[JuneBug]

Crazy Japanese JDM ad for Toyota Voltz

The Voltz "V" grille badge is the same shape as the Pontiac arrowhead emblem.

The Toyota-GM deal that resulted in the GM Fremont Assembly Plant in California becoming the home of NUMMI produced a lot of Corolla-based Chevy Novas, Geo/Chevy Prizms, and Toyota pickups during the 1984-2010 period. The Pontiac Vibe, mechanically similar to the Corolla-based Toyota Matrix and one of the final vehicles to bear the Pontiac name, was built by NUMMI as well… alongside a brief production run of a right-hand-drive version of the Vibe badged as the Toyota Voltz and exported to Japan.
Japanese car buyers could buy the Voltz at the youth-oriented Netz Store for the 2002 through 2004 model years, but— like the earlier Toyota Cavalier— the cute little Pontiac hatchback wasn't big in Japan.

 

[Blogson]

I don't know what sort of advertising the public in Japan are accustomed to but for me the video advert had less to do with the car than it did with active-style post teen lives. Perhaps the advertising missed the mark . . .

 

[JuneBug]

I think the Netz name is the youth-oriented nameplate for Toyota in Japan, kind of like Scion is here in the US. But with ads like that, it's no wonder the Vibe only had a dismal 2 year run in Japan.