Online it’s not about content, it’s about findability. You can write another great story, but if no one can find it with Google, it will unfortunately remain unread. Toyota is now behind that too. The Japanese car giant has been forced to change the name of its new sports car, the GR 86, because it would otherwise be difficult for people to find on the internet.
It’s called Search Engine Optimization, the art of being findable with Google. Online writers even do SEO courses for it. If you stick to a few tricks, then Google is more likely to find your stories and rank them higher in the search results. SEO is almost a science and once again shows the monopolistic power of Google.
Toyota GR 86 becomes Toyota GR86
Even Toyota has succumbed to it. His new sports car – the successor of the Toyota GT86 – would first come on the market as GR 86. With space. But that space turns out not to be good for Google findability. Calling the car Toyota GR 86 creates the problem that search engines see ‘GR’ and ’86’ as two terms.
“It has to do with SEO,” a spokesperson for the British Toyota organization told the website CarScoops. “We want people to be able to easily find the car when they search for it online.” He does not explain how Toyota is only now finding out.
What about Audi RS 3 and DS 9 then?
Moreover, we wonder what about cars like the Audi RS 3, the DS 9, the Honda E and the Mercedes-Benz GLE 350 the 4Matic. Toyota is not the first manufacturer to change the name of a car for the sake of findability. Kia reportedly did the same with the Cee’d. It is now simply called Ceed, without an artistic apostrophe.
Successor Toyota GT86 still going to the Netherlands
The new Toyota GR86 (now without space) is the successor of the GT86, which was on the market in the Netherlands from 2012 to 2020. The model cost almost 60,000 euros. And that made the sports coupe difficult to sell. The culprit was, of course, the BPM, which fines relatively high CO2 emissions.
Miraculously, the GR86 comes to the Netherlands after all. It still has a four-cylinder boxer engine, but now with a capacity of 2.4 liters (previously 2.0 liters). The block produces 231 hp and 250 Nm, making it 31 hp and 45 Nm stronger than before. Shifting is done with a manual gearbox or a six-speed automatic. The GR86 again has rear-wheel drive.