new vehicles
| by Howard Keeg
This Quest is no Con
On Friday 9 May 2014 I joined a group of motoring journalists in visiting the Toyota manufacturing plant in
Prospecton Durban, to have a look at how Toyota South Africa goes about building their cars, as part of
Toyota’s global manufacturing supply chain. As this was my first tour of this facility, it was all very interesting,
particularly the relatively high labour input, as opposed to the high robotic element I was expecting. But the real
purpose of this visit was to reveal Toyota South Africa’s very own baby, the Toyota Quest.
T
he Quest is a 100%
indicates, the rental
South African effort,
market. Toyota claims
and it has been
that the Quest is the
created, as they say in
most affordable, the
their press release “to put
most spacious, the most
the vehicular cat among
powerful, and the most
the pigeons by creating a
reliable and safe car in
whole new sub-C segment”.
its segment, and they
And as it comes so quickly
are correct, because
after the launch of the
they have effectively
eleventh generation Corolla,
created their own
the pigeons are indeed
segment, and have a
being clawed. As Glenn
nice little niche (maybe
Crompton, vice president
not so little!) all for
for Sales and Marketing
themselves. They have
explains: “When a new
managed to do this by
➲ The process begins ….
model arrives, the previous
taking advantage of the
car is usually consigned to
already amortised tooling
the history books. Not so for
for the 10th generation
the outgoing Toyota Corolla.
Corolla; by generating
Launched in 2007, this model
economies of scale;
was the most successful
and by piggybacking
Corolla to date and helped
on the 11th generation
this motoring icon achieve
Corolla (a clever form
best-seller status as the
of cannibalisation) by
world’s most loved car - the
putting the new Corolla’s
nameplate amassed a record
1600 petrol engine
40.72 million cumulative
and its front seats into
sales by the end of February
the Quest, effectively
this year. So, rather than
making the Quest 22%
phase the 10th generation
new Corolla. But it is not
out completely, it’s been
just a 10th generation
reinvented as the ultimate
Corolla; because
➲ … and eight hours later a Quest rolls off the production line – maybe this
value proposition. Of course
little tweaks here and
one will be yours?
this is not a first for Toyota there, both internally
And, with prices starting from just R174 900, and externally, with the help of local
the tremendously popular Tazz, which was
it’s got winner written all over it. Buyers that
produced as a prolonged lifecycle model,
component suppliers, make this car 78%
are looking to upgrade their vehicles, but
was a budget hatchback based on the fifth
Quest.
aren’t in a position to make the financial leap
generation Corolla five-door. For at least a
from the B- to C-segment, now finally have
decade, it continued to offer South Africans
Our short ride from the airport
a choice.”
great value long after the model on which it
to the plant confirmed this,
was based was discontinued elsewhere in
Crompton has hit the nail on the head.
the world.
and with the entry level model at
It’s all about continuing the legacy of
R174 900, all I can say is that this
offering value for money vehicles, without
Now it’s the turn of Corolla Quest. What
is a fantazztic car.
sacrificing any of the requirements of
makes this newcomer unique, though, is
the family man, and as market research
that it’s the only sub-C segment contender.
| words in action
54
june 2014