A new variation on an old theme. Click to Enlarge.
Toyota Motor and KINTO today announced that, amid “rapidly advancing technological innovation surrounding cars and based on a mutual desire to swiftly deliver the evolution of cars to customers, they have taken on the challenge of providing ‘cars that evolve in tune with people’…”
In a vast advancement – in press release theory so far, that is – from evolving auto industry efforts to personalize vehicles, they started this endeavor by offering today, through KINTO*1, the new GR Yaris Morizo Selection*0, a car that can be updated with the latest software tailored to each customer. (Toyota to Launch New Model Yaris in Japan in February)
Toyota President Akio Toyoda, in his Morizo persona, has even raced behind the wheel of the GR Yaris on the ROOKIE Racing team in the Super Taikyu Series―a top-tier endurance race series in Japan. Racing in this series has made possible constant vehicle updates via analysis and countermeasures based on driving data and driver feedback. Furthermore, such updates have been personalized to give drivers greater control over vehicle evolution.
ROOKIE Racing is a privateer team with a wide variety of drivers (including master drivers, racecar drivers, rallyists, evaluation drivers, and other drivers) that focuses on cultivating human resources and making ever-better cars using “skill” and “spirit” from various perspectives. It has a work consignment relationship with Toyota in which Toyota receives feedback from ROOKIE Racing. In recent years, Toyota claims it has drastically accelerated its automobile development in collaboration with ROOKIE Racing.
Aiming to provide customers updates and personalization that ROOKIE Racing is putting into practice, Toyota and KINTO think that the best way to do so would be through the KINTO car subscription service.*0 Fees start at 54,340 yen per month with a three-year KINTO contract.
KINTO itself began with a shift in customer needs from car ownership to car usage. It started in 2019, stemming from Akio Toyoda’s desire to offer “a new form of vehicle ownership that invites customers to enjoy their relationship with the car of their choice in a fun and easy manner.”
Key to the KINTO service is its ability to continue providing “added value even after a subscription contract has been signed.” As such, Toyota and KINTO realized that the service would be the perfect platform for providing evolution to cars already in customer use. By pairing racing-based updates and personalization with the KINTO service to introduce the latest software to customers’ cars after cars have been delivered. Toyota and KINTO said they “intend to take on the challenge of evolving cars in a way that is in tune with customers.”
Toyota and KINTO plans are:
- Introduction of the latest software in line with technological innovations and optimization of basic vehicle performance in terms of driving, turning, and stopping.
- Vehicle provision via GR Garage shops at various vehicle sales outlets (some exceptions).
- Announcement of detailed service offerings in spring 2022.
- Inclusion of cost in the monthly KINTO fee – with some services requiring additional fees. Tailored personalization is under consideration.
- Software customization to suit each individual based on customer driving data to achieve “cars that evolve in tune with people” in the future.
By changing each car in a way that suits each customer, Toyota and KINTO “aim to provide services that allow customers to enjoy their cars even more. The two companies plan to accelerate their efforts, such as by expanding the KINTO-service lineup of ‘cars that evolve in tune with people’ to provide enjoyment of cars to as many people as possible.”
*0
*1 KINTO operates “Mobility Market,” a website that offers a range of mobility services, including the KINTO ONE car subscription service, which combines various car-related expenses such as automobile insurance and taxes in a single, fixed-sum monthly fee. URL: https://kinto-jp.com/ (in Japanese only)
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Toyota Via KINTO to Sell Cars That ‘Evolve in Tune With People’
A new variation on an old theme. Click to Enlarge.
Toyota Motor and KINTO today announced that, amid “rapidly advancing technological innovation surrounding cars and based on a mutual desire to swiftly deliver the evolution of cars to customers, they have taken on the challenge of providing ‘cars that evolve in tune with people’…”
In a vast advancement – in press release theory so far, that is – from evolving auto industry efforts to personalize vehicles, they started this endeavor by offering today, through KINTO*1, the new GR Yaris Morizo Selection*0, a car that can be updated with the latest software tailored to each customer. (Toyota to Launch New Model Yaris in Japan in February)
Toyota President Akio Toyoda, in his Morizo persona, has even raced behind the wheel of the GR Yaris on the ROOKIE Racing team in the Super Taikyu Series―a top-tier endurance race series in Japan. Racing in this series has made possible constant vehicle updates via analysis and countermeasures based on driving data and driver feedback. Furthermore, such updates have been personalized to give drivers greater control over vehicle evolution.
ROOKIE Racing is a privateer team with a wide variety of drivers (including master drivers, racecar drivers, rallyists, evaluation drivers, and other drivers) that focuses on cultivating human resources and making ever-better cars using “skill” and “spirit” from various perspectives. It has a work consignment relationship with Toyota in which Toyota receives feedback from ROOKIE Racing. In recent years, Toyota claims it has drastically accelerated its automobile development in collaboration with ROOKIE Racing.
Aiming to provide customers updates and personalization that ROOKIE Racing is putting into practice, Toyota and KINTO think that the best way to do so would be through the KINTO car subscription service.*0 Fees start at 54,340 yen per month with a three-year KINTO contract.
KINTO itself began with a shift in customer needs from car ownership to car usage. It started in 2019, stemming from Akio Toyoda’s desire to offer “a new form of vehicle ownership that invites customers to enjoy their relationship with the car of their choice in a fun and easy manner.”
Key to the KINTO service is its ability to continue providing “added value even after a subscription contract has been signed.” As such, Toyota and KINTO realized that the service would be the perfect platform for providing evolution to cars already in customer use. By pairing racing-based updates and personalization with the KINTO service to introduce the latest software to customers’ cars after cars have been delivered. Toyota and KINTO said they “intend to take on the challenge of evolving cars in a way that is in tune with customers.”
Toyota and KINTO plans are:
By changing each car in a way that suits each customer, Toyota and KINTO “aim to provide services that allow customers to enjoy their cars even more. The two companies plan to accelerate their efforts, such as by expanding the KINTO-service lineup of ‘cars that evolve in tune with people’ to provide enjoyment of cars to as many people as possible.”
*0
*1 KINTO operates “Mobility Market,” a website that offers a range of mobility services, including the KINTO ONE car subscription service, which combines various car-related expenses such as automobile insurance and taxes in a single, fixed-sum monthly fee. URL: https://kinto-jp.com/ (in Japanese only)
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.