Toyota established themselves as one of the top competitors in the automotive industry by releasing the Toyota Prius Hybrid. The two types of utility that this vehicle exemplifies are time, and form. First, the Prius was booming when it first arrived into the market place. After making an appearance at the Academy Awards, every celebrity wanted to have one which would make consumers interested in purchasing one. With this time utility the sudden increase in demand customers had to wait up to six months after placing an order for the car. Second, Toyota uses environmentally friendly manufacturing methods as well as producing fuel-efficient vehicles. "Toyota has placed great importance on protecting the environment," states its Web site. Nearly 99 percent of all scrap metal generated by Toyota plants is recycled, and the vehicles themselves are 85 percent recyclable (Video case). Toyota is using form utility by recycling and reusing scrap metal to create their vehicles. Consumers and environmental groups will be making more purchases on vehicles knowing that they are helping conserve fossil fuels. Those are the two types of utility that Toyota demonstrated with the Prius. .
Toyota's successes could not take place without building relationships throughout the marketing environment. When the demand for the Prius started to rise, dealers could not supply customers with the vehicles. One Toyota Motor Sales USA executive, Jim Press, pushed Toyota executives in Japan to increase production so that the company would not lose customers and damage relationships with its dealers. The company agreed and was able to boost production by 50 percent over a single 12-month period (Video Case). By creating a better relationship with the executives in Japan, Toyota had half of their production increase in one year. Second, Toyota entered the relationship era by showing consumers how dedicated they are to the environment.
