The big drop in sales for Toyota cars in Malaysia

In 2016 it has been tough for many car makers with many of them seeing significant reduction in sales volume compared to 2015. This can be blamed on rising cost of living and the drop in the local currency against the US dollar. The economic contraction is very evident and banks are also issuing fewer car loans since they need to protect themselves from losing money from repossession. It is a difficult situation to be in. However, not all car makers are seeing big reductions in car sales. Honda for one has been enjoying records sales and same for Mercedes Benz. The ones that has been suffering the most surprisingly has been Toyota.
Toyota being one of the market leaders for many years for the non-local car brand suffered significant reduction in sales volume in 2016. The sales volume dropped by more than 30% and this allowed Honda to take the lead which is unprecedented. Honda has always been a distant second to Toyota but not any more. The new models such as the HRV and the new Civic really took the fight to Toyota. Despite Toyota introducing the new Hilux and Fortuner models it was not enough to keep the lead. The popular models such as the Vios and Camry lost a lot of ground when compared to the City and the Accord. This hurt Toyota massively and they looked out of sorts not knowing what to do and how to recover the lost sales. Toyota had to quickly do a mid life cycle face lift within 18 months of the car's launch. This is unheard of.
Toyota can no longer rest on their laurels and believe that the brand name alone can keep them at the top. The models introduced by Toyota have been very out of date and looked aged. The younger buyers are looking for fresher and newer designs which Honda has cleverly benefited from. It is unsure if the models introduced by Toyota was selected by Thailand or Japan but it appears that the better and newer models are held in Japan. Toyota cannot keep having this type of attitude if it is to lead the market once again.
Hopefully Toyota will learn from Nokia's mistake and not think that it is too big to fail. With the power of the internet and mobility, the younger generation are the ones who will be buying the cars and if Toyota cannot offer models that will appeal to the younger generation then Toyota's future will be doomed.

Mazda did a turn around one generation ago with their Kodo designed models and it has paid dividends. Toyota really needs to think about this approach and not be so ultra conservative. Conservative business has been left in the dust, it is time to be up to date or even ahead of its time.