Toyota opens mall in Japan to boost sales
New car sales are expected to take a turn for the worse in the U.S. this year, but 2008 could be even rougher on the Japanese auto market. This year, Japan’s new car sales are expected to total just 5.3 million units — a 27-year low. But Toyota, which owns almost 50 percent of the Japanese market, thinks it has found a way to boost its sales.
Toyota has officially open its own mall in Yokohama, Japan — just southwest of Tokyo — aimed to spark interest in Toyota vehicles. Like a typical mall, the shopping center features 220 stores and restaurants, but its walkways are filled with Toyota vehicles and the mall includes plenty of Toyota showrooms. Toyota has even stocked the mall with some of its robot technology.
It remains unclear if the tactic will bolster sales, but with traditional advertising becoming less and less effective in Japan, Toyota feels that it is worth the risk.
However, industry analysts are weary of the move. In Japan, owning a car has fallen heavily out of favor as gas and parking prices are on the rise while public transportation remains abundant and inexpensive. “Domestic sales are a total disaster now,” Atsushi Kawai, auto analyst with Mizuho Investors Securities, told the Associated Press. “A car used to symbolize a dream. People used to work hard to buy a car. These days, nobody is saying that. No one thinks a car is cool anymore.”
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