View Full Version : Toyota's Future Plans
http://www.indystar.com/articles/9/114036-9959-036.html
As Toyota ventures into NASCAR this season for the first time with seven entries in the Craftsman Truck Series, few expect the manufacturer to be content playing in the minor leagues for long.
But Lee White, general manager of Toyota Racing Development, was vague about the company's long-range plans in outlining its truck program Wednesday.
While saying there is "no schedule, no plan and no budget" beyond the trucks at this point, he conceded Toyota's ultimate aim is Nextel Cup.
"Someday we'd like to be (there)," he said. "But if we go, it will be after we have met our objectives here."
White sidestepped a question about what effect a move to Nextel Cup might have on its Indy Racing League program other than to say Toyota has extended its commitment to the IRL through 2006. But he made clear the reason for Toyota's interest in NASCAR.
"Frankly, open-wheel racing in this country is not the best place to showcase your product," he said. "It's a good place to show your technical capability, but it's hard for the rank-and-file fan to identify that vehicle with the vehicle you sell on the street."
:eek:
cartcanuck
01-23-04, 06:27 PM
:rofl: :rofl:
Yeah, like the tintops at Talledega have anything to do with the car you see on the street.......oh yeah, except for the fact that they have roofs and stick-on headlights.
Why doesn't he just say what he means. NASCAR is where the money is, where the fans are, and where the exposure is. OW racing (especially the IRL) means nothing when it comes to exposure for Toyota when compared to NASCAR.
:thumbup: I love it.
Assuming OWRS wins next week, what the heck is TG and the earl going to do when Toyota and Honda bail?
Stick it tony.
:rofl:
Railbird
01-23-04, 08:30 PM
as I've said many times, openwheel racing is dead in America.
When Penske switches his Cup team to Toy and Gascoyne builds a car worthy of a world championship effort, Toyota won't even see Indy in it's review mirror for the tire smoke it left.
jonovision_man
01-23-04, 10:32 PM
"Frankly, open-wheel racing in this country is not the best place to showcase your product," he said. "It's a good place to show your technical capability, but it's hard for the rank-and-file fan to identify that vehicle with the vehicle you sell on the street."
Tell that to Toyota's $200M+/year F1 program... this guy obviously doesn't speak for the company at large, OW is a fine place to showcase your abilities.
jono
"Frankly, open-wheel racing in this country is not the best place to showcase your product," he said. "It's a good place to show your technical capability, but it's hard for the rank-and-file fan to identify that vehicle with the vehicle you sell on the street."
Tell that to Toyota's $200M+/year F1 program... this guy obviously doesn't speak for the company at large, OW is a fine place to showcase your abilities.
jono
He said "open-wheel racing IN THIS COUNTRY".
nissan gtp
01-23-04, 11:22 PM
as I've said many times, openwheel racing is dead in America.
I belive you're wrong ... OWRS doesn't have to be NASCAR to continue and be sucessful.
The earl will be hosed when 'yoda bails... Honda will follow ... then they have, what .... nothing ?
It's all BE's fault! :gomer:
jonovision_man
01-24-04, 12:11 AM
He said "open-wheel racing IN THIS COUNTRY".
He also said "but it's hard for the rank-and-file fan to identify that vehicle with the vehicle you sell on the street." ...
Unless you're suggesting that only holds true in America... maybe Europeans can make the link between OW cars and road cars, whereas Americans don't get it? :rolleyes:
jono
Sean O'Gorman
01-24-04, 01:58 AM
Yikes, that response sounds about like what you'd get from a girlfriend who is about to dump you! :eek:
He also said "but it's hard for the rank-and-file fan to identify that vehicle with the vehicle you sell on the street." ...
Unless you're suggesting that only holds true in America... maybe Europeans can make the link between OW cars and road cars, whereas Americans don't get it? :rolleyes:
jono
No, there's a level of sophistication amoungst the worlds racing fans that you don't see in America. It's the same reason why the majority of race fans in this country are content with handling changes amounting to hunks of urethane rubber jammed into rear springs or strips of duct tape stuck across the nose of a car. The same reason that that majority believes the end all to be all is turning left all season long. The same reason you don't see masses of flags and banners in the stands on raceday with Ford, Chevy, Gforce or Dallarha on them. The same reason why there might actually be an audience for a series like Grand-Am.
