Toyota's robust financial report today sends a message to all rivals, foreign and domestic, that the company intends to compete vigorously once again for worldwide dominance.

The company now expects its profit for the current fiscal year, which ends in March, to more than double to 760 billion yen, boosted by new models and growth particularly in the U.S. market.

Toyota's reasons for optimism include strong reception for its new 2013 Camry, launched last fall, as well as robust demand for its Prius family of hybrids, which include versions smaller and larger than the original that have been launched recently. Prius models now outsell every other Toyota nameplate but Camry, including the previous No. 2 model, the Corolla compact.Continue reading...

General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are facing their biggest test since beginning their recoveries three years ago. Even in a bullish market, the challenges are huge.

Before the end of last year, many automotive pundits brought up two distinct possibilities about how the big car-makers could be faring differently in 2012 from the way 2011 was ending up. And already, the industry seems to be tacking in the direction of both of them.

One clear trend after first-quarter sales is that Detroit's Big Three automakers are already giving back much of the hard-won share of the market that they gained over the last two years. The other big news: Toyota has recaptured much of the mojo it lost in the U.S. market over those two years.Continue reading...

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Apple faces UK inquiry on advertising, while stock price projections soar.

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One of the YouTube comments on the 60-second version of Toyota's Super Bowl spot (Camry Effect: "Connections") above: "I love how they show there older cars in real, used condition; paint flaking, dents, imperfections, eta. This is the greatest Toyota commercial yet."

The official description: "'Connections" is an expansive film made up of real and fictional stories. There are nearly 7 million Camry stories out there. Yours could start on Sunday, February 5th." The Camry is also the focus of a Super Bowl XLVI giveaway contest, which is powered by Shazam's mobile app.

Check out Toyota's other Super Bowl XLVI spots below.Continue reading...

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Apple sees its devices dominate mobile ordering as brand plans books announcement and sets Red Friday sales event for Asia.

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Brisk ties into Star Wars 3D theatrical launch with mobile campaign.

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Lexus and Toyota brand executives have new spring in their steps these days after each brand reported a 7-percent rise in November U.S. sales over a year earlier. Both brands also are reaching normal levels of inventories at their American dealers again, have some important new products recently introduced or in the pipeline for imminent launch, and are taking some interesting new marketing steps.

"I've been waiting for over seven months to say this," Bob Carter, Toyota Division general manager, commented to auto reporters. "For the first time since [the March natural disaster], sales were up for the month versus a year ago."

The iconic Camry is leading the way. Americans have embraced the new 2012 Camry enthusiastically enough that Carter was certain Camry still will be America's best-selling car for 2011, for the tenth consecutive year. Consumer interest also is being heightened by the launch just last week of a new hybrid version of Camry.

What's more, buyers of the new Camry are making the most highly contented version, the SE, the most popular choice by far, a flip from earlier versions. These buyers tend to be much younger than Toyota's reliable baby boomer cohort. Toyota's planned Super Bowl commercial in February for the new car will only help things along.Continue reading...

Toyota's U.S. sales in September dropped by 18 percent compared with a year earlier, as the U.S. Big Three, Nissan and Hyundai posted sales increases. But company sales executives are portraying that performance as the darkness before the dawn. They are vowing that this month and the rest of the quarter will finally bring a sales turnaroiund in Toyota's American showrooms that the company has been hoping to see for the last few months.

"We're saying 'down sales' one last time for September," Bob Carter, general manager of the Toyota division, said on a conference call with reporters. With all of Toyota's Japanese and North American plants back at full production for the first time since the earthquake and tsunami in March, he said, "our flow of vehicles is rapidly increasing, and so are our inventories."

But more than that, Carter noted, Toyota's brighter days are being driven by an influx of new products — "our biggest barrage of new products in more than 25 years," as he put it.

Another bright spot for Toyota this week — it retains its position as the #1 automotive brand on Interbrand's Best Global Brands list, where it's holding steady at #11 this year, even after the body blow dealt by Japan's earthquake and tsunami earlier this year.Continue reading...

U.S. auto sales for August, reported today, were about flat with those in July and up about 8 percent from a year earlier, with GM (boosted by Camaro fans), Ford and Chrysler posting double-digit sales gains. That was welcome news considering how American consumers were assaulted with obstacles for the entire month, from the debt-ceiling battle in Washington to wildly swinging stock markets to Hurricane Irene.

But Toyota brand executives are in even a little brighter mood than the half-smiles being enjoyed by their rivals today, because things finally appear to be looking up for the brand in the U.S. market after nearly two incredibly rough years.

Yes, August sales for Toyota also were about the same last month as in July, and were down a rough 13 percent compared with a year ago. But most of the year-to-year drop can still be attributed to the continued inability of Toyota and its dealers to get exactly the vehicles its customers want, because of leftover supply problems from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March.Continue reading...