Originally Posted by bwilson4web

Ok, let's assume Toyota's R&D means a loss. That bill was paid from 1994-1997 when they finished their development. No doubt we can find the annual Toyota financial statements showing Toyota is going out of business with these massive losses in the 1990s right? How about any Toyota losses?

Occums razor suggests there is a simpler explanation . . . R&D is not an expense that has to be applied to just the first "n" products that use that technology. Rather, R&D is an investment for current and future profits. Invested wisely, it yields the products that keep a company in business. Spent foolishly, it leads to plant closings, laid-off workers and eventually, usually too late, management changes.

Bob Wilson