Toyota to Kill Mid-Cycle Refreshes

Automotive News [AN, sub] reckons it’s got the inside line on Toyota’s “new U.S. plan.” They’re so chuffed with the scoop that their article presents the bulleted battle plan in both the body text and a little gray box. And here it is: “Review and possibly trim the lineup of full-frame trucks; Skip midcycle vehicle enhancements to focus on bigger launches; Introduce more hybrids to North America; Give U.S. engineers a bigger voice in r&d.” AN reckons the headline is the potential truck trimming and hybrid adding bit. Which is certainly important news for a company with a “tattered image” (Toyota, apparently, not the American zombies clinging to profits via pickups, who’ve yet to produce a single large-volume hybrid vehicle). But what of ToMoCo leaving existing vehicles as is for longer?

Toyota will drop minor model changes and make a bigger deal of model changes when they do occur. That will happen more, even if it means delaying launches, said Yukitoshi Funo, an executive vice president who now oversees emerging markets. He formerly headed North American operations.

“We are going to have a smaller number of production actions so that each of those has more impact,” Funo said in a separate interview. “Instead of cosmetic changes, we may have more fundamental changes, though it may require a little longer time.”

Executives cited midcycle face-lifts to items such as grilles, headlamps, bumpers and interior colors as tweaks that might get passed over.

Oh dear. Is this cost-cutting run amok or a fundamental misunderstanding of the American automotive business? Yes. By sacrificing cosmetic changes for cost savings, Toyota fails to see the importance of fashion in their core demographic. Maybe they’ve bought into the motorhead meme that their products are appliances, and nothing more. If so, Toyota has just opened the door a bit wider for their American competition. Well, any automaker fast enough to outpace them with regular style updates.