“We need better ways to listen to our customers,” says Di Felice. “So we’re launching new social media tools. We shouldn’t be just talking ‘to’ customers. Customers should also be talking to us”.
To create awareness of new enhancements to Toyota’s social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), the company launched a contest to find “Toyota’s Number One Fan.” (Customers create and send in video entries.)
At the Toronto show, Scion introduced a customer-relations contest of its own — Scion’s Canadian Tuner Challenge. To help make some noise about the 16 new Scion authorized accessories and Toyota Racing Development performance products coming to Canada this spring, Scion tuners who deck out their cars with said products can enter their vehicles to win the contest’s top prize — a trip for both them and their car to attend the SEMA show in Las Vegas.
A week before this auto show, the US-based National Highway and Safety Institute (NHTSA) ruled out that Toyota’s electronic engine systems had anything to do with the “sticking gas pedal” incident. For sure Toyota feels good about that, and about its more robust recall process, which enabled the company to complete the necessary gas pedal recalls, within reduced timeframes, and on 99 percent of the all effected vehicles (a percentage considerably higher than industry averages).
Toyota said it also enhanced its in-car event data recorders, which are playing an increasingly important role in accident and malfunction investigation.
“The reality is that recalls are part of the automotive industry, they are going to continue,” said Di Felice. “What we can do, however, is change how we respond when they arise, and we’ve done just that."
To create awareness of new enhancements to Toyota’s social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), the company launched a contest to find “Toyota’s Number One Fan.” (Customers create and send in video entries.)
At the Toronto show, Scion introduced a customer-relations contest of its own — Scion’s Canadian Tuner Challenge. To help make some noise about the 16 new Scion authorized accessories and Toyota Racing Development performance products coming to Canada this spring, Scion tuners who deck out their cars with said products can enter their vehicles to win the contest’s top prize — a trip for both them and their car to attend the SEMA show in Las Vegas.
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| Photo: Michael Wong |
A week before this auto show, the US-based National Highway and Safety Institute (NHTSA) ruled out that Toyota’s electronic engine systems had anything to do with the “sticking gas pedal” incident. For sure Toyota feels good about that, and about its more robust recall process, which enabled the company to complete the necessary gas pedal recalls, within reduced timeframes, and on 99 percent of the all effected vehicles (a percentage considerably higher than industry averages).
Toyota said it also enhanced its in-car event data recorders, which are playing an increasingly important role in accident and malfunction investigation.
“The reality is that recalls are part of the automotive industry, they are going to continue,” said Di Felice. “What we can do, however, is change how we respond when they arise, and we’ve done just that."
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