accomplishment of individual Toyota dealer
relies upon how well the whole Toyota distribution channel contends with the channels of other
automobile producers. Does a firm like Toyota use just a single method for distribution or use a
different channel structure to ensure that its products reach its market.

29
 Promotion mix

Toyota has a diverse set of products. This element of the marketing mix identifies organizational
outputs for the target customers. The following are the product lines in Toyota’s product mix:

Toyota automobiles are the most popular in this product mix. Lexus automobiles are luxury
products from the company. On the other hand, the Welcab series are Toyota automobiles modified
for the elderly and people with disabilities. The company also manufactures yachts, engines, and
spare parts and accessories for automobiles and marine products. This part of the marketing mix
shows that Toyota reaches a wider market and reduces market based risks through a diverse
product mix.

30
 Developing new product

The seemingly impossible deadlines set by top leadership for the Prius project and the numerous
technical challenges faced by the Prius engineers dramatically improved Toyota’s already
excellent product development process in two key ways:

1. The cross-functional team and chief engineer work together almost daily in the same room
(obeya). In Toyota’s traditional approach, in the planning phase the chief engineer comes up with
a concept, discusses it with the design groups and planning groups, and formulates a concrete plan
as a result of joint discussion with those groups. With the Prius, a team of specialists from the
various design, evaluation, and manufacturing functional groups sat in a big room with the chief
engineer and made decisions in real time. Joining that group were not only the design engineers,
but the production engineers as well so they could have discussions together. To assist these
discussions, computer-assisted design (CAD) terminals were put into the room and it became
known as “obeya” (big room). The obeya serves two purposes—information management and on
the-spot decision making. The nemawashi process can take a great deal of time to make decisions,
but in obeya the right players are there to make decisions on the spot. There are many visual
management tools in the obeya—drawings of vehicles and schedules with checkpoints, so team
members can quickly see where they are in every aspect of the program. “It varies,” according to
Uchiyamada, “but usually once every two days at least the whole team assembles there. One day
for the obeya and the other day the chief engineer is in his own separate office. Obeya is the war
room.” Before the Prius project, the chief engineer as an individual controlled everything, but with
obeya a cross functional team now controls the program. Since the Prius, the obeya system has
evolved and is now a standard part of Toyota’s development process.
2. Simultaneous engineering. Manufacturing and production engineers are now involved very early
in the design process—working with design engineers at the concept development stage, to give
input on manufacturing issues. This level of cooperation at such an early stage is unusual in the
auto industry. Toyota had been incorporating simultaneous engineering for several years before
the Prius. But Uchiyamada intensified it. Because so much was new and because of the intense
time pressures, there was unparalleled cooperation across divisions and between design and
manufacturing for the Prius.

31
 Marketing research activities
The motor vehicle industry has got many companies which are very competitive. In this industry
we have dominant companies such as General motors of United States, and Toyota Motors.

Toyota Motors Corporation is a Japanese company that has been doing very well in the motor
vehicle industry. They have outperformed other established companies like general motors and
Lang lover motors. Toyota Motors has been improving on its performance over the past targeting
customers within Japan, America, and China. Toyota Motors has been applying different
marketing strategies to attract its customers to Japan, America, and China. But the same strategies
applied in America have worked in China.

In addressing the United States market Toyota motors had spent more resources, than it does within
Japan. This is so because in America there is stiff competition from well-established companies
like general motors. Toyota has applied different marketing strategies in Japan like advertising its
vehicles by use of magazines and television, while in America it has used celebrities and role
models on top of television and magazine. Also Toyota has marketed it vehicles in Japan by
identifying its market segments and serving them appropriately, while plotting an invasion
sequence in targeting United States customers. To address the Japanese market Toyota Motors
corporation has applied strategies like sourcing abroad and being customer oriented while applying
different marketing strategies in America like forming of strategies alliances between major
international companies in the united states to capture the Americans. Also Toyota Motor has
lowered its prices to attract the American market.

