Tag Archives: Akio Toyoda
Toyota Remains the Most Valuable Car Brand in the World
Toyota retains its status as the most valuable car brand in the world. The company toppled the likes of luxury car giants like Mercedes-Benz and BMW to keep its position.
According to Autoweek, the Japanese automaker’s value dropped by three percent to $28.7 billion. The decrease was attributed to the tough currency rates, in addition to the company’s investments and increase in labor costs. Despite the setbacks, Toyota topped the vehicle segment of the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand study made by market researcher Kantar Millward Brown.
Brown said Toyota is still viewed by customers as a reliable brand with quality value. Even with the recall issues going on, Toyota car owners gave positive reviews to their cars.
Based on the report, the study was first conducted 12 years ago. Since then, Toyota has landed in the number one rank 10 times.
In our earlier article, Toyota projected that further losses in revenue and net income are expected for the current fiscal year, which ends in March 2018. The company, through its CEO Akio Toyoda, defended that the slump is also in line with their vision to put more priority in stabilizing their future investments rather than focusing on short-term profit.
The Toyota CEO added that to safeguard the company’s future, they created an internal division called the Toyota Research Institute. The new division aims to work on futuristic technologies like the development of electric and hybrid vehicles as well as a potential autonomous car.
BMW and Mercedes landed on the second and third spots, respectively. BMW fell in value by eight percent to $24.6 billion while Mercedes rose by four percent to $23.5 billion.
On sidelines, Tesla seems to be catching up fast in the global car brand rankings. The company just jumped from number 10 last year to number 8 at the present, thanks to an increase of brand value by 32 percent to $5.9 billion. The car maker overtook Land Rover and Porsche to secure its new place in the hierarchy.
Toyota Cars are Not Boring
Toyota cars are not boring. Well, that’s what the company’s CEO Akio Toyoda said in his recent speech.
In a report from USA Today, Toyoda admitted that there have been times when Toyota cars were referred to as boring and lacking in character. However, he reminded the audience that their autos have received favorable reviews from customers when it comes to driving dynamics and design. Then again, he stated that there’s still room for improvement in their vehicles.
The statement of Toyoda came as he announced the financial results of the company for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2017.
It was during the event where it was revealed that Toyota’s revenue fell. According to the source, the company already relinquished its title as the world’s largest automaker by a slight margin to Volkswagen.
The revenue of the company went down 2.8 percent to $24.2 billion. On the other hand, its operating expenses slumped 30.1 percent to $17.5 billion.
Toyota foresees a 2.5 percent fall in revenue and 18 percent decrease in net income for the current fiscal year, which ends in March 2018. In addition, the Japanese firm projected retail vehicle sales to remain flat at 10.25 million.
Among the factors blamed for the unfortunate performance of Toyota in 2016 were the tough currency rates. The company reflected a 20.8 percent drop in net income to 1.831 trillion yen or $16.1 billion in the present day’s rates.
Toyoda added that they should expect a paradigm shift in the industry too, which is slowly gearing towards self-driving vehicles. The CEO defended the unfavorable financial results of his company by saying it was only a proof that Toyota puts more priority in stabilizing and continuously improving their investments in the future, rather than concentrating on short-term profit.
Toyoda pointed out that to safeguard the future of the company, they have created an internal division called the Toyota Research Institute to work on futuristic technologies.