GM And Ford Capitalize On Toyota's Woes

As brandchannel reported earlier, Toyota is in trouble. It’s bad enough that one of the world’s most reliable automakers had to recall 1.1 million of its best-selling vehicles on the heels of yet another recall, but now the competition considers the Toyota brand not only damaged, but vulnerable.

Generally, one would expect car buyers spooked by Toyota’s woes to forgo their next Camry for a Nissan Maxima or Honda Accord, but GM and Ford are aggressively trying to insert a Chevy Malibu or a Ford Fusion into the equation. GM is looking to lure current Toyota owners to GMC, Chevy, Cadillac, and Buick showrooms by offering up to $1,000 to terminate a Toyota lease, $1,000 toward a new GM purchase, or a 60-month interest-free loan.

Restrictions will likely apply, but those incentives intrigue this 2003 Echo owner, and it appears that many of my fellow Toyota owners agree. Steve Hill, general manager of GM’s retail sales support, told the Detroit Free Press that dealers were being “inundated by Toyota owners concerned about the recall and looking for help.”

“Inundated” is not the word you’d use to describe GM dealers during 2009, except perhaps during the cash-for-clunkers craze. As bad as things have been for Toyota, its woes couldn’t have arrived at a better time for GM and Ford, and could help both brands rebound in 2010.

After Toyota-wary customers visit the showrooms for GM and Ford, which is offering incentives that also apply to Honda, Acura, Lexus, and Scion owners, Toyota will likely end its brief reign as the world’s largest automaker. Ironically, according to the New York Times, it was the brand’s accelerated growth push over the last decade that likely caused many of its current problems – as if pushing the production pedal to the metal resulted in the actual gas pedals sticking to the floor.

There’s nothing on Ford’s or GM’s websites that mention incentives for Toyota owners, so it’s not known yet how the brands will promote new deals, beyond the dealer level, without looking like they're kicking another brand while it’s down. Not that Ford or GM is looking to play nice, but we probably won’t see a national campaign that refers, as Jalopnik does, to “fiery death,” or like the Honda dealer in Texas whose sign brags, “Our Gas Pedals Don’t Stick!”