Economy, Reliability and Quality

Toyota took out a full-page ad on page 7 in The Star today:

“Economy, reliability and quality”

The ad is about the Avanza. The last time I saw ads for the Avanza was in 2004 or 2005. So why the splurge of advertising dollars on a model that’s about 6 years old? The huge emphasis on the “economy, reliability and quality” of the Avanza is no accident. All the Japanese carmakers produce vehicles that are generally economical, reliable and well-built, so I wouldn’t call it a very unique selling point. In Malaysia, which car manufacturer suffers from the perception of low quality? (No prizes for guessing). This is therefore a blatant challenge. It’s now up to the carmaker with the new MPV to ensure that the power windows work flawlessly, the door handles don’t come off and the dashboard doesn’t vibrate. The design of the new MPV is not too bad, and apparently it’s rather spacious. So let’s hope they’ve upgraded their manufacturing process and quality control from that of the eighties and nineties.