Toyota plans to use customer accolades in campaign

Toyota is to highlight user experiences and industry accolades in its latest marketing push in an attempt to reassure consumers following a spate of recalls and faults.

The company wants to extend the theme of its “Your Toyota is My Toyota” pan-European advertising campaign, and says it is focused on “overcoming prejudices”.

Toyota GB commercial director Jon Williams says: “Combined with company-wide efforts to make our already great products even better, we aim to convince the remaining doubters, overcome any lingering prejudice and have everyone judge the brand on the reality of the quality experience reported by owners.”

Toyota will focus on reaffirming its commitment to quality by highlighting its recognition in the JD Power survey, where the Aygo and Yaris achieved the top ranking in the City Car and Small Car categories.

This will be in addition to its five-year warranty pledge and full-page press ads fronted by staff from Toyota Manufacturing UK, promising to “pick up imperfections that are smaller than a human hair”.

Toyota is facing another backlash after the automotive firm warned of a potential fault with the engines of about 270,000 cars it has sold worldwide. The company has had to recall all the vehicles, which includes seven luxury Lexus models and the popular Toyota Crown. Lexus says 3,238 vehicles will be recalled in the UK.

The latest quality problem follows the recall of more than

8 million vehicles, which had problems with sticking accelerator pedals earlier this year.