Leading a Wave - Toyota Prius

Q1: What micro environmental factors affected the introduction and re-launch of the Toyota Prius? How well has Toyota dealt with these factors?

A1: Firstly, the company has spent a lot of money on the re-launch of the new and improved Pirus model which is over 40 million dollars. On the same note it was also able to generate a profit represented by a 120% rise in the sales after some time of the re-launch. Starting off with the main objectives of the company to provide a new and techno product to the target market it was able to cover its operating and marketing costs and also make build a profitable customer relationship.

Secondly, the agents helped promote the new brand of hybrid. Since the company did not want to take any chance for interpretation of the features of Pirus, they did not offer onlinepurchase facility to customers. Thus, Toyota hired agents and provided professional training to them to provide maximum customer satisfaction.

Thirdly, the company's main target was those customers who were 'techies' and were ready to buy the product at its launch. The company made sure that their focused customers were well informed before the products launch i.e. 2 years before. Then, the company's marketing strategies also included taglines with emotions which were very effective in its promotion. In summer 2004, the gasoline prices rose so the demand for Prius increased and so did the waiting lists. Toyota tried its best to cover the entire demand but still left some customers unsatisfied. Later on, it overcame this problem by a 33% and then a 100% rise in the monthly production.

Moreover, the major competitor of Toyota was Honda in the hybrid market. But the extensive and large scale advertising campaigns and strong, overall marketing strategies helped Toyota to gain the competitive edge over them as well as the rest of the smaller rivals....

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