When Toyota Motor Corp. placed a TV ad in December for its new model, it withheld the name of the car, limited the commercial to five seconds and ran it only late at night.

The commercial announced that Toyota was releasing a music player and flashed the carmaker's Web site address on the screen. The commercial succeeded in creating a buzz and Internet chatter speculated on whether the auto giant was planning a foray into the music business.

About a month after the ad first appeared on TV, Toyota unveiled its new bB compact, which is equipped with a special sound system.