When "Worst" Really is "Best"

One of the most interesting elements of the Internet involves people making hay from other folk’s original material – reporters reporting on reporters, in other words.

Just such a piece has attracted our attention. It’s titled, "11 worst cars - Consumer Reports." And its subhead entices readers with, "Here are the cars and SUVs with the lowest scores in Consumer Reports' annual auto tests."

OK, so far, so good. But this piece appeared on CnnMoney.com, rather than on any site affiliated with Consumer Reports, and since it appeared there, has appeared on several other Web sites. Wherever it appears, it is, in our view, not only a serious distortion of the information published in the April issue Consumer Reports, which contains the magazine’s annual car ratings, but also is a serious disservice to readers everywhere.

The list names the Toyota Yaris and the FJ Cruiser as members of this ignominious list of 11 Worst Cars. But interestingly, neither the Yaris nor the FJ Cruiser is anywhere to be found on Consumer Reports’ "Worst-of-the-Worst" list, also published in the April issue. Rather, it’s a figment of the author’s imagination, the result of the story’s author reading and interpreting Consumer Reports’ material and extrapolating that for himself.

IRV'S SHEET: Setting the Record Straight on Toyota and Fuel Cells

A recent Wall Street Journal headline and story stating that GM and Toyota are "doubtful" about the mass use of fuel cells is an example of sloppy reporting, at its worst. I will not speak for GM, but as for Toyota, hydrogen fuel cells will play a major role in our sustainable mobility strategy.

Our current technology is robust, reliable and durable. Our prototypes have a range of nearly 400 miles and are fully operational in sub-freezing climates, as evidenced by our recent 2300-mile drive from Fairbanks, Alaska to Vancouver British Columbia, which you can read about here.

Cost reduction and infrastructure are the remaining hurdles. The former will be met by Toyota's engineering and production savvy. The latter will require creative partnerships. At Toyota, hydrogen fuel cell technology has already moved beyond mere compliance with zero-emissions government mandates. It is now all about market preparedness.

The arrival of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles at a Toyota dealership near you is not "just around the corner." There are huge challenges ahead. But we are convinced they will be part of our future. And we will be there.

- Irv Miller, Group Vice President, Corporate Commications

A New Look for Toyota.com

Allow us to direct your attention to our newly redesigned Toyota.com corporate Website. The new site went live yesterday, and we’ve got to say, it’s stunning.

Not only is it fresh, fast and easy to use, it’s filled with information that’s very easy to access. Whether you want to shop our vehicles, read about Toyota in NASCAR, learn more about our parent company, find out more about our philanthropic outreach, it’s all here – plus much more.

So when you have a few moments, visit us at the new Toyota.com and take a look around. We think you’ll be able to find something there that will make your visit worthwhile.

~ Contributed by Jon F. Thompson, Corporate Communications

IRV'S SHEET: Fact Vs. Folklore

It looks like some folks just didn’t get the memo. As you may already know, a popular television program called "Boston Legal" last night broadcast an episode that contained a speech by one of the actors that repeated a curious and incorrect piece of – well, folklore.

This piece of folklore purports, quite incredibly, that a Hummer H2 is more "environmentally friendly" than a Prius. This curious hypothesis first made the rounds last year in a 458-page tome titled "Dust-to-Dust: The Energy Costs of New Vehicles from Concept to Disposal," published by CNW Marketing Research.

As thoughtful researchers have pointed out, it was wrong. It's still wrong now. Its inclusion in the script of a television show doesn’t change that – no matter how deep the conviction with which the actor delivered the lines containing this fairy tale.

Irv Miller posted a response to the CNW report on June 7. Click on the link to see it complete with reader comments - or you can just read on here to read the memo that the folks at "Boston Legal" apparently didn’t get. Mind you, we can't blame the show's writers for finding this a fascinating story angle. But it's fiction. Just to set the record straight, to provide facts instead of fiction, here it is again.

~Jon F. Thompson, Corporate Communications

We reported earlier this week that our Prius hybrid vehicle contributed significantly to our strong sales results for May with a record 24,009 Prius sold across the U.S.

