Toyota may be the leader in selling cars in South East Asia and even many other regions. They are of course known for their impeccable reliability and also durability. Their cars have probably the best resale value among all the brands in the market. This is something that Toyota has gotten right for the last 30 years. The brand cannot be shaken and when the Toyota name is mentioned two words spring to mind: reliability and good resale value.
In domestic Japan, being its home grown it gets the latest technology and innovations in their new models but in the rest of the world depending on where the cars are sold the specifications vary. The one thing that irks me about Toyota is that the models sold official in South East Asia are mostly assembled in Thailand or Indonesia and often come with out of date engines and transmissions. The bread and butter models such as the Vios (known as the Yaris sedan) is in its 3rd generation now but the engine and gearbox are still the same as the first generation! All Toyota has done has changed the exterior and interior to make it look different. This is the same for the Camry and Hilux. The other model that is using an ancient engine is the Innova.
While the other car companies are constantly evolving for the better, Toyota seems to be building cars with old tech instead of the latest tech for the ASEAN region! why???! it is like short changing the buyers. Toyota know full well that their cars will sell regardless what engine or transmission they put in their cars but at least show some innovation and move with the times.
I know for a fact that putting old engines and transmissions into their cars help them make a lot of money since the R&D cost has been amortized decades ago.
A simple comparison between the Toyota Vios and the new Mazda 2 will show massive difference in technology. Mazda 2 has 6 speed auto transmission, engine start / stop function, keyless entry with button on the door handle, Skyactiv engine, head up display, integrated LCD with touch screen with wireless connectivity and reverse camera. None of these are available on the top spec Vios that sells for a higher price. It is little wonder why Mazda and Honda are stealing sales away from Toyota. The public is not as stupid as they think, and they are becoming more well informed. They want value and they want to buy something new and not something repackaged to look new when it is not!
In the case of the indestructable Toyota Hilux, the same model has been in production for close to 10 years now! The rest of the competition has already introduced replacement models and started to steal sales from Toyota. The motto of "if it is not broken, don't fix it!" cannot help protect the sales figures forever.
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