Toyota "Thank you Ford for advertising our cars"

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'Ford's decision to use Toyota in its "comparative" advertisements has been labelled "fantastic" by Toyota's Australian chief.

David Buttner, who heads up the Japanese brand's local arm, has no problem with Ford's decision to favourably compare its cars to Toyotas in its marketing and press materials.

"I think it's fantastic they are prepared to use our vehicles in their advertisements," Buttner told Drive.

So far Ford has run national television campaigns that highlight the advantages of the Ford Kuga over the similar Toyota RAV4 and the Ford Ranger against the market-leading Toyota HiLux ute.

But Buttner was unconcerned by his vehicles being portrayed in such a manner by a rival brand.

"Every company chooses to promote and advertise their company in they way see fit," Buttner said.

"That will continue in the future. We have a great product line-up and we're proud of it. It's been very successful in the marketplace and we'll keep growing it to make sure it's successful in the future."

Ford Australia's recently installed boss Graeme Whickman defended the campaign and strongly opposed the characterisation of them as 'attack ads'.

"The reason I dislike [the word attack] is because any decent human being or any decent brand doesn't start out by chest-beating," Whickman said recently.

And don't expect Toyota to hit back with comparative ads of its own.

"It's never been something we've employed, but each to their own," Buttner said."
http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/t...22-gh79wm.html