United States Of Toyota

[Draenor]

I found this to be a good read.

 

 

The United States of Toyota

The world's No. 1 carmaker has ingratiated itself into U.S. life and become an 'American' company, capitalizing on years of mistakes by Detroit's Big Three.

 

 

Forty-eight years ago, I remember being glued to the television set for the debut of "Bonanza," which before long would garner ratings numbers comparable to today's Super Bowl.

 

This episode would be special because not only would it be in full color but because Chevrolet, the show's sponsor, was withholding all commercial messages until the end of the show, a bold and unexpectedly dramatic move for those times. Instead, Chevrolet would run a five-minute film on its entire lineup of new models for 1960.

 

Things were different back then. Chevrolet was, far and away, the most popular car in America. It was truly one of the all-American brands, an icon along with Coca-Cola (KO, news, msgs). And its theme "See the USA in your Chevrolet" went on to become one of the most memorable and popular themes in automotive advertising history.

 

General Motors (GM, news, msgs) was on its way to flat-out dominating the American market, and its Chevrolet division dominated almost every segment it competed in with a remarkable combination of style, performance and value that no other car company could match. But a lot has happened to America and its car market since then.

 

Today, the U.S. automotive landscape is fundamentally altered. Japanese carmakers are part of the American automotive establishment. They build their cars in factories all over the U.S., with American white-collar and blue-collar labor. The Europeans, led by the Germans, have taken broad swipes out of the performance and luxury segments in this country, too.

 

 

The decline of General Motors

In 1979, GM controlled 48% of the domestic car market. In 2007, it's struggling to hang on to 25% of it. And the most glaring change? The most glaring change is that for all intents and purposes, Chevrolet has been usurped and replaced by Toyota in the hearts and minds of the American car-buying public.

 

Toyota is everywhere, dominating in a range of industry segments. Toyota has become ingrained in U.S. society to the point that Americans working for Toyota, whether it is at factories or dealerships, consider it to be an American company. And it's easy to see why, what with Toyota selling more vehicles in the U.S. than it does in Japan on a regular basis.

 

A lot of people would even argue the fact that it really doesn't matter anymore who owns Toyota, that it's a moot point and that nationalistic concerns should have nothing to do with it. Add to this the fact that to people in cities across the U.S., where Toyota is the reason they are able to feed their families, pay for their kids' education and make a comfortable living, it doesn't matter what Toyota really is in the global scheme of things. To them it's a local company, involved in their communities, and it provides them with a comfortable standard of living.

 

If you look at it that way, they're absolutely right. But I offer a different perspective.

 

And no, this will not be some maudlin, jingoistic "buy American" diatribe. I'm certainly not going to dispute the fact that the American automobile companies brought their current predicament upon themselves -- because they absolutely did.

 

They ignored the seriousness of the challenge from their Japanese competitors for so long that by the time they woke up to the reality of what was happening, it was way too late.

 

The Japanese products were better, more reliable and -- before their inroads into the luxury market -- often cheaper than anything from the traditional Detroit automakers. In most cases, this is still true, because although the quality "gap" has grown smaller between domestic and import manufacturers, the fact that the Japanese can build their vehicles for far less means that the domestic manufacturers from Detroit will always be playing catch-up in a market that has no time for catch-up.

 

 

Worker costs weigh down Big Three

Every day of every week, Detroit auto executives get up to face a daunting disadvantage against Toyota.

 

Toyota's cost structure allows it to operate with a revenue-per-vehicle number that is as much as $6,000 per car better (depending on the vehicle) than that of the typical U.S. automaker. This is a result of Detroit's daunting health-care-cost burden of $1,500 per car, its monumental legacy costs from thousands of retirees' pensions and the oppressive union contracts negotiated in Detroit's last heyday that prevented the automakers from closing plants unless they paid the displaced workers 85% of their wages. Detroit's inability to cut costs enough prevents it from even remotely competing with the Japanese cost structure.

 

Add the Japanese government's orchestrated manipulation of the yen designed to benefit Japan Inc. at every turn, and you have a laundry list of horrors for Detroit auto executives that is crushing in its scope. But Detroit is culpable, too. As a matter of fact, Detroit has hastened its slide to oblivion at every turn. So really, it's not that hard to see why Toyota has supplanted Chevrolet as "America's car."

 

GM's dismal handling of its passenger-car brands over the past 20 years has permanently damaged the one brand it absolutely couldn't afford to damage: Chevrolet.

 

GM siphoned off huge amounts of dollars from Chevrolet marketing and advertising to prop up Saturn's remarkably average product lineup, a lineup that it could not, or would not, figure out how to expand. I saw for myself while at Chevrolet's ad agency how major Chevrolet product launches were given a token amount of money, almost as an afterthought, just so Saturn could get one more enhanced promotional program under way.

 

And I was there to see Chevrolet's market share (except for trucks) literally fall off the radar screen in California as Toyota basically became the "people's car" for a majority of consumers on the West Coast. GM's willful and intentional dismantling of Chevrolet has to be one of the most egregious mishandlings of a brand in automotive history. GM marketing blunders literally destroyed the quintessential American automobile franchise in less than 20 years.

