Quote:
Originally Posted by oneday
It sucks that you had a bad instructor, there are stupid/ignorant people everywhere...it's be like saying, "I read something untrue on the internet, therefore all of the internet is wrong."
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Conversely even if you are a better driver than me (I'll assume this is true) it is irrelevant to your arguments.
Now let's work on the following more constructively...
Quote:
Originally Posted by oneday
But it's not like Toyota is not doing any advancement of tech. And the money spent on marketing is making Toyota as a whole, more profitable. If Scion were not giving Toyota a substantial ROI, the brand would be axed with a swiftness.
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First let's remember what Toyota and every car company out there is about. Making money.
Given Toyota's return on investment, I can't say. The horrible expansion into Canada could be interpreted two ways. One, Scion is kicking ass and taking names, so now a proven system, onward into Canada, then the world. The other could be that it's not moving the volume expected and instead of just axing the whole thing and wasting a ridiculous amount of their investment, they are trying to stem declining sales by expanding into new markets.
Now allow me to elaborate on the marketing vs engineering profitability I touched on. My fear (which may seem paranoid now but who knows...) is if this marketing-driven experiment succeeds it will show companies that they don't need to invest as much in engineering. The technical side will then only need to meet the status quo and marketing will take it from there. It will attempt to erode the public's desire for real (way more expensive to develop) performance vehicles for more and more of the Toyota transport appliances, simply dressed up like a silhouette-type racing performance car.
The Japanese big 3's decisions to create separate brands to go upmarket makes sense. But Toyota's decision to create Scion scares me.