Marketing for Managers: Analysis and Recommendations for Toyota Motor Corporation in Singapore

Marketing for managers

Running Head: Report
Executive Summary
Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational organisation manufacturing
automobiles. This report is prepared from the perspective of a marketing consultant appointed
for Toyota Motor Corporation in Singapore. It presents a detailed analysis of the marketing
strategy of the organisation adopted at present and make recommendations on the basis of it
to make the marketing processes more effective and to improve the performance of the
organisation in this market. The current strategy followed for the promotion and marketing of
the vehicles by Toyota Motor Corporation is good but there are certain changes required in
the approach of the company that can be implemented after collecting primary data with the
help of survey research and observational study. This will allow your organisation to
understand and gain perspective about what their current and their potential customers expect
from the vehicles and from the brand and build on their internal stress while identifying the
inherent weaknesses that they need to work on. Toyota is one of the most profitable
automobile organisations in the world and manufacturers more than 10 million vehicles in a
year. The organisation needs to now focus on the three customer segments highlighted in the
study classified on the basis of their demographic, psychographic and behavioural features.
The organisation can also improve its competitive by promoting the hybrid vehicle product
line and Toyota Harrier specifically as it fits the needs and expectations of the target
customer segments.
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Running Head: Report
Contents
Executive Summary..................................................................................................... 1
Business Background................................................................................................... 3
Macro environment forces impacting the automobile industry in Singapore................................4
Political forces........................................................................................................ 5
Technological forces................................................................................................. 5
Socio-cultural forces................................................................................................. 6
Possible basis of segmentation for Toyota in Singapore.........................................................7
Demographic segment............................................................................................... 7
Psychographic segment............................................................................................. 7
Behavioural segment................................................................................................. 8
Recommended primary research techniques.......................................................................9
Survey research....................................................................................................... 9
Observational research............................................................................................ 10
Marketing strategy analysis.......................................................................................... 11
Marketing mix strategies.......................................................................................... 11
Product............................................................................................................... 11
Pricing................................................................................................................ 11
Promotion............................................................................................................ 11
Place.................................................................................................................. 12
Improving competitiveness....................................................................................... 13
3 types of Services used in marketing strategies.................................................................14
People................................................................................................................. 14
Processes............................................................................................................. 16
Physical evidence................................................................................................... 16
Conclusion & recommendations.................................................................................... 17
References.............................................................................................................. 18
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Running Head: Report
Business Background
Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational organisation manufacturing
automobiles. Founded on 28 August 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda, it is one of the largest
automotive organisations in the world. The headquarters of the organisation is located at
Toyota, Aichi, Japan and the organisation has a global workforce of more than 370,000
employees. Toyota Motor Corporation has five distinct divisions under which they
manufacture the vehicles namely Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu, Ranz and Hino. Along with this,
the organisation has stakes in various other automobile organisations and operates in a joint
venture with the organisations in India, China and the Czech Republic (Toyota, 2015).
Producing more than 10 million units annually, Toyota Corolla is the oldest and the largest
selling vehicle of the company, having sold more than 40 million units in July 2013. Toyota
Corolla is a subcompact car that was first produced in the year 1966. Although the vehicle
has gone through major -redesigning over the years, it became the bestselling car throughout
the world in the year 1974 and has maintained that position ever since. Toyota Motor
corporation carries out designing, manufacturing, assembly and sale of passenger cars,
commercial vehicles, minimax and their related parts and accessories. The major areas of
operation for the organisation are Japan, North America, Asia and Europe (Nkomo, 2017).
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Running Head: Report
The global market shares of Toyota Motor Corporation for the year 2018 was 9.46% what's
the highest among all the brands and automotive organisations. The closest competitors to
Toyota when it comes to the global automobile market are Volkswagen, Ford, Nissan, Honda
and Hyundai.
Macro environment forces impacting the automobile industry in Singapore
The macro environmental factors are the factors related to the external environment of the
industry that impacts its operations and profitability. The macro environment comprises of
the demographic, economic, technological, political and socio-cultural forces that shape the
industry, buying behaviour of the customers and their expectations. The three most
significant macro environmental forces influencing the automobile industry in Singapore are
discussed in this section (Barter, 2015).
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Running Head: Report
Political forces
Singapore is one of the most expensive places in the world for owning a vehicle. The
Government of Singapore has put in place various regulatory measures in the form of the
Certificate of Entitlement (COE), Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) and the custom duties for
keeping a check on the number of vehicles running on the road. The COE is the most
significant factor that influences the sales of the automobiles the people of Singapore have to
place bits in an open with uniform price auction for attending the legal right for registering,
owning and using a vehicle in the country for the next 10 years (Commin, 2018). This has
been in place in Singapore since 1990 to limit the number of vehicles and to provide better
management of the transport network of roads by restricting the vehicle ownership by the
people. Along with this, the Government of Singapore has also imposed the congestion tax in
the form of ERP for improving traffic management and to maintain a sustainable quality of
life across the region (Mohr, et al., 2016).
Technological forces
The digitisation and changes in the business models have brought about numerous changes in
the automotive industry of Singapore. The electrification of the vehicles, diverse mobility,
and autonomous driving adjust few trends that resulted in the disruption of the trends that are
currently being followed in the industry. Technology plays a significant role in changing the
course of businesses and as the latest technology diffuses across Singapore, the performance
the different brands operating in the automotive industry and their profitability will be
impacted (Cleanair Asia, 2016). Because of the increasing competition and changes filled
by the latest technological advancements, do organisations have to simultaneously compete
with one another and with the Other industries on multiple fronts in order to target the right
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