 

But GM wasn't alone. The domestic manufacturers squandered their dominant position in the U.S. market en masse because they were consistently the highest-cost, lowest-quality producer in a game that the Japanese had single-handedly redefined to be one of lowest cost, highest quality. And now we are well into the second generation of buyers who, thanks to the Toyotas of the world, have never owned a domestic brand of car or truck.

 

 

 

Winning over the public

During this time, Toyota never wavered from its game plan. It slowly and methodically wove itself into the U.S. economy.

 

Complaints of taking American jobs away were met with an emphatic rejoinder: The company simply built plants here and hired American workers. And its suppliers built plants here, too -- and hired American workers. And local business people were recruited to buy and run Toyota's dealerships. The company sponsored motor-sports and other sporting events on a national level. And it sponsored Little League teams on the local level. It sponsored the arts in cities across America and contributed to a range of charities and educational programs.

 

Toyota has done an absolutely superlative job of winning the hearts and minds of the American people. It's no wonder people consider Toyota to be an "American" car company -- because for their money, their communities, their educational and cultural institutions, and their charities, Toyota, for all intents and purposes, is an American car company.

 

No other car company, Asian or German, has so blatantly promoted itself as an American company. Yes, of course, Honda has been assembling motorcycles and cars in Ohio for nearly 30 years, but it hasn't gone as far as Toyota has in adopting an American persona. The same is true for BMW and Mercedes-Benz. They build cars here, and they participate in community affairs, but the lines never seem to blur between the origins of the company and their U.S. outposts.

 

But Toyota has always been a different story. Some of the most respected business leaders in communities all over America are Toyota dealers. Or work for a Toyota suppliers. Or sell Toyotas. Or work for Toyota directly. Racing legend Roger Penske, for instance, owns the world's largest automobile dealership, Longo Toyota, in California. There are millionaires, and a few billionaires, all across America who have made their fortunes directly or indirectly from Toyota.

 

Look around you. People all over your local community drive a Toyota or Lexus and think nothing of it. Your friends, your neighbors and your co-workers. To them, Toyota is more American than baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet. Hell, most people don't even remember when Chevrolet was any of that.

 

Toyota has become an accepted part of the American fabric. It's just no big deal. After all, if Detroit can't compete, too bad and tough. It's a dog-eat-dog world, and only the strong survive, right? And shouldn't I buy the best car, whether it's American or not?

 

Well, yes and no. On one level, that's certainly all true. Buy what you like. Like what you buy. And get the best quality for your money. If that happens to be a domestic brand, fine, but don't sweat it if it isn't. After all, Detroit is ultimately responsible for its predicament, and it's not my problem, right?

 

Maybe so, but let's not forget one key point. Toyota may provide for comfortable livelihoods all across America. It may even be your own car or truck of choice. It might have even provided you with a scholarship to go to school. But after all is said and done, there is one simple reason why Toyota never has been and never will be an "American" car company.

 

Well, 13.2 billion reasons, actually. Toyota earned a $13.2 billion profit in 2006. And where, exactly, did those profits go? It seems there's one very big thing that isn't American about Toyota, and that is where those profits go at the end of the day. To me, that makes Toyota a Japanese company, plain and simple. A company that is now inexorably woven into the fabric of this country, but a Japanese company nonetheless.

 

Peter M. De Lorenzo

[Zembonez]

That says a LOT about the lazy nature of our general public.

[silverad03]

I blame the public schools

 

LOL - J/K

 

Interesting read.

[Draenor]

I blame the public schools

Actually, that where it all starts.

[67ChevyRedneck]

What goes up, must come down. It's already happening. Their sales have slowed and even decreased the past 3 months. Quality has not increased in the past several years, but remained constant, maybe even down slightly. BUT other mfg's have surpassed them with quality. In the last study, BUICK TIED LEXUS for 3 year reliability. Hyundai is now better rated than Toyota for reliability.

 

Toyota will NEVER be American to me, no matter how much money they throw at NASCAR and other things. I see them as exploiting America, we're just too stupid to realize it. We're giving away jobs (Toyota IS NOT replacing jobs as fast as Detroit is losing them) and GIVING THEM INCENTIVES to build here???? A company that makes billions needs incentives to build factories here??? I blame Detroit, the US Government, and the American sheep, I mean people.

[Schmids5.3l]

More like Sheeple.

 

Toyota will never be an American Company. Thats like saying Bing Shang Dong, from Tokyo Japan moved to the U.S. in 1970, and he is now an American, because he donates to testicular cancer and little league soccer, and hires people at his Japanese buffet. No.

 

IMO it's parents and mindsets. People bought a junk big 3 car in the 80s, it fell apart because they didn't take care of it, or it was junk, then they bought a Yoter or Honda for cheap and it ran for a while. Then their hooked. Then when they are in their 40's, their kids are driving Hondas and Toyoyo's, because they were cheap and reliable, and still are. (Plus, Paul Walker and Vin Diesel in "The Fast and the Furious" made it cool to have an import with 4 cylinders.) They don't think outside the box, and are too ignorant to know most are built equally these days. No help to the Media. GM has an air bag recall for example, and holy sheep s**t you would think God and Jesus was walking on the earth.

