What happened
Shares of Japanese automotive heavyweight Toyota Motor (TM 0.90%) jumped 2% through 10:20 a.m. ET on Wednesday after the company unveiled its newest automotive offering, a new "high-end passenger vehicle used primarily for chauffeur services" that retails for $170,000.
As The Wall Street Journal reported this morning, the new Toyota Century is the latest version of a vehicle "traditionally used by Japanese royals and CEOs" -- now available for sale internationally.
So what
Manufactured in various formats since 1967, the latest Century features new plug-in hybrid technology. The car is built and customized by hand, so it won't be anything like a plug-in Prius -- either in price tag or in numbers. As the Journal observes, Toyota is only planning to produce about 30 Centuries per month.
But then, numbers aren't the point.
Now what
WSJ says the Century "will likely have a bigger impact on Toyota's brand image than its bottom line." But the effect is actually more than that. Because of the buyers Toyota will target with the Century -- CEOs, royals, and celebrities such as comedian Jay Leno (who reviewed the last model of the car on his Jay Leno's Garage show in 2018) -- Toyota will be placing its Century front and center in every photo shoot where someone famous steps out of a Century into the glare of paparazzi cameras.
In short, in selling the Century internationally, what Toyota is really doing here is getting its brand free publicity, and turning celebrity photo shoots into car commercials for Toyota. And it's getting those celebrities to pay it $170,000 for the privilege.
That's pretty smart marketing on Toyota's part, if you ask me, and a good reason for a 2% bump in stock price.
