Toyota Truck Lovers

‘Swagger Wagon’ Ad Puts Spotlight on the 2011 Toyota Sienna

Erika — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:58:18 +0000

Last week Toyota’s “Swagger Wagon” commercial, advertising the Sienna minivan, received a lot of attention – mostly from folks like me who thought it was a hilarious, well-produced sales pitch. However, with the positive publicity, of course, came the negative (though depending on who you ask, there is no such thing; especially after months of reading about recalls and safety concerns on what seemed like to a daily basis). Most of the criticism centered around the fact that a young, hip, Caucasian couple being portrayed were rapping about the 2011 Toyota Sienna, and actually doing a decent job in my opinion. Critics claim that the commercial could be seen as racist because it portrays white people in a stereotypically non-white scenario. Christine Huang, the head of Cultural Trends at an advertising agency that specializes in campains targeting minorities was quoted in a post on personalmoneystore.com posing two questions: When is race role play and cultural appropriation okay? When is it acceptable, and when is it derogatory? In response to the post and the questions raised, readers left the following comments:

-”This video is hilarious! I find myself watching it a lot. I love my Sienna and now I call it MY swagger wagon! Hey, anything to make being a parent and chauffeur to my kids more cool. If this video is racist then any video/song by a white rapper should be considered as such. It doesn’t say anything derogatory. If anything, I get the vibe that they are poking fun at typical white parents. We usually aren’t very “cool”. LOL!”
- “I am Black and I think it is very funny! I think the point of the commercial is that vans are not typically cool…so they are trying to make owning/driving a minivan cool.”
- “I have an answer for the person who asked “What is supposed to be funny about this video?” The fact that they’re white is not what’s funny; it’s what they are rapping about that is funny. I fully believe that if this were a black family or mixed race family rapping about “ownin’ bake sales with my cupcake skills,” it would still be funny.”
- “Come on people this is a great video. Not everything has hidden racism. I love this commerical and by the way I m black[.]“
- Seriously, people need to quit being so sensitive. There is seriously nothing wrong with video/song. I thought it was creatively played out and entertaining. Of course the people in the video look stupid; they’re rapping about a freaking minivan! And they did a heck of a good job doing it too.

As you can see by these comments, not only do they think that the commercial is not racist, but they also found it entertaining. Toyota would probably very happy with this feedback, but I’d bet they’d be even happier if there were more comments on the 2011 Sienna minivan. The Toyota folks should be pleased to know that there are plenty of good words about their ’swagger wagon’ – the car, not the commercial – on sites like ClubLexus.com – though these date back to February (Apparently I was right for thinking I had already seen the commercial once before!).

See the ‘Swagger Wagon’ 2011 Toyota Sienna commercial on YouTube

Toyota Incentives Continue as GM Trucks Face Possible Recall

Erika — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 22:13:57 +0000

In an effort to maintain sales momentum from March, Toyota USA has extended incentives until May 3rd. Incentives, which include deals for five years of 0% financing and free maintenance were slated to expire earlier this past Monday, April 5th. The 0% offer no longer applies to the Highlander and the Rav4, but six other models, including the Toyota Tundra, are still applicable.

Of course, the incentives were originally put in place in an effort to stem losses suffered as a result of continued recall fallout. It worked like a charm, as Toyota benefited from a 41% increase in sales when you compare 2010 March sales to those from the previous year. Unfortunately for Toyota, March was a good month for carmakers and dealers in general. GM also saw phenomenal March sales, with numbers up 43% from 2009. While sales seemed to be cooling off across the board by the end of the month, Toyota might have a slightly easier time fending off mounting competition from GM as 6 million older Chevy and GMC trucks are now facing the possibility of recall.

Toyota Sales Rise Despite Recall Woes

Erika — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:54:22 +0000

Despite continuing recall woes, Toyota has managed to see significant sales growth for the month of March. With the help of generous incentives, and a price war that has brought car buyers to dealerships hoping to take advantage of rarely seen deals, Toyota has sold 41% more vehicles last month than it did in March of 2009. That’s also a substantial gain from February, which saw sales fall by 9% when news coverage of safety concerns surrounding Toyota models (both recalled and not recalled) was at its peak. One hot particularly hot seller in March was the RAV4, of which 22,000 were sold. That’s 15,500 more sold than in the month prior. Building upon the encouraging news, Toyota president, Akio Toyoda and company are now heavily focused on repairing the brand’s reputation and regaining the trust of consumers worldwide, as evidenced by a press conference and media tour of safety facilities earlier this week at Toyota’s Japanese headquarters. They’re going to have do whatever they can to keep cars selling, especially considering the company’s mounting legal bills and public relations expenses.

