Toyota's Corolla is in a world of trouble. Sales were down 25.7 per cent through the end of October (the last month for which full data is available) and a full redesign is not due for about two years.
Worse, the competition is moving quickly to update rival models. Hyundai is just about to launch a brand new and very compelling Elantra. Ford will introduce a sexy looking Focus early next year. And Honda has a brand new Civic in the wings, due for launch in the spring, perhaps as early as March.
So what's Toyota to do? Tweak the existing model, play a bit with pricing and load up a surprisingly fast-aging compact car with more features for no more money. That's the story of the 2011 Corolla.
At a starting price of $15,450 for the base Corolla, and $16,715 for its hatchback sibling, the Matrix, Toyota Canada is touting Corolla's new headlights, taillights, grille and an assortment of other minor cosmetic updates.
On the nuts and bolts side, the audio system has been upgraded and now all Toyotas, including the Corolla, come equipped with what Toyota Canada is calling the "Star Safety System": standard stability control, traction control, anti-lock braking, electronic brake force distribution, brake assist and Toyota's "Smart Stop" technology - the latter a brake override system.
The Matrix is getting similar improvements.
The Corolla's sales woes are linked, at least in part, to the company's continuing recall mess - a seemingly never-ending series of safety recalls dating back more than year. The combined effect of the recalls is surely taking their toll on consumer confidence in a brand built on quality, reliability and safety. Why Toyota has not been more aggressive in taking action to fix its image problem - along with all the things prompting the countless recalls - remains a mystery.
If I were advising Toyota, I'd suggest doing something significant with the latest vehicle longevity data from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants. Going back 25 years, DesRosiers points out that "Toyota has the best survival rates for both passenger cars and light trucks" of all mainstream brands. Seventy-two per cent of all Toyotas sold in the last 25 years are still on the road. Mazda takes second place for longevity (69.5 per cent sold in the last 25 years are on the road), while Honda is third at 69.3 per cent.
"Quite an impressive achievement," writes DesRosiers in a note to clients, referring to Toyota's impressive longevity record. "Now I ask you, why is Toyota in so much trouble from a brand positioning point of view when they have the longest lasting vehicles in Canada? Why would consumers continue to drive their vehicles if they were not very well built?"
DesRosiers adds that Toyota also rates well on the other vehicle ownership variables: repurchase loyalty; low cost of maintenance; length of ownership; customer satisfaction; re-sale value; fuel economy; and, cost of insurance.
"But Toyota keeps undermining the incredible performance of their vehicles with their seemingly endless list of recalls," notes DesRosiers. "I've lost track of how many, but it seems every time the floor mat and sudden acceleration issues from earlier this year start to fade to black, someone at head office makes a decision to find something else that is wrong with their product and to announce it to the world with yet another voluntary recall. Has anyone at Toyota's head office ever heard of a concept called a 'Technical Service Bulletin?'"
Here's my question: Has Toyota become destructively self-assured and utterly, lethally complacent given the positive Toyota ownership data dating back 25 years?
Or let me put it another way: Where is the sense of urgency at Toyota Canada? Toyota brand sales are down nearly 14 per cent this year. That translates into a loss of 2.5 percentage points of market share. Things are almost equally bad at Toyota's luxury brand, Lexus (sales down 8.0 per cent and market share off 0.2 per cent.).
It's all well and good to juice the Corolla a little bit with a new grille, lamps and safety features that should have been standard years ago. But what Toyota needs is a better approach to dealing with what remains a crisis of confidence among consumers.
Surely, Toyota can find a better way.