Toyota at the London motor show 2008

Batty, not as bland as they used to be but Toyotas skill is about dominating the maths (production, profits, costs) of the industry which is not what Europe is about. I entirely agree with you Toyota "mop up the less informed and less caring". My best analogy is Levi who dominated the jeans market with the 501 for a few years as Toyota do on a volume basis with cars presently. Levis dominance was torn to shreds very quickly by the Europeans superior branding and design/image skills whilst fakes took the bottom end of the market. As niche models continue to grow (SUV to Crossovers etc) no 1 company can hope to dominate more than 2 or 3 of say 30 or more market sectors. The day of the Golf conquering Europe are gone as today there are even sub-sectors/niches of the Golf (hatch) market itself. The best a Car Co can hope for is to find a new sector/niche as Range Rover did or Renault with its Espace or Nissan with its Quashqai and cling on to that sectors leadership when the competition arrives with me-too products. Toyota dominating more than 2 or 3 of 30 or more sectors/niches is about as good as it gets... until 4 or 5 European brands arrive on the scene with more style, design panache and personality!!

Batty - I'd agree with you if Toyota showed skill at tempting European consumers but their focus is global so we see products 'cobbled together' for the European market, not designed for. Lexus for example is aimed at the US and wins sales over here on novelty (ie. having something other than a BMW, Merc or Audi) and are not a serious challenge to the Europeans who know more about branding and design coz they wrote the book on it! As for Toyota mass models I can't see the likes of VW, Peugeot, Fiat et al (who've all upped their branding games and diversified into ever more niches) being troubled much either by Toyotas global-product models (this isn't a Hi-Fi or digital camera market, this is a 'branded clothes on wheels' market now and highly fragmented). And Toyotas world domination programme is about to come under a larger threat from 'below' from India and primarily China over the next 5 to 10yrs. Toyota dominate in Europe? Toyota are skilled at production, profitability, costs and reliability. That's the wrong skill set in Europe where brand/image, design quality and over-engineering maketh the market. Toyota are improving in these areas but I very much doubt Toyota can match the Europeans at their own game or appeal en-masse across Europes culturally diverse populations. Product niches, style and tastes are becoming ever more diverse and sophisticated. It's hard to see any brand dominating, let alone Toyota, in any country simply because people and products themselves are becoming so diverse. Finally I can't think of any Toyota product with much character in their entire history which also doesn't suggest Toyota has the ability to become Numero Uno in Europe!

Well reportted Sandy T, especially like the lepers reference. JohnnyBimmer, you of all people should have an affinity with Toyota's relentless, grinding determination to rule the world. They mop up the less informed and less caring (which is the majority of the population) and leave the enthusiasts for the other makes. Unfortunately, I predict Europe too will succumb to their approach.