Toyota's Image Affected by Recall Issue

A survey performed by Kelley Blue Book (KBB) reveals that Toyota consideration and interest has significantly decreased in the U.S. subsequent to the massive recall announcement recently made by the company.

Over a fifth of the individuals who said they were considering a Toyota as their next vehicle before the recall have now changed their mind. Another result of the study informs us that Toyota’s overall brand consideration slipped to third-place and is now lower that that of its domestic rivals, Ford (1st position) and Chevrolet (2nd place).

KBB’s Market Intelligence’s Brand Watch study shows that Toyota consideration dropped from 29 percent to 18 percent following the recall announcement. Furthermore, Toyota’s perceived safety rating saw a decrease from 8.4 to 7.6.

Internet traffic monitoring performed by KBB on Toyota’s website and published in the company’s Marked Watch report reveals that most of the company vehicles affected by the recall saw a 30 percent decrease in Internet page views as compared to the 7-day period before the recall announcement. This trend also expanded to models which are not involved in the recall.

However, questioned car customers said that they believe Toyota will eventually overcome this crisis. Over 30 percent of them said that Toyota is currently experiencing a challenge, but will offer better products in the future. In addition to that, 28 percent said that Toyota has had a smaller number of recalls compared to other manufacturers and the current one does not changed the fact that the company offers great products.

As a general conclusion, the survey shows that, in the short-term, Toyota will be seriously affected by the massive recall issue, both in terms of sales and when it comes to more abstract indicators such as market image. However, consumers think that the damage is not irreversible, with a future recovery in site.

The KBB Market Intelligence study questioned over 400 in-market car buyers on the kbb.com between January 29 and February 1, 2010. Brand Watch data cited compared Toyota brand consideration from January 21-26, 2010 to January 27-31, 2010.  Market Watch data cited compared Toyota model page views on kbb.com from the week of January 18, 2010 to the week of January 25, 2010.