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Automotive News & Views Toyota in decline in 2009?
3846 messages, Last post on Dec 08, 2009 at 4:08 AM
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Replying to: rockylee (Aug 14, 2006 10:55 am) They probably didn't know Ford had recalls recently either. That's not a perception thing, it's a generation not reading the news thing. 
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Replying to: mirth (Aug 14, 2006 11:09 am) Rocky
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Replying to: rockylee (Aug 15, 2006 9:20 am) The press must have decided to cover Toyota's problems the way they cover the troubles of other auto companies. Read the article linked below - it was published this week. A year ago you would have been more likely to see an ivory billed woodpecker than a newspaper criticizing Toyota so bluntly. http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4178250?source=rss
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Replying to: scott1256 (Aug 16, 2006 5:32 am) Thanx for the link pal. It's about time somebody plays fair in the negative news game.  Rocky |
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success means the media will now target it as an 'evil corporate monster' as with Microsoft, Wal Mart, GM, IBM etc. Rather than having some lionized and some demonized, it would be nice to see more even media treatment of all. By the way: I notice more positive press about GM these days than for many, many years. It seems the media is abandoning their 'everything about GM is evil' template, at least for the moment.
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Replying to: scott1256 (Aug 17, 2006 7:20 am)  Rocky |
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is reporting (Article is available on line, but you have to be a paid subscriber to read it, sorry.) that Toyota is considering consolidating its product line in response to increased recalls. I think this is one more example of something I and some others here and elsewhere have argued elsewhere: Designing and manufacturing mass market automobiles is not easy. The only way to do it well is to limit wherever possible the number of things that can go wrong. GM, Ford and to a lessor extend Chrysler pre-merger, used to approach the market with a shot gun. Any possible product niche was exploited, lest someone else get market share. The gremlin in this was always going to be quality. Honda and Toyota rose to prominence in the US on a business plan that had them using two (Honda) and three (Toyota) basic platforms respectively. It worked. Keeping things simple meant keeping them good. Toy lately got the market share bug big time. It started using the tried and true GM and Ford method: make something every possible piece of the market could ever want. The result is quality glitches. I think as consumers we have to ask ourselves: do we want something uniquely designed for our particular lifestyle, or do we want to find a way to make a tried and true design work. Honda never went away from the limited platform model. GM is slowly adopting the model. Ford may be doing so as well. I think Toy has decided it does not want to leave either.
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Replying to: logic1 (Aug 25, 2006 5:35 am) Look at Toyota, even with all the recalls: it makes like 19 models that all drive exactly like a Camry (Scions excepted), even the trucks. This was intentional on their part, of course, but it doesn't lend much "pizzazz" to their line-up. Ford is rapidly going to the same model - the next five years will see the culmination of that process - and in doing so I think it will achieve the same goal, except for the Mustang. Ick. Funny to me is that the Scions are the least recalled of the Toyota models, and yet they are the exceptions to the "sameness" rule. Of course, their volume is also lower, which makes QC a little easier to rein in.
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Replying to: nippononly (Aug 25, 2006 6:21 am) The Scions are tried and true as well though, aren't they? I understand Toyota has been using the platforms for a number of years before putting the cool little hatches and coupe on top. But yeah, the choice is somewhat stark. GM, Ford (and a host of other makes long since dead) used to change models almost every other year. And they would make all sorts of really different creatures. But that was a culture where new car buyers would happily tell you they expect to sell before the thing reaches 50k miles. If you want to go beyond to overarching socio-economic factors, compare a detailed map from the mid-1960s with one from today. One reason people did not worry about quality and reliability so much was they did not have to travel anywhere near as much as today. |
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| http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5285196.stm | |
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