---
title: "Toyota CEO Wants You to Stop Calling His Cars Boring, Dammit"
description: "Will Toyota ever shed the beige reputation?"
date: "2017-05-11"
modified: "2017-05-11"
authors:
  - name: "Chris Tsui"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/chris-tsui"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/10193/toyota-ceo-wants-you-to-stop-calling-his-cars-boring-dammit"
categories:
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
  - "Toyota News"
tags:
  - "boring cars"
  - "News"
  - "Toyota"
---

# Toyota CEO Wants You to Stop Calling His Cars Boring, Dammit

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/05/akiotoyodafunhero-e1494526778968.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

On the heels of [reporting a 20 percent decline](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/10158/toyota-profits-down-20-percent-in-2017>) in profits yesterday, Akio Toyoda had some interesting things to say regarding the public perception of his company's products. In a report by [*USA Today*](<https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2017/05/10/toyota-akio-toyoda-earnings/101502702/>), "Until now, there were times when Toyota’s cars were called 'boring' or were said to be lacking in character, but I now feel that, in terms of driving and design, our customers have begun to [favorably](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/6495/the-lexus-lc500-flies-the-coupe>) evaluate our cars." Toyoda went on to acknowledge that there's "still [room for improvement](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/9463/the-2017-toyota-corolla-xle-is-the-entenmanns-cake-of-compact-cars>)."

Turns out, making what is widely regarded as the most reliable and sensible vehicles in the world comes with a certain stigma in the emotional department.

While much of Toyota's current mainstream lineup is still objectively snooze-worthy, you have to admit the brand has taken great strides to offer some solid enthusiast choices as well. The 86/BRZ twins remain one of the greatest fun-per-dollar propositions on the market while being the only new car(s) on sale that offers a low-slung boxer engine in an FR layout. The Lexus LFA, despite being a bit of a hard sell on paper, is [universally lauded](<https://lexusenthusiast.com/images/weblog/13-01-29-lexus-lfa-top-gear-page.jpg>) and one of the coolest pieces of modern automotive engineering.

According to *The Drive*'s own Chief Auto Critic [Lawrence Ulrich](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/6389/the-fun-to-drive-gs-f-tells-lexus-skeptics-to-f-themselves>), the GS F is "wicked fun to drive—full stop, no disclaimers." The new [LC 500](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/6495/the-lexus-lc500-flies-the-coupe>) is set to become a bona fide Japanese Aston Martin. Taking into account [Toyota's plans](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/8228/toyota-will-eventually-have-three-sports-cars-in-its-lineup>) to bring back the "Three Brothers" in a new 86, a spiritual MR2 successor, and the next Supra co-developed with BMW *on top* of plans to sell a [hot Yaris](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/7856/toyota-to-unveil-yaris-grmn-at-geneva-motor-show>) to combat the likes of the Ford Fiesta ST, I can start to see where Akio is coming from.

## Author
Chris Tsui is *The Drive*'s former Reviews Editor and current freelance automotive journalist. He's based in Toronto.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/cltsuii/>)