Toyota enters NASCAR to win new customers

Roland Jones Business news editor • Profile • E-mail

The roar of NASCAR engines at Daytona International Speedway’s famed oval raceway will take on an unfamiliar accent this year.

Japanese automaker Toyota will become the first foreign manufacturer since the 1950s to supply cars for NASCAR’s top series, the Nextel Cup, entering the Camry — America’s best-selling car — and taking on good old American brands like Chevrolet, Ford and Dodge in a distinctively American sport.

Two Camrys made their start in the Budweiser Shootout exhibition race last Saturday and eight Toyota drivers are hoping to compete Sunday in the Daytona 500, which opens the NASCAR season. One of those drivers, Michael Waltrip, had to race his way into NASCAR’s premier event in a qualifying race Thursday after his team’s role in a cheating scandal involving the use of a fuel additive.

Waltrip emphasized Toyota had nothing to do with his team’s actions, but his misconduct is a black eye for the automaker, who’s debut in Daytona is less about winning races than about winning over customers in America’s heartland. Still, while the cheating scandal is significant, it isn’t likely to be a catastrophic event for Toyota according to Bruce Harrison, senior automotive consultant at the consultancy Global Insight.

“Stretching the rules goes back to the very start of NASCAR,” Harrison said. “What does appear to be slightly different to cheating scandals in years passed is the amount of attention NASCAR is placing on this — it seems they are making a very public statement.”

“So I don’t think this will really help Toyota,” he continued. “Spectators are well aware that teams have been penalized for cheating over the years, so this is not going to be a catastrophic event for their entry into NASCAR, but it’s not the way you want to enter the series — it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.”

Toyota’s has enjoyed runaway success in the United States over the past 10 years, based largely on its ability to appeal to white-collar baby boomers with dependable models like the Camry, said Harrison.

Sales of imported brands like Toyota have historically fared best on the coasts rather than in the heartland. To expand its customer base, Toyota needs to win over more working class drivers in the nation’s midsection. NASCAR, Harrison said, is an excellent channel for achieving that aim, as its fans are famously loyal to the vehicle brands of their favorite drivers.

“That’s basically the other 50 percent of the country, and if you haven’t reached them with the approach you’ve been using for years you go out there and take another approach,” Harrison said. “The key here is a desire to connect with a group of consumers that Toyota has missed. And to do this Toyota is pushing its pickups and big SUVs.”

In television coverage of the Budweiser Shootout race there were no commercials for the Camry but numerous spots for the Toyota Tundra pickup truck.

“Previously, when NASCAR fans were out tailgating in the parking lot and discussing which new truck brand to buy, Toyota wasn’t even mentioned,” Harrison said. “With the Toyota brand on the race track, the hope is that now you’ll say Ford, Chevy, Dodge and maybe Toyota. You have the credibility to bring the brand into the conversation, and that is what Toyota is doing by moving into NASCAR. And in my opinion it’s a brilliant move.”

Diana Dejoseph, spokesperson for Toyota Motorsports, the company’s motor racing arm, said a major part of Toyota’s motivation in entering NASCAR this year is to broaden the awareness of its new full-size Tundra truck among NASCAR fans.

“We want to broaden our appeal and brand awareness among NASCAR fans,” she said. “It’s an area of opportunity for us and in terms of truck sales. We are looking to reach out to the center of the country. It’s an opportunity for us to talk about the Tundra.”

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