32
 Social responsibility of marketing

CSR programs and initiatives are launched as a part of Toyota Global Vision that was formulated
in March 2011. Toyota Global Vision is represented in the form of a tree where Toyota values
represent the roots of the tree, stable base of the business is the trunk of the tree. The concepts of
‘Always Better Cars’ and ‘Enriching Lives of Communities’ are positioned as fruits of the tree. In
other words, Toyota Global Vision places an equal emphasis on the primary objective of profit
maximization (Always Better Cars) and CSR (Enriching Lives of Communities) .The Company
releases Global Responsibility Report annually and it includes the details of Toyota CSR programs
and initiatives engaged by the company. Search and critically analyze firm’s strategic and ethical
approach to achieve organizational key strategic goals that have been sustainably competitive in
the market.

In your research, analysis and critical investigation, it is expected to critically analyze the selected
firm’s strategic, CSR, ethical and sustainable practices using major perspectives, concepts, models
and strategic practices. You are also required to propose innovative sustainable and sensible
solutions to address the current and future complex business challenges and opportunities to
deliver superior value for its stakeholders that are sustainable and ethical.

33
 Research Methodology
A document-term(s) matrix was created from numerous Toyota documents; such as the
Toyota Way, The Toyota Business Practices, the team member basic training manual, the
team member handbook, role of the supervisor, standardized work training manuals, process
and system kaizen manual and problem solving for managers. A representation of a document-
term(s) matrix is shown in Figure 2. A document-term(s) matrix was created by tabulating the
number of term(s) that occur throughout a document. Term(s) count can be identified using a
variety of different software programs. A natural characteristic of the document-term(s)
matrix is their highly sparse nature which is a high proportion of zero’s. This is normal,
because very few terms in the collection as a whole are contained in any one document. Other
distinguishing characteristics of the matrix are the document vector and the word vector. The
document vector is a weighted average of the vectors of words it contains. A word vector is
a weighted average of vectors of the documents in which it appears. The document -term(s)
matrix was assembled by selecting industrial engineering themes and trends according to
previous literature.

34
 Data analysis
Toyota Motor Corporation competes in the automotive industry. The past five years were
tumultuous for automobile manufacturers. Skyrocketing fuel prices and growing environmental
concerns have shifted consumers' preferences away from fuel-guzzling pickup trucks to smaller,
more fuel-efficient cars. Some automakers embraced the change by expanding their small-car
portfolios and diversifying into the production of hybrid electric motor vehicles. Other automakers
were more reluctant to shift their focus from big to small cars, expecting the price of fuel to contract
eventually, bringing consumers back to the big-car fold. When fuel prices did fall during the
second half of 2008, it was due to the US financial crisis ripping through the global economy. This
had a domino effect throughout the developed and emerging worlds, with many Western nations
following the United States into recession. Industry revenue fell about 15.4% in 2009. Pent-up
demands will aid industry revenue growth, estimated at 2.1% in 2013, thus bringing overall
revenue to an estimated $2.3 trillion. Overall, the large declines followed by recovery are expected
to lend the industry average growth of 2.2% per year during the five years to 2013. Throughout
the past five years, growth in the BRIC countries supported production. Rising income in these
countries led to an increase in the demand for motor vehicles. Also, Western automakers moved
production facilities to BRIC countries to tap into these markets and benefit from low-cost
production. Over the next five years, the emerging economies will continue their growth, and
demand for motor vehicles in the Western world will recover. Industry revenue is forecast to grow
an annualized 2.5% to total an estimated $2.6 trillion over the five years to 2018.

35
 Conclusion
In conclusion, Toyota Motor Corporation is an automobile industry with oligopoly
structure characterized by a few dominant firms. There have some of competitors such as
Ford, Honda, and Nissan and so on. Toyota produced many models of vehicles with various
designs and functions to make the product differentiation between others competitors
simultaneously attract more customers. Moreover, the company has a great reputation so
that it can be quite liable to maintain their position in market even though there are occur new
entrant in the market.

36
 Bibliography

https://www.toyotabharat.com/toyota-in-india/history/
https://www.comparably.com/companies/toyota/mission
https://www.toyota-industries.com/products/
http://panmore.com/toyota-organizational-structure-analysis
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/what-really-happened-to-toyota/
https://www.antwerpentoyota.com/a-look-at-toyota-awards-and-achievements-over-the-
years.html
https://in.investing.com/
https://www.toyota-industries.com/products/
panmore.com
marketing91.com
toyotabharat.com
brainmass.com
theintactone.com
https://www.slideshare.net/
https://www.coursehero.com/
https://www.ineak.com/
https://phdessay.com/
https://www.ukessays.com/

37