Toyota lands awards double

Toyota NZ has gained the Reader’s Digest most trusted brand award in the new-cars category for the 18 consecutive year.

And its Signature Class brand has picked up the title for manufacturer-certified used vehicles for the fifth year in a row.

Chief executive Neeraj Lala says the awards are particularly pleasing and consistent with the company’s new vision of Let’s Go Places, which is built on “three key pillars” of sustainability, mobility, and community.

“Trust is a unique and complex component of our brand,” he adds. “It’s built on many facets of our business – our community connections through our store network, and our determination to ensure all Kiwis have access to affordable, reliable, and functional mobility.

“We have experienced many challenges with supply shortages and vehicle delays over the past year, and I continue to be grateful to the thousands of Toyota customers for their continued loyalty and trust.”

Lala says the Signature Class award is also pertinent in the current economic environment with many people concerned about the cost of living, and requiring access to affordable and low carbon-dioxide emitting models.

“We’ve recently seen a greater interest in Signature Class. It sources high-quality hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric Toyotas, and refurbishes them at our Thames facility [pictured].”

He adds the focus on electrified Signature Class vehicles, which are sold through its dealer network are a mixture of New Zealand-new and used imports, supports Toyota NZ’s goal of reducing overall tailpipe emissions of cars its sells by 46 per cent by 2030.

The Reader’s Digest trusted brand awards, now in their 24th year, are based on the views of 1,700 New Zealand consumers, who are asked to name their most trusted brand in each of 71 categories. Toyota came sixth overall. Whittaker’s came out top, followed by Hato Hone St John, Mitre 10, Canon and Resene.

Selected category winners

Car-rental companies: winner – Avis, highly commended – Hertz and Budget.

Cars: winner – Toyota, highly commended – Mazda and Nissan.

General insurance (home, contents, car): winner – AA Insurance, highly commended – AMI and State.

Manufacturer-certified used cars: winner – Toyota Signature Class, highly commended – Volkswagen and Honda Certified Used Car.

Tyres: winner – Bridgestone, highly commended – Firestone and Michelin.

Used-vehicle dealerships: winner – Turners Cars, highly commended – Enterprise Motor Group and 2 Cheap Cars.

Coming out of the pandemic years and head-first into a period of high inflation has encouraged the best brands to regroup and work harder to secure trust by pursuing innovation that reflects the ever-changing needs of their customers, says Louise Waterson, Reader’s Digest editor-in-chief. 

“For award-winning brands, the complex challenges created by the current economic environment has only reinforced their determination to work harder to retain the trust of their current customers and attract the trust of new ones. Trusted brands have remained consistent, reliable and value for money, while also cleverly improving and expanding their existing practices to suit customers’ needs and concerns.”