 

IMO When Toyoyo and Honda begin ageing as a company like GM Ford and Dodge has, and retirement and health care starts building and kicking them in the ass as well, things will level out, in the terms of profit margins, and spending money like it's going out of style, aka buying your way into America.

[Zembonez]

I blame the public schools

Actually, that where it all starts.

 

+1

[04silverado1500]

toyo builds an ok car....but gm is kicking ass with there new line up all of the buicks are i think just insane and im 17 almost 18! gm trucks (sierra denali half ton 1 ton escalade) you name it they are great trucks. and hey look at pontiac the G8!!!!!!!!!!! OMG what a car! o and lets not forget the corvette zo6 75k and its faster then the 200k GT in some cases...not to mention it sticks with lambos and others. gm is going up they just hit the point where its tough to support the retiring baby boomers something toyota doesnt have to worry about and look how well gm is doing compared to everyone in general.....ford who is ford 12.7 bil in the hole last year o and chrysler changing ownership and talks of eliminating there truck line...what kind of company are they.....dodge is low quality highpowered srt junk that falls apart at the first job site you go to and not to mention there d**n kmart interior. who says TOJO an HONDA are reliable last i checked the ones from the early to mid 90s are rust buckets

[General Lee 01]

I believe Parents are where it all starts.... Public schools a big part of it, but I believe not as big as what parents instill on the minds of their kids at home.

[General Lee 01]

who says TOJO an HONDA are reliable last i checked the ones from the early to mid 90s are rust buckets

 

Possibly, but they're rolling rust buckets.

 

Rust has not much to do with reliability.

 

When I was growing up in the '90s my mom had an '81 Civic hatchback. It was our only car. It was nowhere near the original color, no real get up and go, and it was by no means a looker. But by god, if it didn't get the job done. It had well over 300k before it quit.

 

 

I have a dislike for the foreign automakers (The day this mirage is gone I'll be jumping up and down for joy like there's no tommorow)but Denial of Toyota and Honda Reliability is nothing short of ignorance.

[C & A s Dad]

Jesse and Sam, great responses. I would have to agree that many people have bought into the idea that if it is a Japanese name badge, the quality is better. Simply not true. True in the late 70s and 80s but could not be further from the truth today.

 

I think everyone that has read 2 or more of my posts knows I am an not a fan of Import vehicles. I can make myself accept the fact that someone buys a Import simply because they like a particular model. I do not like it and I would not do it, but I can accept it. On the other hand, it makes me fuming mad to hear someone say they bought an import because they feel the quality is better than an American badged vehicle. Shoot, I do all I can to buy American made drawers and socks.

 

I will sum up my feelings with the message at the bottom of my signature.

[Guest chevydeerhunter]

I blame Detroit, the US Government, and the American sheep, I mean people.

 

Don't forget to blame the UAW and it's members if we're passing out blame.

[General Lee 01]

I blame Detroit, the US Government, and the American sheep, I mean people.

 

Don't forget to blame the UAW and it's members if we're passing out blame.

 

 

 

Must we go there again?

 

 

Someone help me out here. Is there any type of legal or otherwise detremental bind keeping the automakers from dropping the UAW like a bad habbit? If not, then the blame of the UAW really falls into the blame for the automakers themselves. Do they not have the power to tell the UAW to pack sand?

[04silverado1500]

im not against foreign totally my sister has a 2002 nissan maxima and it might be the best vehicle we have ever owned BUT>>> i do know rust has to do with reliability if the car falls in half hahah. there is also a flip side to this my friends 91 blazer had to e taken off of the road because the underside was so rusted they didnt think it could take a fender bender. every manufacturer has there good and bad vehicles and some dont have any good ones. accords and camrys are d**n good cars but you cant expect them to outperform an american car because of the badge. the new gm line i have alot of confidence in thats for sure.

 

ps i still think rust has a little to do with reliability not everything though

[Guest chevydeerhunter]

I blame Detroit, the US Government, and the American sheep, I mean people.

 

Don't forget to blame the UAW and it's members if we're passing out blame.

 

 

 

Must we go there again?

 

 

Someone help me out here. Is there any type of legal or otherwise detremental bind keeping the automakers from dropping the UAW like a bad habbit? If not, then the blame of the UAW really falls into the blame for the automakers themselves. Do they not have the power to tell the UAW to pack sand?

 

 

I didn't mean to reopen any UAW wounds, but if there's going to be blame passed around, they must get some.

 

I can't remember where I read it, but the first $1500 of the cost of a vehicle goes to pension benefits for retirees. I really don't know about the legal ramifications regarding unionized workers. As far as my union goes, they keep wanting more and more. They were against contract workers and I understand job security, but at the expense of company security? I dont' get it.