Toyota CEO Koji Sato: A Car Is Not a Car If It's Not Fun

toyotatimes.jp

1 point·teleforce··8 comments

As far as the USA is concerned, his logic is somewhat flawed.

There is nothing "fun" about owning and driving a big US made truck with a V8 engine that has been "lifted" with oversized tires that project out beyond the fenders.

The added height makes it unstable, more likely to tip over and more unweildy to drive. There is certainly nothing "fun" about refueling it. Or making a monthly loan + insurance payment that is larger than rent. There is nothing fun about squeezing it into a parking space only to discover later it has been scratched because you parked too close.

The only "fun" is impressing your like minded peers with how gawdy and impractical and wasteful your ride is. And US manufacturers and oil companies are laughing all the way to the bank.

Different people have different ideas of fun, and that's a good thing.

My idea of fun is laughing at people who are "truck poor" because they spend 4x more on transportation than they really need to.

Sounds like consumer surplus all around!

The toyota prius is not a car?

Toyota's most fun car, the supra, sold 7000 cars in 2021, below 3000 last year. Not doing so hot. Perhaps a manual trans and solid engine block was smarter idea?

I am never getting a car unless it's out of necessity.

Plus all modern cars look exactly the same boring.

And they all spy shamelessly on you.

Who can afford a sports car, a regular car, and a place to keep them at all? That population is getting very slim.

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