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Automotive News & Views Toyota in decline in 2009?
3111 messages, Last post on Nov 05, 2009 at 9:47 PM
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Replying to: kdhspyder (Jun 03, 2009 6:50 pm) |
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link title Toyota’s assembly plant in Higashi-Fuji, Japan, was awarded the Platinum Plant Quality Award by J.D. Power & Associates for making vehicles with the fewest defects and malfunctions. The plant, which builds the Lexus SC 430 and Toyota Corolla, averaged just 29 problems for every 100 vehicles built. J.D. Power released its 2009 Initial Quality Study this week, and for the sake of not repeating ourselves, you can find details on the rankings and procedures here. |
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Replying to: kdhspyder (Jun 03, 2009 6:50 pm) Once upon a time, the domestics had that relationship, too, where the Durango/Dakota were the same basic thing, as were the Blazer/S10, and the Ranger/original Explorer. Must have been pretty cheap to make an SUV and a pickup, when it was from the same platform. In more recent years though, they got away from that. Is the Grand Cherokee going away? |
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So what will Toyota do with NUMMI, now that it is burdened with the full costs of keeping it open and running? GM to end NUMMI deal The “New GM” that emerges from bankruptcy is shedding another plant--the NUMMI joint venture with Toyota in Northern California. GM said on Monday that it can’t come to terms with Toyota on a new product for NUMMI to build, so it’s leaving the plant behind in the “Old GM” that will be put to rest in bankruptcy. Throughout the 25 years of the joint venture, the plant provided GM with Toyota-based products such as the Chevrolet Nova, Geo and Prizm and the Pontiac Vibe, which ends its run in August. Media reports say Toyota has offered a version of the Prius hybrid to GM, which could be built at NUMMI and would keep the factory busy. http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090630/CARNEWS/906309995 Basically, everything sold as a GM vehicle over the years and built at NUMMI was mechanically a Toyota. But with Toyota abandoning plans for expanding production in the U.S., even to the point of leaving one plant 90% built and non-operational, you have to wonder what they will do with NUMMI. Certainly it is an important facility in terms of Corolla production, and Tacoma production too although they could probably build a lot more Tacomas at the other plant in Mexico if they wanted to. The evening news interviewed workers coming out of NUMMI last night, who talked about another meeting coming up this week when the staff will be told what is going to happen. They looked worried. Of course, Toyota might have seen the writing on the wall several months ago with regard to this, and this might be the source of the rumors that Toyota was planning to start building Priuses at NUMMI. That would be a good way to fully utilize an existing plant while avoiding disruption of the supply of Corollas (and Tacomas). But if Toyota has to buy out GM's share of the plant, I'm not sure this would be the moment they would want to be making such a purchase. Of course, if all the "old GM" assets are essentially worthless as is expected, maybe the pricetag would be acceptably low.
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Replying to: nippononly (Jun 30, 2009 7:05 am) Can they build the Tacoma in Mexico? Does the Chicken tax apply to Mexico with NAFTA.
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Replying to: gagrice (Jun 30, 2009 7:38 am) What is clear is that Toyota has a substantial investment in the Mexican plant and has asserted more than once that there is room for a lot of growth there. |
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Replying to: nippononly (Jun 30, 2009 7:05 am) |
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all those who were concerned about Toyota's supposed huge excess inventories coming into 2009 need no longer worry: Toyota on track for U.S. output boost July 2, 2009 - 12:01 am ET DETROIT (Reuters) -- Toyota Motor Corp. is on track to increase production for the U.S. market by about 65,000 vehicles after truck inventories dipped too low and demand showed signs of stabilizing, executives said on Wednesday .....In response to the expectation of steadier demand, Toyota has increased planned production of light trucks such as the Sienna minivan, RAV4 SUV, Tacoma small pickup and Tundra full-size pickup as well as the Camry and Corolla passenger cars, Carter said. Efforts by Toyota to bring down U.S. dealer inventories succeeded in reducing stock to a 40-day supply overall, Carter said. "That's our target," he said. "But we're a little lighter on the light truck side than we'd like to be." As an example of that shortfall, Carter said Toyota had just a 20-day supply of RAV4 SUVs at the end of June. http://www.autonews.com/article/20090702/ANA05/307029950/1078/ANA08 (registration link) Weren't there some saying Toyota would be forced to hold fire sales all through the year, and would still be left with unsold 2008s at year's end?! Not so, it would seem. The 2010s are rolling out as scheduled, and Toyota is adjusting production UP to meet its new estimate of 10 million annual sales for the U.S. market. OTOH, as an example of just one reason why I will never pay for HIDs: Prius headlamp troubles could dim Toyota brand's reputation June 30, 2009 - 1:57 pm ET DETROIT -- Amid the launch of the third-generation Prius hybrid, Toyota Motor Corp. is taking a beating online and in court by owners who charge that some older models of the popular car have faulty headlights that can cost more than $1,000 to replace .......Owners are upset that their warranties don't cover the HID bulbs, which can cost between $300 and $1,800 -- with labor -- to replace all or part of the light system http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090630/ANA08/906309987/1186- &AssignSessionID=273352870341713 YIKES, that's a lot of money! It's unclear from the article whether owners are grousing because their HIDs fail soon after the warranty ha expired, or whether Toyota is refusing to replace them while still under warranty. On the one hand, it is a lightbulb, not usually covered under warranty, while on the other hand it is a heck of a lot of money and a vital component of the car which impacts safety when it burns out. The NHTSA is looking into it. |
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for all the folks who debate whether a Japanese car built here is "American" or not: Toyota's Camry ranks as most ‘American' car July 6, 2009 - 12:01 am ET The most “American'' car is the Toyota Camry, according to a study by Cars.com. The Camry topped the Ford F-150 pickup to place first in the auto information site's annual American-Made Index. The index, in its fourth year, ranks U.S.-assembled vehicles using a formula that includes the percentage, by cost, of their parts made in the United States and Canada as well as their U.S. sales volume. ......Four other vehicles of Japanese origin -- the Honda Odyssey (4th), Toyota Sienna (6th), Toyota Tundra (7th) and Toyota Venza (10th) -- completed the list. The Sienna's 85 percent of parts made in the United States or Canada is the highest of any foreign-brand vehicle. And in case anyone really thought this was an important debate for the majority of consumers: But how much do consumers care about a car's origin? In a recent Cars.com survey, 23 percent of respondents said they wanted to buy only American-made cars, Olsen said, while about 10 percent wanted to buy only foreign-made vehicles. “That means basically two-thirds of the people are saying, ‘I'll buy whatever car is best and most reliable,' ” he said. “It's a big open pool of potential customers.” http://www.autonews.com/article/20090706/ANA05/907049994/1078 (registration link) 
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