Move Over Mickey - Toyota's MegaWeb amusement park - Brief Article

Automotive Industries, Nov, 1999 by Gail Kachadourian

To combat its aging customer demographics, Toyota created its own automotive amusement park with a price tag of $1.44 million. MegaWeb, which has drawn mom than five million patrons since its opening in March, is located at the end of Tokyo's "Rainbow Tunnel," and provides a fun atmosphere where the youth market can experience Toyota's past, present and future. However, despite MegaWeb's instant popularity, Toyota is not yet ready to declare its pot of gold.

"We are tracking the effect of visits here on purchases, but it's too early to spot a trend," says Masateru Matsukata, MegaWeb president.

In addition to a shopping mall, a monstrous ferris wheel and a body-drop ride, the 24,000 square-foot automotive funland has about 140 cars on display, three driving simulators, a virtual real-drive theatre, along with a 9/10-mile track for testing Toyotas up to about 28 mph. There is also a history garage and a futuristic exhibit.

MegaWeb executives say consumers are not able to purchase vehicles from MegaWeb, nor are they pushed toward a dealer. "We want younger customers to think Toyota is full of energy," Matsukata says. "If someone gets so excited, they say that they want to buy a Toyota right away, we will refer them to a dealer, but it is not a direct connection."