Comprehensive Marketing Report: Toyota Fortuner in Malaysia, 2020

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Malaysian automobile market, with a specific focus on the SUV segment and the Toyota Fortuner. It begins with an introduction outlining the report's purpose, followed by an overview of the Malaysian automobile market, including its size, key players, and market segments. The report then delves into Toyota's history, marketing strategies, and performance, particularly within the SUV segment. A detailed examination of the Malaysian automobile marketing environment, including legal, social, cultural, economic, technological, and environmental factors, is presented, along with their impacts on Toyota. The competitive environment is analyzed using Porter's Five Forces, and key success factors (KSFs) in the SUV market are identified. A competitive analysis of the Toyota Fortuner is conducted, followed by a discussion on the role of market research and a proposed marketing research strategy. The report culminates in a proposed marketing strategy for the Fortuner, including objectives, target market, value proposition, promotional strategies, and strategic control measures, offering valuable insights for the launch of the 2020 version of the Fortuner in Malaysia. The report incorporates relevant data and statistics to support its findings and recommendations.

Marketing

Table of contents
1.0 Introduction and Purpose of this report 5
2.0 The Malaysian automobile market 5
2.1 Size of the market and market segments 5
2.2 Key players and their Market Share 5
2.3 The SUV market segment 6
3.0 The Toyota Factory 6
3.1 Brief History 6
3.2 Toyota's Marketing Strategy 7
3.3 Toyota's Performance (In General) 7
3.4 Toyota's Performance in the SUV Segment 7
4.0 The Malaysian Automobile Marketing Environment 7
4.1 Law and Policies 7
4.2 The Social and Cultural factor impact 8
4.3 Economic Factor Impact 9
4.4 The Technological factor Impact 10
4.5 The Environmental factor Impact 11
4.6 Overall conclusion from this analysis and its impact on Toyota150 12
5.0 The Competitive Environment 12
5.1 The intensity of existing rivalry 12
5.2 The threat of new entrants 13
5.3 The Bargaining power of Buyers 13
5.4 The Threat from Substitutes 13
5.5 The Threat from Suppliers 13

5.6 Overall conclusion from this Analysis and its impact on Toyota 13
Figure 1: Porter 5 force analysis 14
6.0 The KSF Factor in the SUV Market 14
6.1 Key Success Factors 14
6.2 KSF factors for the Toyota Fortuner 15
6.3 Conclusion of this Analysis 15
7.0 A Competitive Analysis of the Toyota Fortuner 15
7.1 Competitive Analysis 15
7.2 Conclusion of the Analysis 16
8.0 The Role of Market Research 16
8.1 Proposed Marketing Research Strategy 16
8.2 Expected Findings from the Research 16
9.0 The Proposed Marketing Strategy for the Fortuner 16
9.1 Summary of the SUV Market Environment 16
9.2 The objectives for 2019 and 2020 16
9.3 The Target Market Segment 17
9.4 Profile of the target buyer 17
9.5 Packing Value proposition 17
9.6 Promoting the Fortuner Brand 17
9.6.1 Positioning the Fortuner Brand 17
9.6.2 Creating a Tagline 17
9.7 Service Factor 17
9.8 The Place Factor 17
9.9 The people factor 18
10.0 Strategic Control 18

11.0 Conclusion 18
References 19
Appendices 22

1.0 Purpose of this report
The purpose of this report is to the implementation of market opportunity to launch the new 2020
version of the company's flagship Sports Utility Vehicle the Toyota Fortuner in the country of
Malaysia. The Report will be helpful in understanding the automobile market of Malaysia and
understand the particular segment of sport utility vehicles and its particulars in order to
implement the most suitable strategy that will utilise the market condition to its fullest. The
report will elaborate on the history of the company to understand its previous policies and
marketing strategies to understand past trends and accentuate on future strategies. The report will
also provide an understanding of the national market scenario of Malaysia, its competitive
environment, and the market conditions of the particular segment of SUVs particularly the mid-
range flagship devices.
2.0 The Malaysian automobile market
2.1 Size of the market and market segments
The Malaysian automobile market consists of 27 vehicle producing companies (Marii.my, 2019).
It has the third largest automotive industry in Southeast Asia and the 25th largest in the world
with over 500,000 vehicles being produced annually. The industry contributes up to 4% of the
country’s GDP. It employs over 700,000 personnel for its workforce and creates a nationwide
ecosystem (Yoshida and Kojima, 2015). With the wish to make the local carmakers the proton
and Perodua internationally competitive, the governments of the country does not make ample
changes for the more open segment in the automobiles market for the industry.
2.2 Key players and their Market Share
Year Brand Market share
2018 Perodua 42%
2018 Proton 29%
2018 Toyota 9.8%
2018 Honda 17.2%
2018 Nissan 3.2%
2018 Mitsubishi 1.7%
2018 Naza <1%
2018 Suzuki <1%
2018 Isuzu <1%
Figure: Market share of key players