Despain explains the differences between America and European race fans
here (http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/6400/) . Read it, then you'll get it.
jonovision_man
01-24-04, 10:54 AM
No, there's a level of sophistication amoungst the worlds racing fans that you don't see in America. It's the same reason why the majority of race fans in this country are content with handling changes amounting to hunks of urethane rubber jammed into rear springs or strips of duct tape stuck across the nose of a car. The same reason that that majority believes the end all to be all is turning left all season long. The same reason you don't see masses of flags and banners in the stands on raceday with Ford, Chevy, Gforce or Dallarha on them. The same reason why there might actually be an audience for a series like Grand-Am.
Despain explains the differences between America and European race fans
here (http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/6400/) . Read it, then you'll get it.
I don't really accept that, Americans are very keen on their cars and I find many Americans to have a lot of passion about them. It may not be Ferrari-esque, but most nations in Europe aren't Ferrari-esque.
Maybe my view of America is skewed, I was just watching bits and pieces of the Barrett-Jackson auction last night... :)
I tend to give Americans more credit, though, I think they get an unfair "unsophisticated" label. There are plenty of unsophisticated Europeans, but you only hear about the royalty and celebs.
jono
Despain explains the differences between America and European race fans
here (http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/6400/) . Read it, then you'll get it.
Responsibility lies with a dumbed down, National Nanny, lowest common denominator Transportation Bureaucracy that insures a driver's license to anyone who can fog a mirror, then mandates a bags-and-belts cocoon to protect them when they run into each other, which is inevitable because they have no idea what they're doing out there. Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!
I don't really accept that, Americans are very keen on their cars and I find many Americans to have a lot of passion about them. It may not be Ferrari-esque, but most nations in Europe aren't Ferrari-esque.
Maybe my view of America is skewed, I was just watching bits and pieces of the Barrett-Jackson auction last night... :)
I tend to give Americans more credit, though, I think they get an unfair "unsophisticated" label. There are plenty of unsophisticated Europeans, but you only hear about the royalty and celebs.
jono
You couldn't be more wrong. What you see on Barrett-Jackson represents less than 1% of the U.S population. I have lived in Canada, Europe and the U.S and the difference is noticable right away. Dave Despain's article on SpeedTV.com nails it perfectly.
Why do you think that NASCAR hasn't taken off anywhere outside of the U.S?
Racewriter
01-24-04, 04:45 PM
You couldn't be more wrong. What you see on Barrett-Jackson represents less than 1% of the U.S population. I have lived in Canada, Europe and the U.S and the difference is noticable right away. Dave Despain's article on SpeedTV.com nails it perfectly.
Why do you think that NASCAR hasn't taken off anywhere outside of the U.S?
Why is it so difficult to just accept that the USA is a unique country, with a unique national character?
jonovision_man
01-24-04, 05:11 PM
You couldn't be more wrong. What you see on Barrett-Jackson represents less than 1% of the U.S population. I have lived in Canada, Europe and the U.S and the difference is noticable right away. Dave Despain's article on SpeedTV.com nails it perfectly.
Why do you think that NASCAR hasn't taken off anywhere outside of the U.S?
NASCAR is easy - they only race in the U.S., mostly American drivers, American makes, and ovals... barely anything there that Europeans would follow.
How do you explain the pre-split popularity of OW? No reason Americans can't "get" OW, and I think labelling yourselves unsophisticated and throwing up your arms misses the boat.
jono
NASCAR is easy - they only race in the U.S., mostly American drivers, American makes, and ovals... barely anything there that Europeans would follow.
How do you explain the pre-split popularity of OW? No reason Americans can't "get" OW, and I think labelling yourselves unsophisticated and throwing up your arms misses the boat.
jono
I'm not labelling myself as unsophisticated. I was born in Toronto. ;) But if there was a demand for NASCAR in Europe they would be there. When I was at the British GP in 1992 I was with some Scottish and English fans and they asked me if I liked NASCAR. I told them what I thought and they agreed with me. They don't understand what the deal is about it.
