Nissan And Toyota: Mutiny About The Bounty
When the Toyota recall debacle kicked off, there were two types of reactions from their competitors. There were the ones who went after Toyota customers like a Catholic priest after a choir boy. And then, there was the “we are taking the high road” brood. Franco-Japanese Nissan were a part of the “we are way above this” bunch. They confirmed that they wouldn’t be introducing programs to woo Toyota customers. Who would want a Nipponese cannibalisation in the far abroad?
Somebody must have missed the memo.
Down in the Carolinas, the Post and Courier reports that Nissan offers an allegedly “nationwide” bounty of $1000. Payable to any Toyota driver who buys a new Nissan. However, the twist is, the Nissan dealer doesn’t want the Toyota in question on his lot. Oh, no, they would have to sell the toxic trade-in. You just show proof of registration of a ToMoCo-mobile, one G will drop on the hood, and you are good to go. You could buy thousands of Nissans and become a millionaire!
Of course, it’s all in the name of a good cause. “Nissan is not trying to destroy Toyota’s name,” Carl Hall of Morris Nissan in West Ashley said with a straight face and a sugar blossom drawl. “We are just trying to assist people who have any doubts with their product right now.”
Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mr Hall. Naturally, the Toyota dealership in the same town has a different take. “It’s an opportunist taking advantage of a situation,” protests Paul Whatley, general manager of Gene Reed Toyota in North Charleston. “That’s probably not a good thing to do. I think it’s a very dangerous thing for them to do. All car manufacturers have recalls.”
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