(Source: Toyotaeconomics.weebly.com, 2019)
The market trend of the Malaysian automobile industry is in terms of having middle-class
people. People in Malaysia wishes to have one or more cars, but their first car is always stable
within their comfort zone of affordability. Proton in the market of Malaysia has not done well in
recent days due to the protectionist format of government presented. However, there are
International brands operating in Malaysia due to their range of affability as well as luxury. Few
of the market players in the automobile industry of Malaysia are as follows:
Honda procures 17.2% of the sales volume of passenger vehicles in Malaysia from the year in
2018. Proton had 29% of sales volume. Nissan holds 3.2%, Mitsubishi and Naza hold 1.7% share
and <1%. Isuzu and Suzuki hold <1% each. However, the market is led and controlled mostly by
Perodua over with that 42% plus volume as seen in 2018 (Toyotaeconomics.weebly.com, 2019).
2.3 The SUV market segment
The market segment of SUV in Malaysia is diverse into companies like Perodua BMW, Mazda,
Peugeot, Naza, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Honda, Toyota, Ford, Hyundai and Kia.
The organisation KIA presented its new SUV the KIA Cerato. They have become a major
competitor for every international brand automobiles in Malaysia with their very first intelligent
variable transmission designed for addressing a rubber band like the feeling of a continuously
variable transmission system. Toyota has come up with their VVTI 4 cylinder petrol engine with
1.5-litre dual Sporting version As Toyota Vios (Carsifu.my, 2019). However, the car only does
come with CVT that somehow is inferior to the product KIA is presenting. In order to make sure
that Toyota Fortuner gains a significant amount of success or have opportunity to lay their
foothold strong in the Malaysian automobile industry or market, they have to come up with even
more statistically advanced features along with proper affordability Support to the middle-class
people of Malaysia.
3.0 The Toyota Factory
3.1 Brief History
In Malaysia, Toyota distributor was strictly provided to UMW Toyota Motor Sdn. Bhd.
(UMWT). They were the only distributor, assembler and exporter of Toyota vehicles in
Malaysia. It was founded in 1982 October as Sejati Motors which was then renamed to UMW
Toyota Motors in October of 1987. There is a huge plan in execution related to the expansion of

the Malaysian market with the prior advent of a proton from the economic crisis. The economic
crisis had use negative impact over the development of UMW Toyota Motors and therefore to
mitigate those issues the organisation wishes to make changes a pushing Toyota brand in the
market by emphasising on customer satisfaction. The economic boom which was experienced by
Malaysia help in industrialising the Toyota operation and it was admirably one of the most
reliable for my fish and value for Money Company for the people in Malaysia (Laksana and
Dewanto, 2018).
3.2 Toyota's Marketing Strategy
Toyota strictly follows the 4 P's of marketing make in order to ensure that their product is
properly utilised and enjoyed by people. In terms of place in the marketing mix for Toyota, they
always sell their vehicles through we use of dealership and one to one basis. The focus on the
differentiation strategy which aims to provide better quality and better service have led the
organization to better market leaders. The utilization of radio, Yellow Pages, Billboard, word of
mouth, brochures, television and newspaper fall under the category of promoting their product
presented by Toyota. Promotional act like a rebate on down payment to buy cars also seems to be
quite operational under the strategies of pricing the product.
3.3 Toyota's Performance (In General)
Toyota’s performance in unit sold for 2016 and 2017 (passenger
vehicles)
2016 44586
2017 47615 +3029
2018 43446 -4619
Toyota’s performance in unit sold for 2016 and 2017 (commercial
vehicle)
2016 19171
2017 21887 +2716
2018 22105 +218
3.4 Toyota's Performance in the SUV Segment
Toyota has produced many new technologies in the market including the first hybrid Gasoline-
electric vehicle that was mass produced, the Prius, which has sold over 2 million vehicles as of
2010, an automatic parking guiding system and four-speed electronically controlled automatic
among many others (Sulastri, Restuti and Marhadi, 2018). The Toyota sold 43446 units and

22105 units for passenger and commercial vehicle in 2018 respectively which was more than that
of 21887 unit sold in 2017 or commercial vehicles and 4619 less than 47615 for a passenger
vehicle in 2017. This certainly constitutes that commercial vehicle management and industries
using commercial vehicle often supports Toyota for their price affordability. (Chartnexus.com
2019).
4.0 The Malaysian Automobile Marketing Environment
4.1 Law and Policies
Situation Impact on the Industry Threat or Opportunity for the
firm
Political and Legal:
● When the partisan
government took over,
they abolished GST(6%)
during the period until
September 2018 until
subsequently, they impose
it (Kesrarat,
Songcharoenkit,
Nanthapornpisut and
Thawonthammarat, 2017).
● The labour cost of
the industry will
increase and the
cost of
production will
follow suit but it
will also follow
suit.
● Consumers took
advantage of and
bought cars
● Though this may at first
appear to be a threat, it
can be used as an
opportunity as with an
increase in the minimum
wage there will be an
increase in the spending
capacity of the common
man. Which will imply
an increase in sales
● Toyota enjoyed big
profits and sales
4.2 The Social and Cultural factor impact
Situation Impact on the
Industry
Threat or Opportunity
for the firm
Social:
 High-income people are
opting for outdoor lifestyle
● With more
average income
people will be
● This an opportunity as
Toyota is a leading
brand for mid-range

