Toyota’s First-Mover Advantage
An older Environmental News Network article talks about the first-mover advantage Toyota has over rival car manufacturers when it comes to hybrids.
Even Toyota’s rivals acknowledge that the company’s head start gives it an advantage.
“They were there first,” Larry Burns, GM Vice President in charge of research and development, said while in Tokyo for the Tokyo Motor Show, which opens to the public Saturday. “That’s an advantage to have had real experience with real customers.”
In addition to the technology lead and the public perception and branding lead, there’s a very important component of customer experience related to having new technology in the field first. It’s kind of like experience prototypes, in that you can refine your products more quickly and surely when you receive direct feedback. Other car manufacturers, such as Ford, who are observing on the sidelines may think they have an advantage in that Totyota is doing all the hard work which Ford can later reap the benefits of, but the reality is that Totyota is also building a relationship with customers in the process. And I’d wager that those relationships will be just as valuable as the other advantages (technical, financial, market, etc.) Toyota is gaining on its competitors.