We will do whatever it takes to thwart Toyota's offensive.
Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2025 10:18 am
Keiichi Goto, president of Shiga Daihatsu Sales, had this to say about Toyota's entry:
"The contents of the vehicle are the same, just the markings are different. However, the power of the Toyota brand is a threat. Our only defense is to improve our services to customers."
For example, there are many families where the father drives a Prius and the mother and daughter drive a Daihatsu light car such as a Move or Mira. In this case, there is no doubt that a Toyota salesman would recommend a Toyota light car to the mother and daughter. Women are easily attracted to big brands.
By the way, "Toyota's salesmen do not earn sales by remove background image selling OEM minicars" (Toyota sales executive), but in addition to maintenance and vehicle inspections, it may lead to a trade-in from a minicar to a small car, even if not immediately. In that sense, there is a big advantage to cutting through the mother and daughter.
Goto said, "We will do whatever it takes to stop (Toyota's offensive). We want to strengthen our connections with customers, expand the number of stores where women (the main users of minicars) can visit alone, and strengthen our sales power at the stores."
　Shiga Prefecture has approximately 1 million cars. Of these, Shiga Daihatsu alone has over 100,000. In other words, "one in nine cars on the road is a car sold by our company" (President Goto), making it an overwhelmingly strong company. The sales ratio of the company's dealerships, such as repair shops, is approximately 65%, far higher than Daihatsu's overall ratio of approximately 50%. This is not limited to Daihatsu, but the more rural the area, the greater the dependency on dealerships.
"The contents of the vehicle are the same, just the markings are different. However, the power of the Toyota brand is a threat. Our only defense is to improve our services to customers."
For example, there are many families where the father drives a Prius and the mother and daughter drive a Daihatsu light car such as a Move or Mira. In this case, there is no doubt that a Toyota salesman would recommend a Toyota light car to the mother and daughter. Women are easily attracted to big brands.
By the way, "Toyota's salesmen do not earn sales by remove background image selling OEM minicars" (Toyota sales executive), but in addition to maintenance and vehicle inspections, it may lead to a trade-in from a minicar to a small car, even if not immediately. In that sense, there is a big advantage to cutting through the mother and daughter.
Goto said, "We will do whatever it takes to stop (Toyota's offensive). We want to strengthen our connections with customers, expand the number of stores where women (the main users of minicars) can visit alone, and strengthen our sales power at the stores."
　Shiga Prefecture has approximately 1 million cars. Of these, Shiga Daihatsu alone has over 100,000. In other words, "one in nine cars on the road is a car sold by our company" (President Goto), making it an overwhelmingly strong company. The sales ratio of the company's dealerships, such as repair shops, is approximately 65%, far higher than Daihatsu's overall ratio of approximately 50%. This is not limited to Daihatsu, but the more rural the area, the greater the dependency on dealerships.