SWOT Analysis of Toyotas AFV - Essay Example

Weakness:
- The AFV/green cars remain reliant on fossil fuels. They still have not replaced them.
- AFVs may require special attention for their maintenance and specialists are needed for their servicing and repairs.
- Although AFVs save costs and enhance the economy, “hybrid” is a relatively new technology that is not "tried and true" and only little is known about its potential development. This may also lead to disapproval from potential consumers (Wasko, 2006).
- Petrol and diesel vehicles have been around for decades and have been proven reliable time and time again. Solar and electric-powered vehicles are new to the market and consumers might be reluctant to swap to the new technology.
- A design that is “petrol-free” means that the “Synergy” loses some acceleration as a trade-off for the economy and being environmentally friendly. People might still prefer petrol/diesel vehicles for performance (Wasko, 2006).

Opportunities:
- Petrol prices are rising day by day due to the huge increase in crude oil prices. This provides a perfect opportunity for Toyota Corp. to make cars that do not require petrol to enter the market (Wasko, 2006).
- The Toyota CS&S concept car puts Toyota's popular hybrid technology inside a sportier and futuristic design, with speeds up to 127 miles/hr. The CS&S incorporates Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive system, the same gas-electric technology (Fuller, 2009). Toyota can work on this model to develop a hybrid car that saves fuel and is made for performance. This can be targeted towards the 'urban youth' market.
- Toyota has planned to build about 400 demonstration plug-in hybrids by 2010. The batteries in these cars can be charged from wall sockets which further cuts gasoline usage (Woodyard, 2008).

Threats:
- In 2010, Toyota declared the callback of about 436,000 hybrid vehicles worldwide, including its latest make, the Prius, to fix the brake problems. The total includes more than 200,000 Prius cars sold in Japan (Prius Call Back Worldwide By Toyota 2008). Lack of quality control can severely damage the brand’s image of high reliability. People may start switching to its immediate competitors such as Honda.
- The Prius is the shining example of their vision of what we should all be driving and it is everything the new Toyota represents. So for them to have to acknowledge a recall of hundreds of thousands of them is a tremendous blow to their image”, he said.
- Toyota faces tremendous competition and rivalry in the market. Car makers with strong brand recognition are joining the market almost daily, most of them from China, South Korea, and new plants in Eastern Europe. The Honda Insight is a hybrid electric vehicle manufactured by Honda that poses the biggest threat to Toyota’s Prius and its AFV sector.