Where is the car in the Lexus CT 200h Japan Toyota launch?
Dependant on your point of view, a Toyota launch in Japan could be all about the car or all about the sizzle. Automotive News sides with the previous, although the publication's description of the recent launch party for the Lexus CT 200h suggests that the experience has left the car behind - not exactly at the beginning line, but someplace within the dust.
Three great things together with music, Toyota girls and numerous models
Launches at Toyota used to be different. They were very corporate. Now, as Automotive News puts it, a Toyota launch is a “made-for-TV multimedia spectacle” loaded with "Toyota girls" and every little thing but the standard media question-and-answer session. When the 2011 Lexus CT 200h went on sale Jan. 12, the occasion was about anything but the car.
First came a piano concerto that was ostensibly “inspired” by the showcase Lexus. Then a lot of club music was played by a DJ. Supermodels were able to dance to this. Bamboo, Japanese fashion and modern buildings were then discussed. This is how the program changed. Toyota started selling the 2011 Lexus CT 200h somewhere in there.
There’s Miss Universe coming as well
It is obvious that Toyota knows sex sells over everything else. The 2011 Lexus CT 200h was sold a little better too when Ximena Navarrete of Mexico came in as the current Miss Universe. Seems like that Toyota really wanted a bit of girl action when asking Miss Navarrete to appear although she might even learn about cars.
When it comes to quite girls and cars, 11-year-old Alec Greven of Castle Rock, Colo., author of the book “How to Talk to Girls,” has sage wisdom to impart:
“Pretty girls are like cars that need a lot of oil.”
If Toyota's strategy is to dazzle journalists into not asking about such pesky things as the massive Toyota recall and also the accompanying lawsuits, the business is going to need a lot more oil. Focusing on lifestyle - a tactic Toyota adopted with the introduction of the Ractis Japan-market subcompact - might bring an air of fun, but Toyota needs sales. It might be very hard for the company to sell when the presentation of engineering isn’t there.
Citations
Auto News
autonews.com/article/20110112/BLOG06/110119868/-1
New York Post
nypost.com/p/news/national/item_cN95ZLitfIFry28SgDmVgL;jsessionid=E091492D0E89E310F8380BF79E6D42BB
The glamour and adventure of the Lexus CT 200h
youtube.com/watch?v=7_RnV7pXPDY