Rising gas prices play a role in decreasing car sales. Now, auto-makers have to be more creative to entice car tight cashed car buyers to purchase new cars.
Toyota's strategy involves launching a Toyota Credit Card similar to what they did with the Lexus Credit Cards released back in 2005. Basically, the Totyota Credit Card would allow consumers to collect points that can be used for future discounts for Toyota parts and maintenance services or for downpayments for buying a new Toyota vehicle.
There were around 50,000 Lexus credit cards issued by Toyota that resulted a total of 11 Million points for its users. 4.5 Millions of those points were redeemed by roughly 21,000 of the Lexus credit card users. 95% of the redeemed points were used for maintenance while 5% were used for buying a new Lexus.
According to Toyota Financial Services Vice President of Marketing, Product and Branding Mike Wells, Toyota expects to issue 140,000 credit cards starting October. In addtion, he stated that he expects more credit cards to be issued the following year due to the fact that Toyota user base is 10 times more than Lexus.
Wells also mentioned that Lexus vehicle owners with the Lexus credit car were more likely to buy a new Lexus than those who didn't have the credit card. The same trend is expected for Toyota vehicle owners.
Interested customers can apply for the credit card online or get an instant credit at a dealership. Toyota credit card balances will be carried through U.S. Bank.
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