Toyota is undoubtedly the leader in the automobile industry, consistently outperforming

its competitor in terms of profits, growth and costumer ratings. Even in the years of

volatile economic environment the company managed to survive on its own, furthermore

becoming the largest car manufacturer in the world, surpassing General Motors who held

this status for decades. What is the most interesting in this case is the fact that small

company from Japan, which entered the market decades after giants such as Ford and

GM, was able to reinvent the car manufacturing process and surpass the industry leaders

who already had the technology, knowhow and capital, and become superior in every

aspect of the business. SWOT analysis of the automobile industry

Opportunities 

The Automobile Industry presents great opportunities for companies to earn high profits,

and gain market share if appropriate global or local strategies are implemented.

Analyzing the Global Automobile Industry we can conclude that one of the greatest

opportunities for the car manufacturers are developing markets such as India, China,

Brazil etc. The promising sales forecasts over the next few years can facilitate the

development, and growth of many automobile companies, especially the ones who

already have established global operation networks and possess competitive advantages

such as economies of scale, process innovation, brand name etc. Another opportunity that

mustn’t be overlooked is the product innovation. It is becoming evident that development

of fuel efficient engines, and alternative sources of fuel will be essential for the success of

the Automobile companies. Since this market segment is still in its embryonic stage the

companies to move first will have advantage to their competitors. Threats

forced to take an offensive strategy. With a series of damaging safety recalls, Toyota has

had to evaluate their current track of superior design which caused them to temporarily

loose track of their former offensive strategy of quality (Krolicki). Recently, they have

been had to work extra hard to get back to their offensive strategy and back to being the

industry leader (Krolicki).

Due to the recent safety recalls Toyota has been temporarily de-railed from their strategy.

They need to get back on track and re-focused and make sure that they concentrate on

what made them unique. In order to make this happen, managers of Toyota are going to

have to focus on company communication and bringing back its former foundation of

making quality cars that are dependable and reliable in addition to modern. The company

found its weak spot when it came to the way the company responded to the recalls. In the

beginning of the recall era, Toyota was very slow in its response. Finally, Toyota

executives made the call to recall more than five million of its own vehicles due to

numerous different issues. At the same time, it was decided to halt all sales of Toyota

vehicles as well until the problem could be addressed. For a car company, this is a huge

deal and one that will affect the balance sheets for years to come. However, Toyota

seemed slow in finding a solution to its largest problem in company history (and in the

industry’s history). With a huge recall and halt in sales, one would assume that

management would be pushing for day and night research, product development, and

problem solving in order to get their product back on the market. Instead, it took Toyota a

little over a week (kbb.com / “Toyota Recall and Sales Freeze”) to find a fix and even

longer to get it out to dealers and Toyota mechanics. The terrible communication within

the company was shown when dealers had no idea or word from the company as to what

the game plans were and when the United States called in

have been one of the best sale cars for more than 7 years. Even was the number one

selling Hybrid in America with around 140,000 sold just in 2009 when the auto market

with depression. Although, the performance of Toyota Prius was excellent in the past.

Toyota still needs to stronger its advantage by a innovation to receive a renaissance from

all the recall issues. For the 2010 Prius hybrid automobile, the company redesigned many

aspects of the car to stand-out from the fuel economy. For achieving the best possible fuel

economy, the 2010 Prius has extensive aerodynamic features which includes most parts

of the car. They are all designed to minimize drag-inducing air turbulence. To reduce

fuel-guzzling weight, Toyota made the battery an integral structural part of the car rather

than a bolt-on box. Specifically, there are even three performance modes for the new

2010 Prius, which are EV-Mode, Power Mode and Eco Mode. By all the changes, Toyota

is on his way to receive revive by the innovation strategy. Furthermore, the innovation of

Prius reveals the innovation of using new technology and new energy.