| UPDATE Toyota Canada reps confirm that this is a US-only program. |
Toyota has just announced that it will be including 24 months of free maintenance on all of their 2011 products, in the US. This "added value" will also include 24-hour road-side assistance. The plan covers normal factory scheduled maintenance for up to 25,000 miles, or the aforementioned two years.
This decision was twofold, at least, in our minds. First, Toyota began offering this plan last spring as part of a seasonal sales programs. The response was very favourable. In fact, 73% of buyers said that it improved their confidence in the Japanese brand. That's a good start.
Second, and this is what we think, Toyota has done this in hopes of putting the brakes on steadily declining sales and market-share losses. Once infallible, Toyota now faces vastly improved competition from the domestic brands as well as its Asian counterparts and an image that has been shaken to the core given the recent recall "scandal".
Whether or not this will have the desired effect, this is the first time that a mainstream large-volume brand offers this type of program to its customers.
The question we ask ourselves now, as will every other media outlet and potential Toyota customer, is if the big plan will be made available in Canada. Let's remind everyone that Toyota sales were down over 17% last month, following a 30% decline in August, in Canada.