It's a completely different mentality over there when it comes to cars and racing. They prefer high(er) tech cars, witness the success of F1, WRC and LeMans. Plus the numerous touring car series over there.
In summation:
If Toyota wants to sell cars in Europe and Asia they go to Formula 1.
If Toyota wants to sell cars in the U.S they go to NASCAR. Toyota racing in NASCAR isn't going to help them sell cars outside of North America. Toyota is the #2 car builder in the world right now in terms of cars sold. They want to be #1. They have to focus on all the world's markets. Not just the US. IMO it won't be much longer before they surpass GM for the #1 slot. GM would need to throw out all their cars (not trucks) and redesign them from the ground up and I don't see that happening.
Why is it so difficult to just accept that the USA is a unique country, with a unique national character?
It is. I'm not argueing that point. It is just that the U.S is very different from Europe and Asia when it comes to tastes in cars and racing.
Lizzerd
01-24-04, 06:43 PM
In summation:
If Toyota wants to sell cars in Europe and Asia they go to Formula 1.
If Toyota wants to sell cars in the U.S they go to NASCAR.
That pretty much says it right there.
jonovision_man
01-24-04, 10:14 PM
I'm not labelling myself as unsophisticated. I was born in Toronto. ;) But if there was a demand for NASCAR in Europe they would be there. When I was at the British GP in 1992 I was with some Scottish and English fans and they asked me if I liked NASCAR. I told them what I thought and they agreed with me. They don't understand what the deal is about it.
It's a completely different mentality over there when it comes to cars and racing. They prefer high(er) tech cars, witness the success of F1, WRC and LeMans. Plus the numerous touring car series over there.
In summation:
If Toyota wants to sell cars in Europe and Asia they go to Formula 1.
If Toyota wants to sell cars in the U.S they go to NASCAR. Toyota racing in NASCAR isn't going to help them sell cars outside of North America. Toyota is the #2 car builder in the world right now in terms of cars sold. They want to be #1. They have to focus on all the world's markets. Not just the US. IMO it won't be much longer before they surpass GM for the #1 slot. GM would need to throw out all their cars (not trucks) and redesign them from the ground up and I don't see that happening.
I'm not suggesting it's not different, clearly it is. I think it goes deeper than just that they like higher-tech cars.
The most popular sports in the U.S. are what, NFL, MLB, NASCAR... exclusive to Americans. The rest of the world is watching F1 and soccer. Golf is the one exception I can think of, and the Olympics every 4 years, where Americans actually watch Americans competing against the world...
NASCAR is popular because it was well packaged and promoted. It's full of American content. It wasn't always more popular than OW. The Indy 500 was the "greatest spectacle" until the last decade here.
So in summary... :-)
Toyota can't sell cars with OW in the U.S. not because Americans have difficulty making the link between a Toyota OW car and buying a Toyota road car... but because almost nobody is paying attention to OW right now in the US, a hopefully short-term situation.
IMO.
I'm from Toronto too, FWIW... :-)
jono
The Big 3's sales volume is proof that automotive crap, where the designers cut almost every corner they possibly could to save that extra 1/4 cent, is accepted as proper, imo.
So in summary... :-)
Toyota can't sell cars with OW in the U.S. not because Americans have difficulty making the link between a Toyota OW car and buying a Toyota road car... but because almost nobody is paying attention to OW right now in the US, a hopefully short-term situation.
So we agree then. :saywhat: :gomer:
jonovision_man
01-25-04, 09:24 AM
So we agree then. :saywhat: :gomer:
I don't think so... :rolleyes:
I was originally disagreeing with this:
"Frankly, open-wheel racing in this country is not the best place to showcase your product," he said. "It's a good place to show your technical capability, but it's hard for the rank-and-file fan to identify that vehicle with the vehicle you sell on the street."
I don't think Americans would have any harder time identifying that a Toyota OW is a Toyota than anywhere else on the world. That's not the reason they can't sell Toyotas using OW. The reason is because almost nobody in the US watches OW.
jono
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