As announced, Toyotas huge advertising campaign for its new Auris model was launched in Germany. What I can say by now just from my daily commute to work – it is almost impossible not to notice this campaign. It is virtually everywhere. My best guess is that about every third or fourth billboard shows some view or the other of the Auris.

The campaign mainly consists of different images, even of the interior of the car. It doesn’t mention any special features or characteristics at this stage. It is just about images. So Toyota hopes to position the Auris as a well designed appealing car. As expected, they are working on their perception by German customers.

I am really curious about the effect of this campaign and I will surely have an eye on it. For the beginning, I dug a bit deeper into statistics to have a basis for comparison. According to official statistics (available in German language only), Toyota sold 147,995 cars under the brands Toyota and Lexus in Germany during the months January to December 2006. Among these were 43,465 Corolla models, the predecessor of the Auris. Accordingly, Toyota and Lexus had a combined market share of 4.3 % in 2006. The market share of the Corolla only was 1.25 %.

Let’s see if there are any changes soon.