Toyota chief fears GM, Ford demise

[gear02]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/AUTOS/06/08/...eut/index.html

OSAKA, Japan (Reuters) - The outspoken chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. said on Wednesday he feared the possibility that U.S. policy could turn against Japanese auto makers if local giants such as GM and Ford were to collapse.

"Many people say the car industry wouldn't revisit the kind of trade friction we saw in the past because Japanese auto makers are increasing local production in the United States, but I don't think it's that simple," Hiroshi Okuda told a news conference.

"General Motors Corp. (Research) and Ford Motor Co. (Research) are symbols of U.S. industry, and if they were to crumble it could fan nationalistic sentiment. I always have a fear that that in turn could manifest itself in policy decisions," he said, speaking as the head of the nation's biggest business lobby, the Japan Business Federation.

Okuda, who as chairman is removed from the automaker's day-to-day operations, raised eyebrows and invited criticism on both sides of the Pacific when he said two months ago that Toyota should think about ways in which it could aid U.S. auto makers -- such as by raising product prices -- as they reel under massive health-care costs and sliding sales.

In the latest sign of tough times at Detroit's Big Two, GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner told shareholders Tuesday of plans to cut at least 25,000 manufacturing jobs and close more U.S. assembly and component plants over the next few years.

Both GM and Ford have been cutting back output as they lose sales to Asian brands led by Toyota, which now controls 13.4 percent of the U.S. car market, the world's biggest.

Asked what he thought of GM's latest restructuring plan, Okuda said: "If you think about GM's current output volume and vehicle lineup, laying off 25,000 to 30,000 employees is inevitable."

GM, the world's biggest auto maker followed by Toyota, lost $1.1 billion in the first quarter and is riding out its worst financial crisis in more than a decade. It has been closing and idling plants over the past four years and will have cut its annual North American assembly capacity to 5 million vehicles by the end of this year from 6 million in 2002.

Meanwhile, top Japanese auto makers are adding jobs and assembly lines in North America to meet growing demand there, prompting executives, including Toyota President Fujio Cho, to dismiss concerns that their success would reignite a political backlash.

All I have to say is that if the US starts imposing stupid protectionist tariffs against Japanese car manufacturers, they're only encouraging the poor design and manufacturing that GM and Ford churn out (see all the threads about people never wanting to buy Ford/GM).

Honda and Toyota have earned their marketshare by actually making GOOD CARS!

[DarkFury]

Go Dodge! (ahem... Daimler Chrysler)

HEMI HEMI HEMI!!!!

[ribitch]

gotta support my local economy. Detroit is hurting, and GM's latest announcements of 24k job cuts and more imported parts will make it hurt even more.

consumers are too quick to blame the government for the current state of the economy. people need to realize what they spend their money on is what really shapes it. As the demand on imported goods rises, the need for local jobs falls.

[cheapie]

don't blame the consumer for buying vehicles they want!!! if you want me to buy a domestic product, make one that lasts 150k! i bought a foreign minivan because, almost w/o exception, every chrysler minivan that my friends/family have owned have blown trannies and started burning oil before 100k.

ford and gm are just too fat for their own good. i work for a tier 1 supplier to both companies. seriously, SERIOUSLY messed up. they treat their suppliers like **** and make it incredible difficult to do business with them and they wonder why they can't get them to partner with them to build a better product. i have story after story of how GM has tried to absolutely rape us. and ford decided building a diversified workforce was so important that they acually lost a class-action suit because they were firing/holding down white males throughout the company. GM has so many layers that it's impossible get anything done with them. also, if you've ever been to any of their (ford or GM) plants in MI, you would be aghast at the way the union has managed to get away with doing little work as possible.

after dealing with the TS16949 bs and the IMDS crap that THEY spawned, i say screw 'em. let them dig their way out of the mess they created. the companies deserves to feel pain after they ruined many suppliers. and the union workforce should have had enough foresight to realize the head fatcats didn't have their best interest in mind and that in order to compete, they should actually have to work for a living.


/rant.

[bachviet]

Same story on MSNBC but with additional information about Hiroshi Okuda suggests that his company might raise prices to support U.S. automakers. So buy your Toyota now before price hike.