New Toyota “runaways” now include Prius?

Erika — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:14:44 +0000

Recent Toyota recalls for hazardous floor-mats, sticking throttles, and most recently for braking issues experienced in the Prius and the Lexus HS250h have been the topic of conversation for quite some time now. The controversy seemed to have reached a boiling point as Congressional hearings were held allowing interested parties to share their perspectives regarding safety problems with Toyota Vehicles. By the close of the hearings, Toyota recalls had been making headlines for months and Toyota Motors had already spent a fortune on repairs and a highly visible public relations campaign. It started to seem like we’d finally be able to shift our attention elsewhere. Unfortunately, it’s pretty difficult to move on while we’re still hearing reports of “runaway Toyotas”. Just in case you haven’t been following the news of late, here are a couple of reports related to recent incidents:

*PLEASE NOTE – The runaway Toyota Prius reports are especially concerning because the Prius was a late invitee to the recall party, and were recalled specifically for braking issues, and NOT for instances of sudden acceleration. Also, the most publicized Prius incident occurred in Southern California, where 4 died in a “runaway” Lexus ES350 crash that played a huge roll in putting the spotlight on safety concerns surrounding Toyota cars.

MotoIQ’s towing Tundra

Erika — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:48:35 +0000

If you haven’t checked out MotoIQ yet, I strongly recommend you do. That is, if you have a serious interest in performance, motorsports and tuning tech. If you’re reading this because you’re into Toyota trucks and only Toyota trucks (open your mind, the automotive world is too big to limit yourself), you might be wondering why I’m telling you about a website that covers more turbocharged 2-doors than big-wheeled 4×4s. Don’t worry, there’s something in it for you too!

While the MotoIQ team are the first to admit that they are not truck folk, as race car people and formidable tuners they have a real need for a reliable towing machine. Based on the recommendation of a trusted associate, the crew decided that the Toyota Tundra was the right truck to get the job done after experiencing the limitations of several other tow-vehicles. With deep technical expertise on hand at MotoIQ, you can bet that they’ll be putting in a lot of work on the Tundra in order to make sure that the truck can put in heavy work on the road.

Check out MotoIQ’s Project Toyota Tundra article for an in depth look. Part one is already complete!

NPR offers great coverage of Toyota safety issues

Erika — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:29:13 +0000

NPR has aired some steller coverage of the toyota hearings and the recalls and incidents leading up to these. There reports cover the drama from a lot of different angles, and I’d like to say that they’re among the best available (it probably is but I can’t say that for a fact). Here are some examples of some of the quality reporting I have in mind.

NPR analyzes impact of Toyota trouble on Japanese foreign policy

Politicians come to the defense of Toyota

Unanswered questions remain after Toyota hearing

Toyota Hearings: Commerce Committee Toyota Connections

Erika — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:40:33 +0000

As we approached the Tuesday opening of Toyota hearings regarding instances of sudden acceleration and related recalls, I wondered what kind of history or relationships the congresspeople who formed the committees had with the brand. As it turns out, the Associated Press was wondering the very same thing.

Apparently Colorado Congresswoman Dianna DeGette owns three Toyotas and the automaker also has an office in the district she represents. This makes me tempted to take a good look at the questions she posed to US Sales chief, Jim Lentz. Please, don’t take this as an accusation of a pro-Toyota bias. I’m not sure what specific models she owns, but there’s a good chance that at least one has been affected by one of the three (possibly more, who can keep up anymore?) Toyota recalls. If anything, as a Toyota owner she could identify with people directly impacted by the defects and would probably want to see a thorough and effective investigation take place as much as anyone else (besides the poor folks who actually experienced unintended acceleration or tragically lost loved ones as a result of it).

Even if DeGette wasn’t the most zealous panelist among members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (can someone shorten this title please) I doubt she was as kind to Toyota as the 4 governors who understandably wrote to committee leaders asking that Toyota, who owns factories in their states, be treated fairly. This letter also stated that the federal government has an “obvious conflict of interest” in this matter being that it is a substantial shareholder in both GM and Chrysler.

Read the Associated Press’ articles in full:

Lawmakers’ Toyota connections

Congress-Connections with Toyota

Toyota Recall and “Sudden Acceleration” Hearing Proceeds As Expected.

Erika — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:37:33 +0000

The following passage was meant to be posted yesterday, but due to a combination of human error and connectivity problems, it was not. So, I was obviously not happy to have to dump the post on account of it being a day late. But, then I thought being that it was intended to forecast how yesterday’s Toyota Recall hearing would unfold, it might still be relevant. Sure enough, news coverage of the proceedings were pretty much saying what I (and probably most of you) had expected. Read for yourself and tell me if I was on point, and also let me know if you were surprised by anything said yesterday or later today too.

