Patriot games

TOYOTA is planning to leverage its million-dollar Commonwealth Games vehicle sponsorship deal to gain greater access to government fleet sales.

The company will provide 1350 vehicles worth an estimated $40 million, ranging from Camry sedans to trucks, to the event held in Melbourne early next year.

Toyota is the sixth official partner for the event, along with the National Australia Bank, Visa International, Qantas, Telstra and Tabcorp.

Despite the huge investment, Toyota would not disclose the actual monetary value of the deal, but GoAuto believes it is between $3 million and $5 million.

Toyota Australia’s executive director, sales and marketing, David Buttner, admitted the Games involvement "was a substantial investment for our company".

The last-minute sponsorship deal is believed to have been nutted out by Victorian Premier Steve Bracks and Toyota Australia executive chairman John Conomos, both of whom were in Nagoya, Japan, for the World Expo.

GoAuto understands the Victorian Government has been chasing vehicle sponsors with increasing urgency – among them Ford and Holden – but has had no success purely because some car companies approached did not have the capacity to provide the required vehicles.

Holden, too, had already had success with its Olympic Games sponsorship in 2000.

Most of the vehicles for the Commonwealth event will be Camry sedans and wagons,but 50 Prius hybrid cars are also part of the "environmental" games package.

The vehicles will start their Games’ duties from next month, peaking just before and during the 12-day event next March. The vehicles will be auctioned off after the event.

Apart from being the primary vehicle supplier, Toyota will provide support to the Games’ environmental and volunteer programs.

Mr Buttner said Toyota currently had only a one per cent share of government vehicle fleet sales in Victoria for its V6 Camry and about 56 per cent for its four-cylinder Camry.

Falcons and Commodores dominate the Victorian government fleet.

"We’ve had good support for the medium four but that government area is a pretty competitive area," Mr Buttner said.

"Our mix now is about 52 per cent private (Camry) but we need to grow our volume with the aspirational volumes we expect in the future, so we can’t ignore governments."The Camry presented a strong value argument as a whole-of-life fleet cost, he said.

"We believe we can offer significant savings to a fleet buyer," he said.

Mr Buttner believes the company can do better in Victoria and nationally, particularly as Toyota is a major employer in the state, with about 3000workers at its Port Melbourne and Altona facilities and 1500 nationally.

"We’re always looking for every opportunity wherever we can to increase our presence," he said.

Last year Toyota sold just over 201,000 vehicles, achieving a 20 per cent market share.

Mr Buttner said any opportunity to grow market share would be pursued vigorously.

He said the Games provided the perfect platform to demonstrate to the government that the Camry was a smart choice in the large-car market.

"We hope that the involvement in the Games will lead to an even closer relationship between Toyota and the Victorian Government," he said.

That relationship could be pivotal for the nextgeneration Camry and Avalon V6, both of which will be launched next year.

GoAuto understands the next-generation Camry will be a four-cylinder only, leaving room for a strong fleet push for the Avalon, which has struggled in Australia.

Having the new Camry four and Avalon V6 would be a signifi cant fleet arsenal for the company.

Mr Buttner said Toyota had initially hoped to have a new car launch around the time of the Games but there were none planned.

* TOYOTA has made a number of revisions to its Prius petrol-electric hybrid car, including recalibrating the suspension, adding a front suspension tower brace and adding "control logic" to the vehicle’s electronic power steering system.

These changes set out to improve vehicle ride, handling and steering.

Other measures include redesigned aerodynamic "spats" in front of the rear wheels and an improved dash silencer for reduced NVH (noise, vibrationand harshness).