[DarkFury]

Same story on MSNBC but with additional information about Hiroshi Okuda suggests that his company might raise prices to support U.S. automakers. So buy your Toyota now before price hike.

Heh... so nice of him.


Let's just raise the prices and make MORE money off of this.... We're doing it for YOUR benefit.

Kaching!!!

(Too bad he's not willing to donate some of that extra money to help the folks who got laid off... or offer them jobs or something. )

[johnnymk]

I was hoping that Bob Lutz would turn things around, at least styling-wise. Except for the Corvette, there isn't much to brag about in the GM lineup.

[attgig]

I was hoping that Bob Lutz would turn things around, at least styling-wise. Except for the Corvette, there isn't much to brag about in the GM lineup.

everyone's lovin the sky&solstice.

[InfiniteNothing]

The what?

[bachviet]

The what?

Saturn Sky & Pontiac Solstice

[BrewMaster]

don't blame the consumer for buying vehicles they want!!! if you want me to buy a domestic product, make one that lasts 150k! i bought a foreign minivan because, almost w/o exception, every chrysler minivan that my friends/family have owned have blown trannies and started burning oil before 100k.

ford and gm are just too fat for their own good. i work for a tier 1 supplier to both companies. seriously, SERIOUSLY messed up. they treat their suppliers like **** and make it incredible difficult to do business with them and they wonder why they can't get them to partner with them to build a better product. i have story after story of how GM has tried to absolutely rape us. and ford decided building a diversified workforce was so important that they acually lost a class-action suit because they were firing/holding down white males throughout the company. GM has so many layers that it's impossible get anything done with them. also, if you've ever been to any of their (ford or GM) plants in MI, you would be aghast at the way the union has managed to get away with doing little work as possible.

after dealing with the TS16949 bs and the IMDS crap that THEY spawned, i say screw 'em. let them dig their way out of the mess they created. the companies deserves to feel pain after they ruined many suppliers. and the union workforce should have had enough foresight to realize the head fatcats didn't have their best interest in mind and that in order to compete, they should actually have to work for a living.


/rant.

AMEN! Business is not charity. Do it right or don't bitch about it.

I think it's funny that people go on the whole buy American things all the time not realize that GM does a good portion of their manufacturing outside the US. Can't blame them for taking advantage of cheap Mexican labor, can you?

[johnnymk]

everyone's lovin the sky&solstice.

I forgot about them. However. I believe that's a very limited market, not unless the Boomers immediately get divorced, sell their SUV's and have their midlife crisis.

[ufcrusher]

Several months ago GM and Ford asked the japanese companies to raise their prices to help them sell more cars. Their reasoning was simple, people arent willing to pay the same amount of money for an american car as a foreign car...this means they need to have rebates and incentives to sell the cars on the lots. Using the rebates leads to sales but at little to no profit, thereby hurting the company. The japanese companies point blank told them to take a flying leap at that time.


I want to note a few things....a lot of the problem has to do with perception of the company. American cars developed a "bad rep" in the not too distant past. Thus, people began to hear that buying japanese/german was the way to go...top quality, long lasting, luxurious, but you pay for it. Compared to the american cars at the time, there was no question on the build difference. Fast forward to today, many of the cars are clones/rebadged units and the differences are either nonexistant or minor. Yet, people will still rate a car with a japanese/german emblem better than the exact same car with a blue oval. Numerous car magazines have examined this and although there might be some difference on the interior and final settings (i.e. ride softness set to sport vs. touring) they dont account for the grading differences. Its one of the reasons why magainzes like Consumer reports is uselessly biased.

You take this bad image and then try to sell it for nearly the same price as the one with a good name. Unless you discount the hell out of it, you arent going to move the product. Ergo, rebates/incentives and you get a downward spiral.

Add into this increased operating costs/settlements/incidentials and suddenly you went from barely eeking by to in the negative

All of the redesigns in the world arent going to dispel the notion of foreign superiority. Hell, look at Dodge/daimler chrysler. You have the Crossfire which is a rebadged/reworked late SLK. The reviews I read said it was great...but only because it was a mercedes in disquise and then proceeded to rip it to shreds for all the shortcomings compared to the current version of the SLK. Seems a bit unfair when they start harping on an engine they otherwise praised (at the same GVW), complain about the size of the panel gaps and nickpit the car to hell.