Strange title, I know.

For my day job I am in sales and marketing to large companies. Enterprise selling as the industry calls it is very well documented and is the subject of many books. As someone who has participated, trained and coached many salespeople I must take my hat off to Toyota for their very clear sales strategy to combat EV sales as the numbers ramp up to now be a significant hit to their business. With about 1 in 5 new cars now being an EV, Toyota has basically lost about 20% of the total addressable market. Let's unpack what they are up to, to combat this.

Using a framework from my good friend Tony Hughes over at RSVP Selling there are 4 basic engagement options when selling anything.

- Head-to-head: Direct strategy based on product strength or market dominance.
In EV speak to do this you need to have a vehicle that can compete head-to-head with Telsa as the market leader. Range, price and availability are likely the big 3. Today the offerings from Toyota don't stack up to deploy this strategy. ie: You can't actually buy a Toyota EV in Australia and if you could the range and price do not favour Toyota.

- Change the rules: Indirect strategy altering the selection criteria or agenda.
In play for Toyota (discussed below)

- Incremental: Focus on a small divisional piece of business ‘under the radar’
Not relevant.

- Containment: Engineer a non-decision so you can engage under new rules later
In play for Toyota (discussed below)

To me it is very clear that Toyota have deployed a combination of, change the rules and containment. I believe this strategy is working for them. (for now).

Change the rules: - The playbook to change the rules has been around hydrogen or other alternate green fuels along with hybrid. Lots of feel-good advertising to deflect the focus from a potential EV buyer given Toyota does not have a dog in the EV hunt right now.

It is the containment strategy however that is the main focus. If we can't sell you a vehicle let's, make sure you don't buy another brand.

Keep your Toyota - Lots of advertising around how long your Toyota will last and why you don't actually need a new one. Strange to see a company actively advertise to their customers not to buy a new car but to keep their existing one. This is a bold move but it is the right one for Toyota. Once you loose someone from the brand they are likely gone forever. A good friend of mine waited 2 years for VW locally to come up with an EV for him but in the end gave up and purchased a Volvo. His first non VW vehicle in decades.

We are working on the next generation battery technology that will travel more than 1,000 klms and charge in 5 mins. Now is not the time to buy... wait. (containment) Once again, a perfect strategy. Seed doubt into the market that something better is just around the corner. Unfortunately, in Toyotas case they have been recycling this story for over 14 years now. The latest update is this breakthrough will be available in 2027.

Special Note: Most EV's charge fast enough and go far enough today so you really don't need to wait.

If you enjoyed this article and are in the market for a Tesla, please consider using my referral link to book a test drive or to purchase a vehicle. You get to save some money right of the purchase price and I get some referral points that I can use for charging and other things.

A true win win. https://ts.la/randall46741 note: sometimes it takes you to the USA site. Just select the car you are looking at and then change the country to Australia (or wherever you are)

Be sure to check out the latest pricing forecast while you are here or join in the conversation at Tesla Model 3 & Y Australia | Facebook

Executive summary – Global EV Outlook 2023 – Analysis - IEA

Toyota talking battery breakthrough in 2009 (14 years ago) Toyota Develops New Lithium-Ion Battery Tech With Ten Times More Capacity (drive.com.au)

Toyota talking battery breakthrough in 2017 (6 years ago)
Ultrafast-Charging Solid-State EV Batteries Around The Corner, Toyota Confirms (forbes.com)

Toyota talking battery breakthrough in 2023
Solid state batteries: Toyota has history of talking big on EV breakthrough, but not delivering (thedriven.io)

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