Which had us wondering about all of the potential energy savings that might have resulted had our competitor to the east of us sold 24,009 Hummers instead. 

Weak Yen or Strong Products?

We're going to take an overdue look at an old wives' tale that materializes rather like unwelcome ghosts from time to time.

It is that the Japanese government has somehow manipulated the value of its currency, the yen, to benefit Japanese-based companies that do business in the United States and Europe, holding it artificially low so that the manufacturers are able to realize what amounts to a subsidy on products they build in Japan and sell abroad.

Indeed, this tale of the manipulated yen is far more spectral than, say, Casper, our friendly ghost of theatrical cartoon series fame. It raised its wispy head again late last year, this time in a letter from Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R., Mich.), published in the Wall Street Journal.                                   

This Just In: The Sky Is Not Falling!

Enough already!  Just about to finish our daily perusal of the usually spot on postings driving AutoBlog when we came upon a story by Chris Shunk that .  .  .  well, frankly stunk.

Why the stink?  To read the post on our current Tundra customer incentives (aka as "rebates" per Mr. Shunk or "financial merchandising tools" by our own marketing group) is to break down in tears for all of the bad luck, bad publicity, plain old bad news that has befallen Toyota and our new Tundra full size pickup truck--if it were only true.

IRV'S SHEET: Save the Earth: Buy a ______

We reported earlier this week that our Prius hybrid vehicle contributed significantly to our strong sales results for May with a record 24,009 Prius sold across the U.S.

Which had us wondering about all of the potential energy savings that might have resulted had our competitor to the east of us sold 24,009 Hummers instead. 

Toyota's Open Road

When I think of the open road, my thoughts turn to pleasant memories of weekend trips in my Toyota to destinations unknown, moving forward in a spirited manner with a sense of freedom, and the opportunity to meet new people and engage with them—listening to their stories and developing new friendships.

It was in this sense not long ago that I had the opportunity to commune in a most unusual way with a community group of some of Toyota's most loyal and passionate owners, members of the Prius enthusiast forum know as PriusChat. PriusChat is a great example of how Toyota is beginning to utilize nontraditional consumer-based and consumer generated media to reach out directly to owners and consumers and to shape and protect the Toyota brand image.

With over 13,000 active Prius members and who knows how many behind the discussion threads, it is the perfect spot to engage with our customers and those that we hope will become part of the Toyota family. A young man named Danny from Columbia, SC, founded the PriusChat internet forum nearly four years ago and has watched it grow dramatically as Toyota Prius and hybrid sales in general took off. But, Danny was missing one important ingredient, a Prius!

You see the guy was so frustrated with the very limited means for Toyota and Prius fans to get together and chat about their favorite cars, he built his own online community chat rooms and eventually established the Prius-specific enthusiast forum, PriusChat. Spent all his money on that and couldn't afford to buy a new car! But not any more!

With help from Grossinger Toyota/Scion North in the Chicago area, Danny and his fiancée and a small army of PriusChat members, including me, gathered at the dealership on a sweltering Chicago afternoon to launch Danny on his Prius ownership experience in PriusChat style, meaning plenty of Chicago dogs, burgers and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, members matching faces to screen names and an incredible display of Prius vehicles on site with visual displays, informative information and real live PriusChat members (owners of the cars!) handling questions from observers quite expertly.

So whatever we want to call this rapidly expanding consumer-generated media, it's all about the conversation along the open road, it's about listening to those who think your products rock as well as those who think they stink.  The venue isn't perfect, but it is instantaneous--and it does demand an uncompromised level of transparency and authenticity.  What a perfect place to unveil Toyota's newest corporate communications tool, the Toyota Open Road Blog.

And just like Danny and his PriusChat community, we hope that this blog will serve as our "Go and See" mechanism on the web as we open up the conversation to consumers, our customers, journalists, car aficionados and just about anyone else who longs for the exhilaration of traveling along the open road.

-Contributed by Bruce C. Ertmann, TMS Corporate Communications