Toyota Motor Sales’ Lexus Brand Achieves Grand Slam as Most Dependable Brand Four Consecutive Years

• Toyota Motor Sales Wins 100th VDS Segment Award Since 2003
• Scion Posts Greatest Improvement in Rank Among Brands
• Toyota Brand Ranks Third 
• Toyota, Lexus and Scion combine for Seven Segment Awards

TORONTO, ON., Feb. 25, 2015 – Game, set, and match.  The Lexus brand captured a grand slam by ranking highest in vehicle dependability among all nameplates for a fourth consecutive year in the 2015 J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS).  Toyota Motor Sales totaled seven vehicle segment awards.  The study measures the number of owner-reported problems of 2012 model year vehicles in their third-year of ownership.

 Scion, the youth division of Toyota, had the greatest improvement of any nameplate, ranking 9th compared to 22nd last year. Three Scion vehicles were segment award recipients: the iconic Scion xB earned the Compact Multi-Purpose Vehicle award, the Scion xD ranked highest in the Small Car segment, and the Scion tC earned the award for Compact Sporty Car.

 The Lexus ES sedan ranked highest in the Compact Premium Car segment and the Lexus GX luxury utility vehicle was awarded among Midsize Premium SUVs.  The Lexus ES was the highest ranked model among all vehicles in the study with the lowest average number of reported problems per 100 vehicles (PP100).

 The Toyota brand improved three spots with their number three ranking.  The popular Toyota Sienna received the award in the minivan segment and the Corolla earned the top spot in the Compact Car segment.  Toyota Corolla and Lexus ES demonstrate their long-term durability as they each received a J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) awards when they were new in 2012.

 Toyota Motor Sales had five of the top 10 vehicles in the study based on lowest average number of problems reported.  The Lexus brand outperformed its closest competition with only 89 PP100.

J.D. Power and Associates’ VDS finds long-term durability continues to be an important consumer purchase consideration.  The number of problems an owner experiences affects their repurchase intent and their vehicle’s retained value.

The VDS results are just the latest in a series of recent industry honors taken home by Toyota Motor Sales.

• Kelley Blue Book recognizes 11 Toyota, Scion and Lexus vehicles with “Best Resale Value Awards” for 2014.  For the fourth year in a row, Lexus took top honors for luxury brand.
• Toyota Corolla, Prius c, and Highlander Hybrid and Lexus LS flagship sedan each won Kelley Blue Book’s 5-year “Cost to Own” awards in their segments for new cars in their initial five-year ownership period.

Note to Editors:  Press releases, specifications, and high-resolution images of the Toyota, Scion, and Lexus line-up are available at www.ToyotaNewsroom.com, www.ScionNewsroom.com, and www.LexusNewsroom.com.

  About Toyota Canada Inc.

Toyota Canada Inc. (TCI) is the exclusive Canadian distributor of Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles.  Celebrating its 50th anniversary in Canada, Toyota has sold over 4.6 million vehicles in Canada through a national network of 285 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships. Toyota is dedicated to bringing safety, quality, dependability and reliability in the vehicles Canadians drive and the service they receive.  TCI’s head office is located in Toronto, with regional offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Halifax and parts distribution centres in Toronto and Vancouver.  Toyota operates two manufacturing facilities in Canada which build popular Canadian vehicles: Toyota RAV4, Toyota Corolla, Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h hybrid and just celebrated production of its 6 millionth vehicle.