Forget all the news you've been hearing about Toyota and "unintended acceleration" for a moment and think about this: Toyota is losing market share in China, the biggest and fastest-growing car market in the world. That's a problem.
Toyota's China problems really can't be understated. While GM, VW, Chrysler, Ford, Nissan, and Hyundai all experience tremendous sales growth in China (50%+ last year), Toyota's sales only grew 30% last year. Sure sure, 30% SOUNDS like a lot, but that hides the fact that Toyota's Chinese market share is set to drop from more than 11% in 2008 to just about 7% in 2011!
Losing 40% of market share in 3 years is the equivalent of a full-blown crisis when you look at the importance of China's auto market in the next century. Already larger than North America's auto market, it's estimated that the Chinese people will buy 20-30 million new vehicles per year by the end of this decade.
We all know that the secret to building market share is building loyalty with consumers, and this is where Toyota is failing. Part of the issue is cultural, part of the issue is the poor way that Toyota manages bad news, and part of the issue is that Toyota's products aren't very well designed for the Chinese market.
While North American media outlets prattle on about a "run-away" California Prius, here's the REAL news: VW, GM, Chrysler, and Ford are eating Toyota's lunch in the biggest car market in the world.
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