Toyota To Launch Two China-Only Brands
Toyota will launch two China-only brands next year, one for each of its two Chinese joint ventures, a Toyota executive told Reuters today. Toyota had been one of the last hold-outs in the China-only business, after most other makers had caved in to the strong suggestions of the Chinese government that China-only brands are good for the Chinese joint venture.
Readers of TTAC have seen this coming for more than half a year. At the Beijing Auto Show, a Toyota executive had told TTAC that this would happen. Other makers, such as GM and Nissan, had middling success with their China-only brands.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Unless they really cloak their Japaneseness for the short term, i cant see this going well. All of the chinese brands of the japanese makers have been down the tubes since the japan bashing began.... they will have to make sure that this isnt any different. Idk maybe the japanese car makers can do some well publicized community service projects? does anyone think that it could help boost their image?
Was the island dispute part of the strong suggestion? One can only hope the CCP croaks within this decade.