Toyota Triumphs: It has become the corporate equivalent of a 2nd-generation immigrant
#1
05-04-2005, 07:56 PM
Toyota Triumphs: It has become the corporate equivalent of a 2nd-generation immigrant
May 9 issue - When U.S. automakers teetered on the brink of collapse 25 years ago, Japan-bashing in Detroit was in full swing—literally—as autoworkers took sledgehammers to Toyotas. Today, General Motors and Ford are facing another epic financial crisis. But this time, no one is taking a swing at Toyota in Motown. Instead, Michigan's glamorous governor, Jennifer Granholm, stood before a bank of TV cameras last month in the sunny atrium of Toyota's Ann Arbor R&D center and gushed: "We are excited about Toyota's future in Michigan and we want to roll out the welcome mat." In front of her were a half dozen smiling Toyota executives who had just closed a deal for a $150 million expansion of their Michigan research lab, where they will incubate more new models in their drive to overtake GM as the world's No. 1 automaker. Granholm doesn't fear a backlash for her ardent wooing of Toyota (including $39 million in tax breaks). After all, Toyota is offering her constituents something GM is taking away: jobs. "I feel very Darwinistic about this," she told NEWSWEEK. "We have to evolve as a state. It's the world that we're gunning for now, not just the U.S. automakers."
#2
05-04-2005, 09:28 PM
Re: Toyota Triumphs: It has become the corporate equivalent of a 2nd-generation immigrant
Yep, Bravo Toyota (and to lesser extent, Honda, Nissan).. well done!
Cheers to innovation, vision, and execution!
Cheers to innovation, vision, and execution!
#3
05-04-2005, 10:53 PM
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Re: Toyota Triumphs: It has become the corporate equivalent of a 2nd-generation immig
I have some very mixed feelings about this.
Personally,
I hope GM and/or Ford can get it together and produce low-cost, high MPG cars that people want to buy and once again become the #1 automakers they once were.
Some (or most) might say "fat chance!" or wish the worst for them.
Not me. Hopefully the billions GM has spent on Hydrogen will create a new market of affordable, attainable fantastic automobiles.
Or....
A new American auto maker would emerge on the scene with new, innovative ideas. Hopefully they wouldn't be "tuckered" out of the business though.
New foreign assembly plants are great for local economies, etc and these plants generate untold profits for....... yes, foreign companies.
Beleive me I'm NOT blaming Toyota but GM for not keeping pace.
What am I afraid of?
The same thing that happened to our electronics industry.
Up through the 1950's America made the best, most saught after radios and televisions.
There was a big miscalculation in the U.S. companies that people wanted the bigger, better built, more expensive electronic equipment.
They didn't even realize what was happening when SONY and a host of other Japanese electronic companies hit the market.
If these new Japanese products were not cheaper than their American counterpart they were vastly superior.
The American companies so far behind in R&D and couldn't compete.
Now all the big names of old: Zenith, Philco, RCA, Truetone as well as every other American electronic company was forced to sell out to the Japanese.
This is why I hope GM and Ford can get it together.
I understand that Chrysler has already sold out. Too bad I think.
On the other hand I think what Toyota and Honda is trully great, in creating these amazing cars and I too cheer them on.
With reserve.
Personally,
I hope GM and/or Ford can get it together and produce low-cost, high MPG cars that people want to buy and once again become the #1 automakers they once were.
Some (or most) might say "fat chance!" or wish the worst for them.
Not me. Hopefully the billions GM has spent on Hydrogen will create a new market of affordable, attainable fantastic automobiles.
Or....
A new American auto maker would emerge on the scene with new, innovative ideas. Hopefully they wouldn't be "tuckered" out of the business though.
New foreign assembly plants are great for local economies, etc and these plants generate untold profits for....... yes, foreign companies.
Beleive me I'm NOT blaming Toyota but GM for not keeping pace.
What am I afraid of?
The same thing that happened to our electronics industry.
Up through the 1950's America made the best, most saught after radios and televisions.
There was a big miscalculation in the U.S. companies that people wanted the bigger, better built, more expensive electronic equipment.
They didn't even realize what was happening when SONY and a host of other Japanese electronic companies hit the market.
If these new Japanese products were not cheaper than their American counterpart they were vastly superior.
The American companies so far behind in R&D and couldn't compete.
Now all the big names of old: Zenith, Philco, RCA, Truetone as well as every other American electronic company was forced to sell out to the Japanese.
This is why I hope GM and Ford can get it together.
I understand that Chrysler has already sold out. Too bad I think.
On the other hand I think what Toyota and Honda is trully great, in creating these amazing cars and I too cheer them on.
With reserve.
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