Toyota still on top

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

A Toyota television advertisement in Britain shows two fellows driving on an isolated road when they happen upon a long-legged woman standing provocatively beside a broken-down Corolla.

They are about to stop to help her when the driver changes his mind, puts his foot down and speeds past.

"It's a trap," he says to his passenger. "A Corolla never breaks down." The camera cuts to the woman. She tears off her wig and glares in the direction of the fast-disappearing blokes.

You guessed it, "she" is a bloke with a face only a mother could love and teeth like a pub piano - some white, some black and some missing.

The commercial is a variation of ads Toyota has done before. In South America, the stranded woman was beside a Land Cruiser.

The Corolla ad is doing the email rounds of Toyota dealers here. Toyota New Zealand executives got a chuckle out of it, too. But they aren't likely to use it. They will stay with the "Toyota everyday" campaign.

The ad is one of the reasons Toyota looks set to record its 16th consecutive year - 1987-2003 - as the best-selling automotive badge in New Zealand.

Another reason for Toyota's sale success is the point of the British ad: its vehicles have a reputation for reliability. The Hilux helped to set the standard in this country, where it has been the best-selling commercial for 21 years, now approaching 50,000 sales.

At the end of last month, Toyota had sold 15,257 new vehicles in New Zealand this year, for around 20 per cent of the market. Its main rival, Ford, had sold 12,816, just ahead of Holden's 12,312. Mitsubishi was in fourth place with 8175, followed by Nissan, Mazda and Honda.

After the best monthly sales for 13 years in September - 8953 new cars and commercials were the most since the 9568 sales in March 1990 - October sales slackened off but were still nearly 12 per cent up on October last year.

Toyota last month sold 1826 new vehicles to take 19.5 per cent of the market, according to Land Transport Safety Authority figures.

Holden had 17.3 per cent, Mitsubishi 14 per cent, and Ford slipped out of the top three for the first time in many months with 13.8 per cent.

September was the best month for new vehicles in more than 13 years. TNZ sales and marketing manager Paul Carroll said he expected the buoyant new-vehicle market to continue, although sales next year would probably not match those of this year.

With less than two months of 2003 left - and a lead of almost 2500 sales on main rival Ford - TNZ's grasp on 16 consecutive years at the top comes as it introduces a wave of new and facelifted models.

One of its most important is the Avensis stationwagon which, it says, fills a gap left when the Camry wagon became unavailable in New Zealand last year.

It also fills the mid-sized wagon gap left earlier by the best-selling Corona. The Avensis is 4700mm long, 1760mm wide and has 520 litres of load capacity.

It was designed in France and built in Britain. It is the first British-built model to be imported by TNZ and goes on sale later this month, priced between $39,250 and $46,995.

It comes with the choice of two four-cylinder engines, a 1.8-litre mated to a five-speed manual gearbox or a 2-litre four-speed automatic.

The 1.8-litre twin-cam engine produces 95kW (127 bhp) of power at 6000 rpm and maximum torque of 170Nm at 4200 rpm. The 2-litre unit delivers 110kW (147 bhp) at 5700 rpm and maximum torque of 200Nm at 4000 rpm.

There are four Avensis models - the 1.8-litre GL, 2-litre manual and automatic GX riding on 16-inch wheels, and the premium 2-litre automatic Touring with its optional 17-inch alloys.

Toyota expects the 1.8-litre model to compete with the Ford Mondeo and the 2-litre with the Mazda6.

The Avensis sedan - not available here - and stationwagon were awarded a maximum five crash-test stars under the European New Car Assessment Programme.

"Wagons in this market segment often fit the criteria of being a workplace," said TNZ product manager Spencer Morris.

"Accordingly, the vehicle's design and safety is of paramount importance."

The Avensis comes with nine airbags - driver and front passenger airbags, front seat side airbags, front and rear curtain airbags, and a driver's knee airbag.

A brief drive of a British-spec 2-litre Avensis fresh off the Auckland wharf highlighted its ride/handling mix and smart interior. Fit and finish was up there with the best from Toyota's plants in Japan, too.

Three-point seat belts are fitted all around, with the rear seats having child restraint systems. Toyota says the rear seatback has been reinforced to prevent injury to passengers from unrestrained luggage.

A retractable tonneau cover, cargo tie-down hooks and rear underfloor storage compartments are standard on all models, while the Touring model has an integrated woven cargo net.

Standard equipment in the GX and Touring models include rain-sensing wipers, climate control air-conditioning, fog/driving lights, cruise control, and an automatic glare-resistant electrochromic interior rear-view mirror.

Security is provided by an engine immobiliser on all grades.

The Touring grade model has an alarm system with a battery-backed siren and sensors on all doors and the bonnet. There is also a motion detector to protect the inside of the wagon.

Another new model is the four-wheel-drive Highlander, designed to meet the growing demand for lifestyle vehicles and sitting between the RAV4 with its new 2.4-litre engine and the heavy-duty Prado.

The Highlander is available as a five- or seven-seater, both powered by a 3.3-litre V6 quad-cam alloy engine producing 172kW (230 bhp) of power and 328Nm of torque and linked to a five-speed automatic transmission. Toyota says 90 per cent of the torque is available at 2000 rpm,

The five-seater is priced at $52,850, the seven-seater at $54,850 and the premium seven-seater Limited at $63,950. The Highlander is based on the Lexus RX330 and comes with all the bells and whistles.

TNZ wants to compete in the hot-hatch segment again with its Corolla GT. The latest model uses the 140kW/180Nm 1.8-litre engine from the Celica matched to a close-ratio six-speed manual gearbox.

The engine is equipped with Variable Valve Timing and Lift (VVTL-i). The technology kicks in at 6000 rpm and delivers a significant boost in power.

Corolla GT sprints from zero to 100km/h in 8.4 seconds and can cover the standing 400m in 16.1 seconds. It is priced at $37,150.