(Ng, Yeow, Jee, Thong and
Lee, 2016)
interested in
buying vehicles
to increase
social status.
● People will be
looking for
more eco-
friendly
options when
buying cars
cars that will be the
focus of a growing
middle-class
population.
● This will be an
opportunity as Toyota
is a leading innovator
in the eco-friendly
Hybrid car market.
4.3 The Economic Factor Impact
Situation Impact on the
Industry
Threat or Opportunity
for the firm
Economic:
● The Malaysian economy
has shown quite an
important growth level in
its GDP. The GDP growth
from 2016 till 2018 in
Malaysia ranges from
4.2% to 4.7%. However,
in the level of the industry
sector in the year 2016, the
GDP value shows a 36.8 %
fall (Rachmawati,
Mulyawan, Gunanta and
Nababan, 2018).
● There is a loss of
● Car owners will be
unable to finance
cars and their
vehicles may be
foreclosed by
financial
institutions
● While the
Automobile
industry in
developed
countries mainly
depends on the
substitution of old
cars the market and
● This can be considered
a threat as to increase
in prices sales are
likely to deteriorate
● This is an opportunity
as with the
development of the
oca economy even if
the international
economic situation
worsens the domestic
market will remain
unsaturated.

insignificant amount when
the discussion is
considered on profits being
made by the organization
(Othman, Sundram, Sayuti.
and Bahrin, 2016)
Malaysia still has
potential.
4.4 The Technological factor Impact
Situation Impact on the
Industry
Threat or Opportunity
for the firm
Technological:
● Consumers want higher
quality cars with safety
features (Lamonge, Lapian
and Tumbuan, 2019).
● With the Aim of reducing
Automobile accidents,
there is a new trend to
adopt autopilot
technologies, perfecting
the unmanned driving
advancements (Zhang,
Rasiah and Lee, 2017)
● Automobile
companies have to
shift their focus
from developing
new fuel engine
cars to creating
more efficient
Hybrid cars
● Automobile
industry will have
to sell better
quality cars
● This will come as a
threat as Toyota is a
leader in the hybrid car
market but with an
increasing focus on the
Hybrid car, segment
competition will
increase.
● This is an opportunity
for the company as
Toyota has already a
leading innovator in
new vehicular
technologies and this
has already advanced
significantly in this
sector.

4.5 The Environmental factor Impact
Situation Impact on the
Industry
Threat or Opportunity for
the firm
Environmental:
● Due to rising concern for
the environment, people are
looking for alternative
options other than fuel
engines (Islam, Ghani,
Kusuma and Hong, 2016).
● With global warming rising
at a rapid pace low fuel
emission is a must
requirement for any vehicle
(Roehler, Elliott, Quinlan.
and Zonfrillo, 2019)
● Hybrid cars
are the future
of eco-friendly
modes of
transport
● Low emission
engines need
to be the focus
of Auto
companies.
● This is an opportunity as
Toyota is already a pioneer
in this segment.
● This is a threat as Toyota is
a veteran in the car
industry and a lot of their
old vehicles whose fuel
economy have worsened
are still in circulation.
4.6 Overall conclusion from this analysis and its impact on Toyota
Political factor: The labour cost of the industry will increase and the cost of production will
follow suit but it will also follow suit. Toyota enjoyed big profits and sales
Social factor: People are going for outdoor rides and wish to have an affordable car with all
facilities.
Economic factor: The rise in the GDP rate in Malaysia that there will be enough opportunity for
organisations to increase their sales value. However, the fall in the performance of GDP
contribution, from industry sector in Malaysia certainly indicates a threat in the automobile
industry.

Technological factor: The technological advancement of autopilot and unmanned driving system
have certainly allowed the organisation like Toyota to bring up new innovation for safety and
security
Environmental factor: The presence of old cars with not much-advanced features creates a
certain level of uncertainty in advancement to the field of environmental safety and
sustainability.
5.0 The Competitive Environment
Key
1 Very Small threat
2 Small Threat
3 Medium Threat
4 High Threat
5 Huge Threat
Forces Facts Findings
5.1The intensity of
existing rivalry
 Highly competitive as along
with its domestic brands that
hold a strong market share
 The active population of cars
in the country is around 11
million units
 there are many SUV models
on sale in the Malaysian
market
High Threat 4
5.2 The threat of new
entrants
 Internationally acclaimed
brands who are just reaching
their full potential
 Nissan, Tata Motors, and
Mazda who al function in the
mid-range car segment
Small Threat 2
5.3 Bargaining power
of buyers
 New competition in
developing countries like
Malaysia
 Dealerships have exclusive
contracts with the
manufacturers
Huge Threat 5
5.4 Bargaining power
of suppliers
 Auto unions are powerful and
stable
 Suppliers hold moderate power
as manufacturers
Small Threat 2