[amit]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

there is not a single toyota that appeals to the heart.

I have also felt that most of the earlier Toyota's were very bland and practical but the new Camry, like GTO said, is a awesome car. It may or may not handle as well as the Mondeo's and Passat's but is a huge improvement over the last Camry. I had driven the last generation Camry in Canada and hated it! The wind noise around the door mirrors and A pillar was too loud and obstrusive and the handling was extremely wobbly. Even the Yaris is a cute looking car that appeals to your emotions. The new Lexus's now look very sharp, attractive and sexy too. Also, the European Auris looks great too.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by amit

I have also felt that most of the earlier Toyota's were very bland and practical but the new Camry, like GTO said, is a awesome car. It may or may not handle as well as the Mondeo's and Passat's but is a huge improvement over the last Camry. I had driven the last generation Camry in Canada and hated it! The wind noise around the door mirrors and A pillar was too loud and obstrusive and the handling was extremely wobbly. Even the Yaris is a cute looking car that appeals to your emotions. The new Lexus's now look very sharp, attractive and sexy too. Also, the European Auris looks great too.

The new Camry is awesome!

BUT, it looks more like a chauffeur driven luxury car, than a driver's car. (No, i haven't driven it).

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by GTO

Including the new Camry? Its awesome and my pick over the Accord any day.

well, there is the Nissan teana now. And camry always reminds me of the Mazda 6 I used to adore in Toronto. Always.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Zappo

You won't find too many americans going for these american cars nowadays but its the asians, as you said. the reason is most of them land up there from india and other asian countries and then look for a used car that comes cheap.

I don't know where you get your info from.
If you go to the bible/rust belt in the USA, a Japanese car would be a rarity rather than the norm with Americans. Even in the North, outside of
the big cities, Americans buy a lot of American cars. It's only in the big
cities of the North that you would find more Japanese cars than American
cars. And one reason for this is that there are a lot of Asians in the
big cities. It's in the Asian community, people rarely look outside of Toyota, Honda & Nissan.

[ananthkamath]

The bottomline is that Toyota is doing all the right things. They know EXACTLY what people want (and by people I mean the general public who dont give two hoots for whether a car appeals to the heart) and they are giving it to them. They have Scion to cater to the younger gen, they have Lexus for the executive class, trucks that cater to the rural farmer/redneck types; basically the whole market.

Their strategy is unique because they dont jump onto the technology bandwagon that fast. Many GM & Ford cars, even VW, are all technologically superior to the typical Toyota. Yet Toyota is bigger than the last two put together. This is Darwin's survival of the fittest theory in action here.

[highwayblaze]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

there is not a single toyota that appeals to the heart. The last vehicle from Toyota I loved was the FJ cruiser.

It appeals to the pocket for sure in terms of long term reliability and ownership costs over several years. depreciates slower than american cars!

[carboy]

Originally Posted by ananthkamath

They have Scion to cater to the younger gen, they have Lexus for the executive class, trucks that cater to the rural farmer/redneck types; basically the whole market.

Which of the big Auto Companies don't have products in all these
segments? They may sell more or less than Toyota in these segments, but
your post makes it sound as if Toyota is the only company which has
a presence across all these segments.

[highwayblaze]

Originally Posted by carboy

Which of the big Auto Companies don't have products in all these
segments? They may sell more or less than Toyota in these segments, but
your post makes it sound as if Toyota is the only company which has
a presence across all these segments.

Give examples and it'll be easier.

[ananthkamath]

Originally Posted by carboy

Which of the big Auto Companies don't have products in all these
segments? They may sell more or less than Toyota in these segments, but
your post makes it sound as if Toyota is the only company which has
a presence across all these segments.

Really....show me ONE car sub-15k car in the GM or Ford lineup that appeals to the urban hipster crowd like the Scion....Cobalt SS? Nope. Focus SVT? Oops, Ford are so stupid to not make that anymore. Chrysler Neon SRT4? Oops again.

Again show me ONE car in GM's lineup which can compare to Lexus's brand image, and the cars' refinement. None.

Maybe you have some in mind? I sure as hell dont.

[Nitin]

Originally Posted by ananthkamath

Really....show me ONE car sub-15k car in the GM or Ford lineup that appeals to the urban hipster crowd like the Scion....Cobalt SS? Nope. Focus SVT? Oops, Ford are so stupid to not make that anymore. Chrysler Neon SRT4? Oops again.

Again show me ONE car in GM's lineup which can compare to Lexus's brand image, and the cars' refinement. None.

Maybe you have some in mind? I sure as hell dont.

Ananth, I guess carboy's refering to the Ford Five Hundred that gets close to the Lexus sedans.. Though I still feel they are miles &miles apart.
Ford & GM do have good cars,but its no as good as a bunch of Jap/korean cars.

[1100D]

Hows the Fusion/Milan in terms of reliability, looks pretty good, handles pretty good (drove as a rental car)

[Nitin]

The Milan did have some initial problems with the handling,but thats been fixed. A lot of people feel its got style,but not anything different from other cars like the Lucerne/Lacrosse.
The Fusion has a nice look to it,and the new Ford Taurus seems to borrow a few lines from the Fusion.

[1100D]

Then there is the Charger/Magnum/ 300c, how are they? Aren't they exciting cars to drive with reliability to match?

[ananthkamath]

All of these cars are exceedingly good-looking today, but consider that 3 or 4 years down the line they arent cars you would want to be driving because they will start looking outdated and even cliched in some cases (those in detroit will know what I'm talking about) . Whereas a new Toyota or Honda may look bland and lacking in style today, but they maintain their appeal a few years down the line.

Case in point: 2003 Chevy Malibu Vs. 2003 Toyota Camry.

[hellspawn]

could it be possible that somehow toyota took a s tep backwards and let GM overtake so as to prevent a backlash from the american public.
toyota had shown concerns in the past that if it overtook Gm,the american motor industry might try to woo the customers by riding on the patriotic bandwagon and it could very well destroy Toyota's image.
just a thought.let me know what you think.