Toyota: Moving Forward with Print Ads

Cars have certainly come along way since 1885 when Karl Friedrich Benz built the first gasoline automobile. Car manufacturers have come and gone. Toyoda, renamed Toyota in 1937, has been one of the world’s top producers for automobiles. From their Model AA introduced in 1936 to the present day where technology brought hybrid cars to the streets, Toyota had astonishing growth.
In 1958 around the time of the 1957-58 recession, Toyota exported its first passenger cars (Toyopet and Land Cruiser) to the United States. There were 46,716 Toyota vehicles produced in 1956 and in 1957, the number of vehicles escalated to 79,527. Since that time, Toyota’s print ads were strategically placed in magazines such as Motor Trend, Life and even Playboy. Exporting vehicles to a country where there are large domestic car manufacturers is not the easiest task. Survival meant offering a quality product at a lower price and spreading the word around via print media and television advertisements.
The carmaker has seen its share of financial troubles especially in recent months when many Toyota models were recalled due to unfortunate defects with the mechanics. On a more positive note, Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the founder, has acknowledged the errors from Toyota instead of putting the blame on someone else. He also expressed his deepest and sincere apologies to everyone and is doing everything in his power to address the consumer’s issues, fix all problems with the vehicles and gain the trust from the people.
When you place your own name on a product or service, it is something you should take great pride in just as Mr. Toyoda does. Today we would like to share with you a timeline of Toyota ads, from vintage to present day.
Toyota ad quotes and slogans:
“So here they all are for ‘64, more Toyota’s on the move than ever before!”
“Acceleration is brisk, cruising speeds are high”
“Toyota. Moving Forward.”
“The best built cars in the world.”
“Get the Feeling. Toyota.”
“Drive Your Dreams.”
“The car in front is a Toyota.”
“Your new experience of motoring.”
“Performance verging on meltdown.”
“Toyota quality.”
“We’re Quality Oriented.”

1959 Toyota Toyopet

This design was published two years after the first Toyota passenger car was exported to the United States. It happened between the 1958 recession and the 1960 recession. Toyota produced 101,194 cars that year.

Toyopet

One For The Money (1964)

The saying, “One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and four to go” has been used to begin foot races for nearly 200 years. It was used in the song, Blue Suede Shoes sung by Elvis Presley in 1955. What better way to introduce or promote a new concept?

Two For The Show (1964)

Back in the days, this was a rugged and nice looking truck. Those were times when people used a pick-up truck for its intended purpose of hauling items. American carmakers sold more full-size pick-up trucks while by the late 70’s, Toyota and Datsun had a majority of the smaller (1/4 ton) pick-up truck sales.

Three To Get Ready (1964)

1966 Toyota Corona

April 1966 publication of Playboy Magazine

1969 Toyota Crown

Toyota Celica

National Geographic ad, October 1971

1971 Mark II

1972 Toyota Coron

Be Sure to Let Your Insurance Man Know It’s a Toyota!

1978 Finnish Toyota Land Cruiser

1983 Toyota Corolla

1987 Toyota MR2

1989 Toyota Supra Turbo

1992 Toyota Celica

2008 Toyota Camry

2010 Toyota Prius

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