Toyota has chosen the Gran Turismo 6 game for a key product preview in 2014. Players of GT6 will get a sneak peak at the Toyota Concept car. By blurring the lines between virtual reality and traditional car brand marketing and customer clinics, Toyota will offer the concept in downloadable digital form, via the new GT6 game.
To celebrate 15 years of gaming, players of Gran Turismo 6 will be the first to actually drive the car. Albeit, virtually. Certainly, this approach by Toyota eschews traditional teaser campaigns. But Toyota has an existing collaboration with Polyphony Digital (owned by Sony Entertainment) and sees this as a smart way of testing a demographic reaction well in advance through the medium of a highly captive audience.
Along with its Toyota TRD86 - a racing version the GT86 - the concept car will be available to download in early 2014. Important? Well, we think so. And industry professionals suggest it may be, too. The silhouetted photo of the concept hints strongly at the likely shape of a possible Toyota Supra successor. So this is potentially a big one.
Anything else?
Toyota is certainly not alone in this approach. A similar teaser campaign has been recently used by Mercedes-Benz to showcase next generation designs. Other manufacturers participating in Vision Gran Turismo 6 include Aston Martin, Audi, Lamborghini and even Nike. All of these manufacturers have committed to digital gaming as a test bed for forthcoming concept designs.