KBB: Toyota Consideration Falls Sharply But Consumers Expect Automaker to Bounce Back
IRVINE, Calif. — In the aftermath of its recalls, Toyota has lost more than a fifth of the shoppers who had been thinking about buying one of the brands, according to Kelley Blue Book's Kbb.com.
The company also indicated that consideration for the brand has been pushed down to No. 3 behind Ford and Chevrolet, respectively.
Specifically, KBB Market Intelligence's Brand Watch survey indicates that Toyota's brand consideration was 29 percent just days before the recall. However, it fell to 18 percent after the announcement.
What's more, the perceived safety rating for Toyota dropped from 8.4 to 7.6.
With regard to site traffic on Kbb.com, analysts said page views fell almost 30 percent for the majority of the affected models the week after the recall versus the prior week.
Interestingly enough, this decline even spread to Toyota to models that weren't recalled, which KBB suggested shows how widespread the fallout has been for Toyota.
However, KBB did find some good news. Despite the negative impact, KBB indicated that shoppers apparently feel that Toyota will bounce back. In fact, almost a third (30 percent) of respondents acknowledged that Toyota is going through a difficult period but will "offer better products in the future."
More than a quarter (28 percent) stressed that Toyota hasn't had as many recalls as other automakers and claimed their belief that Toyota makes "great products" has not been changed.
"The attitudes and behaviors gleaned from the latest Kelley Blue Book Market Intelligence data show that, in the short term, the impact of this recall nightmare on Toyota could be substantial on future sales as well as intangible factors such as market perception," shared James Bell, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com.
"While it may take some time for Toyota to regain consumers' trust and confidence in their products, the company should feel somewhat relieved that the car-shopping public does not appear to believe the effects of this crisis will be permanent," Bell continued.
"In the interim, however, these unfortunate times for Toyota present a golden conquesting opportunity for competitors, some of which already are capturing new-car shopper consideration," he added.