Toyota Wants To Seduce Your Children - To Love Cars
There is an unusual exhibitor at the International Tokyo Toy Show: Toyota. The company shows a grown-up toy car. The car seats 3 children up to 4 feet tall. It has an engine. It drives. Being a toy, it can be dismantled and put together in many different ways. Twist a few knobs, and the car converts from a retro sedan to an offroadish buggy. There is another turn: the toy is supposed to turn on kids to cars.
The car is called “Camatte.” Toyota says this is from the Japanese word for “care”, meant to signify “caring for others” and “caring for cars.” TTAC’s cross-cultural advisor, Frau Schmitto-san, says it is Japanese for “play with me!” The car is said to be powered by an electric motor, and to have a top speed of 25 mph
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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"Twist a few knobs.." Looks more like 50 knobs to me. To car-beginners/kids , these things are way too complicated. Good direction, but shouldn't the end product be more to the scale of power wheels (Darth Lefty has the right idea) that's customizable / upgradable? All the knobs and latches should also be operable by the kids as well (at max a kid and a parent), then they will really have something going.
It reminds me of a toy car that I had when I was a boy. It was called the "Crashmobile". You would run it into an obstacle, and the car would fly apart in about 8 pieces ! It was great ! Then, you fitted the pieces back together, (it was easy), and you did it again. Alternatively, the first car pictured looks like it was made from a VW 412 front end, a Pacer roof, VW Microbus hubcaps, and the front bumper from a 1939 Chevy truck. @Toyota- this is a GOOD thing. All you need to do is show this spirit in a few of your real-life offerings, like the Scion Xb, perhaps. The younger generation will come around.