Comments on: Toyota Considers Making Prius an Independent Brand

By: Integrated Brand » Blog Archive » Should Prius Go Solo?

Integrated Brand » Blog Archive » Should Prius Go Solo? — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:57:44 +0000

[…] is apparently considering the idea of separately branding Prius. The hybrid product line currently maintains a sub-brand role, meaning that it’s preceded by the […]

By: Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:55:28 +0000

The Intel example is an excellent one and a great point. Might Toyota ultimately make its core brand obsolete? It’s an interesting discussion!

By: Franklin Bishop

Franklin Bishop — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:22:41 +0000

I do believe that this will only make Toyota look worse. They do not need to separate the two and create a new independent brand. They need to build on the Toyota name so that people think they are very versatile. Toyota is a very good company when it comes to vehicles so why not try to dominate in every section.

By: F. Joseph LePla

F. Joseph LePla — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:00:55 +0000

I agree with these conclusions about driving brand based on customer need but I’m not sure it’s wise to create a new parent brand out of Prius. In the case of Lexus, Toyota developed a separate brand because customers didn’t believe that Toyota could believably support a luxury brand. If Prius is marketed with less connection to Toyota, they will lose or bring into question the selling points of the Toyota brand’s core assets of reliability and durability. Addtionally, aren’t all of us consumers going to have to move to high-mileage alternative-fuel vehicles over time? If so, won’t this brand detract from the appeal of all other Toyota cars? Intel ran into this problem with their Intel Inside ingredient brand. It worked really well for their computer chip products, but left their other offerings out in the cold.