Key historical players that are crucial to the sustainable growth of the automotive
industry are Toyota, Honda, and Volkswagen. With each company estimated worth in the
billions they are considered to be in the ranking of the top twelve car companies.
However,it’s Toyota who produced the top
selling hybrid model in history: the Prius.Toyota has always been a
forerunner in the sustainability game within the car industry; it released the Prius
20 years ago, which revolutionized the car industry and brought sustainability
within it to the conversation. The Prius “was the world’s first mass-produced
petrol-electric hybrid vehicle” (Toyota 2015). The Prius made the possibility of
more sustainable cars a reality.
How hybrid vehicles are perceived
Hybrid or electric cars are perceived as too expensive, as are most products that are
considered sustainable. Even though Toyota released the Prius, which is considered a
less expensive car, it is generally considered “uncool” to own one.
Companies such as Tesla are beginning to alter this perception. Even with an
expensive price tag the car is yearned for due to the sleek and sexy design. This
starts the process of making sustainability a trend which is a key component in
altering the public’s perception on the car industry and where they decide to invest
their money.
READ ALSO:
Cars’ Shocking Future. It’s All About Green
Toyota sustainable advertising
On Earth Day in 2019, Toyota released a campaign
that collaborated with Micheal Shainblum, a landscape, timelapse and
aerial photographer based in San Francisco, California. Michael first made a name
for himself through his unique creativity and the ability to capture scenes and
moments in his distinct style of surreal, visual story telling.
The ‘Small differences make Big difference’ campaign encourages people to get outside
and appreciate the world enough to protect it, set to the backdrop of beautiful
destinations the photographer has traveled to with his Toyota. The caption on the
post was “Today is Earth Day. Small difference makes a big change. Toyota will
continue the environmental movement for the Earth” (Toyota Motor Europe 2019).
The Toyota
Environmental Challenge 2050 is a set of six challenges Toyota has set for
itself to work towards furthering its sustainability efforts. The Toyota website
describes the challenges : “announced in 2015, comprises six separate ‘challenges’
that cover every aspect of our business, our exploration of new products and
technologies, and our role as an enabler for individuals and communities to learn
about and improve the natural world around them” (Toyota Motor Europe 2019).
The campaign’s strengths are that it is putting in effort into taking the necessary
steps towards being more and more sustainable, but the weaknesses are that it
doesn’t really advertise how passionate Toyota is about what they are doing; the
consumer has to do some digging to see what the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050
actually is and why it is important to keep doing better, year after year.
In 2020 Toyota confirms its commitment to the 2050 challenge but they renounced
(maybe amid covid19 pandemic) to advertise their message. Instead they announced on
their webiste that next year, they will begin constructing Woven
City , a prototype city of the future powered by clean energy produced
through hydrogen fuel cells, located at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan. They also
affirmed that in 2019 they switched to 100% renewable electricity to run
their operations, “leading to significant progress towards the Environmental
Challenge 2050”.
What People Should Know About Toyota’s Sustainability
Toyota claims to be a brand that commits to sustainable development while also aiming
for superior quality. As pioneers in the hybrid car niche, Toyota faced and still
face issues of performance and safety which reflects upon the overall credibility
and quality of the brand. With this, the Prius has been recalled quite a few times.
In 2018 one million hybrid cars were recalled due to a potential fire risk. This
recall damaged Toyota’s brand claim by being perceived as less credible in the eyes
of the consumer. This led to an open space in the growingly competitive green
market. However, what is most tragic about this situation is the impact on the green
industry as a whole. It gives those skeptical about climate change a reason to
separate themselves from their wallets due to their proven conception that green is
a marketing “scam.”
In a 2008 article
by Wired Magazine it was revealed that making a Prius contributes more carbon to
the atmosphere then in the making of a Hummer. This is due to the 30 pounds of
nickel in the cars battery which has a great environmental cost. Once the car is on
the road for a prolonged amount of time the superior fuel economy will pay off, but
the production of the vehicle is suspected to be far from sustainable. from then on
this is a kind of regular controversial conversation about how
green are green vehicles
While Toyota does have issues, they do have good intentions in some respects. For
example, they took on a role as an environmentalist leader by creating
a set of green guidelines for the 500 suppliers that provide materials for
the automaker. With this they are staying true to their brand claim by setting an
environmental commitment beyond its own processes and trying to create a sustainable
supply chain.
What Toyota Could Do To Better Advertise
Because other companies are beginning to have sustainability on their radar, Toyota
is not often reported on because they aren’t necessarily the most relevant or
groundbreaking car company sustainability-wise anymore. When the Prius came out, it
was revolutionary so media outlets were constantly reporting on environmental
pioneer Toyota in the early 2000s. But now, in 2020, Toyota’s title of environmental
car forerunner has been taken over by other car companies, such as Tesla, especially
as Tesla works towards moving into a more affordable price bracket, Audi and even
Porche which are more and more engaging in their marketing approach.
READ ALSO:
Cars’ Shocking Future. It’s All About Green
It’s time to lead from behind and be at the forefront in
advertising , exactly as for their top
luxury brand, Lexus (do you remember LStudio ?,
unfortunately they stopped their operations 2 years ago), which is joining the
ever-expanding list of all-electric vehicles in
2020 with the UX300e
“Zero Gravity”, concept design ED2 Lexus, Karl Dujardin
They should stress their ‘affordable innovation’ but both focusing on their “green”
behavior AND renewing their appeal. So that people would stop jokes like : Q:What is
the smallest part of an Toyota? A: The owners brain (source: http://www.jokes4us.com/
)
Photo credits: Wallpaper
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Author: elena
grinta I’m a journalist with keen a vision of markets and
new trends and 20+ years of experience in Communication.
Founding a ‘for benefit’ start-up changed my professional (and personal)
life forever. I used to work in marketing depts and realized the better I
did at work, the worst I impacted on people and planet. I then considered
Marketing a ‘weapon’ that could be used for the benefit of all humans
(Cialdini was extremely useful at that time ;-)). I quit my well-paid job as
director and started an innovative start-up willing to let people know
better if brands walk the talk. Everybody could search and investigate on
the web but nobody does! as it’s boring and time spending. What if WE could
do it for you?! This is how BeIntelligent was born! View all posts by elena grinta
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