Nonetheless, Toyota led in retail vehicle sales for the second consecutive year in 2010.
Car buyers are avoiding shopping for Toyota brands, according to data provided by Edmunds.com, an online web site covering the automobile business that sells advertising to virtually all automakers.
The privately-held Edmunds declined to provide any information to AutoInformed about its business relationship with Toyota beyond affirming that Toyota is an advertiser, which of course increases awareness.
In December of 2010, 17.9% of car shoppers considered Toyota vehicles, a decline of 2.3% below the levels in December 2009, according to the website.
This was before Toyota’s unintended acceleration recalls and subsequent record cover-up fines in record were imposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Overall, Edmunds says that the 2010 consideration for Toyota vehicles was down about 3.8% year-over-year. This assertion is consistent with actual Toyota sales results, since Toyota was the only major automaker that failed to increase sales during 2010 in a slowly recovering auto market. (See Toyota U.S. Sales Troubles Continue as 2010 Sales Results are the Same as a Depressed 2009. Overall the Market Grew 11%)
This is not good news for the beleaguered Japanese automaker. Toyota for years coasted on an impeccable reputation for safety and quality among the media – notably Consumer Reports – and owners. Consumer Reports has since distanced itself from Toyota, claiming at a U.S. Congressional hearing that its data gathering practices were not sophisticated enough to catch Toyota’s nascent quality problems.
The 2010 Toyota sales decline came as Toyota offered the highest year-over-year increase in dealer incentives (+33%), according to Edmunds.com. This means that many consumers ignored Toyota even as the company offered ever bigger discounts in a failed attempt to increase sales.
“Toyota needs to overcome not just the PR damage sustained by last year’s recalls, but also the reality that many of its models are stale,” said Jessica Caldwell, director of pricing and industry analysis at Edmunds.
Cross-shopping patterns on Edmunds.com also show the “diminished power of Toyota’s brand,” the web site asserts. Consumers interested in traditional competitors such as Nissan and Honda considered Toyota vehicles less often in 2010.
In recent months, however, some specific Toyota models regained ground on competitors. The rate of Edmunds visitors cross-shopping the Nissan Altima with the Toyota Camry, for example, has approached levels seen before the reports of unintended acceleration dominated the media last year.
“In the end, new products and new designs attract car buyers,” said Caldwell. “Incentives work, too, but new products are a far better investment for car companies in the long term.”
