Abstract
Toyota Motor Corporation is one of the most important car manufacturers in the world. In 2005, Toyota was one of the nine members of the $10 billion club, which refers to the $10 billion of net income generated in one year. And in 2006, Toyota with its 35 percent of the total market capitalization in the global automotive industry nearly overtook the American General Motors, the world's largest car manufacturer. Despite these excellent results, the company continued to set ambitious goals for the future. Thus, the Japanese firm expected to reach 15 percent global shares by 2010. However, to reach its objectives, increasing its market shares in Europe was a paramount necessity. In 1999 Toyota launched the Yaris model with success. The initial goal of reaching a European sale volume of 800,000 units was reached two years ahead. But this success was only the first step of its strategy in Europe. In July 2005, the Japanese manufacturer launched the Aygo, a 3.41-meter car, with the intention to penetrate an unexploited market, which is the minicar segment. Buyers in different countries are attracted to different product attributes, as said 'what is good for one country may not necessarily be good for another'. That's why Toyota decided to recruit 10 artists from different countries to redo the outside of the Aygo. Among the different European countries, we can see differences in the manner of which people perceive car attributes. For example, in Italy people would generally prefer the style and the design of the car. In Germany, customers are generally more interested in the performance and the reliability of the car.