The congressional hearing addressing the ongoing Toyota recalls, and specifically addressing the problem of sudden acceleration experienced by a number of Toyota drivers, begins today in Washington, DC. The Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will both get an opportunity to question Toyota representatives as well as federal regulators this week.

While most people can probably predict how the hearings will unfold – Congressional representatives will make grand statements about Toyota’s irresponsibility, NHTSA experts will claim they’ve been on top of the issue from the beginning or blame the Bush administration for a slow response, and Toyota will pretty much reiterate what’s written in testimony prepared for USA sales chief, James Lentz – there is still expected to be tension. The suspense mounted as Toyota President Akio Toyoda refused to attend himself before eventually backtracking, and was further exacerbated by the disclosure that Toyota has been served two federal subpoenas related to recalls, leaving open the possibility of criminal charges. It’s not that surprising for an air of animosity to surround a hearing where representatives of a foreign manufacturer are being questioned by members of a government which threatens prosecution and owns large stakes in two of the company’s main US competitors. But, these issues may not be the main cause of contention at the hearing.

The Energy and Commerce Committee seems intent on pursuing the possibility that the problem causing the acceleration has not actually been resolved, proposing that electronic throttle control systems are at fault, and not the infamous “sticky pedals”. This is something that Toyota owners who’ve already had dealers make repairs don’t want to hear and something that Toyota continues to deny. The NHTSA, which has it’s own reputation at stake, has not ruled out this possibility and has also promised to look at other causes, including electromagnetic interference and software anomalies. Toyota has invested boatloads of money on vehicle repairs as well as to its reputation, and will find it pretty difficult to cash in if people believe that their cars are no safer now than before the recall. Can someone say DRAMA!

Besides the announcement that Toyota will be installing Brake overides in millions of new vehicles and in compatitible models already on the road, nothing that wasn’t already in the open came out of the session. Was anyone surprised that electronic throttle controls were of main concern or that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the man held accountable for the NHSTA, seems to have Toyota’s back? I doubt many of you were, but there’s still time for new revelations, as Akio Toyoda is set to be questioned today. Being that he basically tried to duck this interrogation, committee members may try to make things particularly difficult for Toyoda.

Toyota “Sticky” Pedal Recall Doesn’t Affect Toyota Hybrids

Erika — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 05:21:30 +0000

Toyota Motors is dealing with what may one day be considered the most tumultuous period in the company’s history, resulting mostly from widely publicized safety issues related to slippery floor mats and more recently (and significantly) “sticky” gas pedals. While both defects have led to unexpected acceleration, the latter, though considered rare and affecting fewer vehicles, is the the hardest to remedy and most disruptive to car owners and Toyota’s operations. With that said, if Toyota is looking for a bright side in this, it can be proud that as a leading hybrid car manufacturer, the Toyota Prius as well as hybrid versions of the Highlander and the Camry have all received clean bills of health. While there are also conventional models to evade the Toyota recall and the suspension of production and sales, it’s interesting that none of the Toyota hybrids are subject to the stigma. Should we be surprised to hear green car advocates claim this as another victory in the battle for energy-efficiency and better gas mileage? It’s probably more luck than a technological superiority of Toyota hybrids that explains why they can still be driven confidently on highways and out of dealerships. But, some may find it ironic that very recently Koei Saga, managing officer of Toyota, downplayed the future significance of hybrids, predicting that the gas engines will never be replaced entirely. Although, Toyota has generally been considered a maker of reliable and safe automobiles, in recent history it has arguably been the Prius and other hybrid models that have grown Toyota’s reputation, especially in terms of being an innovator. As evidenced by the Wikipedia entry I found listing the Toyota Prius among models impacted by the defective pedal issue, Toyota should be worried that it’s diminishing reputation will be passed along to its most reputable vehicles. In fact, they might want to edit that article to reflect the facts, especially now that competition is increasing in the hybrid sector.

Scion xBs for SEMA

Erika — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:31:54 +0000

Recall that when Scion launched in 2002, it was aimed at young people who wanted to pimp their rides, preferably with accessories straight from Toyota dealerships. That mission statement hasn’t changed and is why the company continues to have a strong showing at tuner-heavy aftermarket events like SEMA in Las Vegas, where these heavily modified versions of the Scion xB are debuting this year.

Please click here: Scion xBs for SEMA for more pictures and specs on these cool Toyotas.