Toyota Restructures U.S. Marketing Arm

SIZING is sizing...regardless of whether it's RIGHT-sizing, DOWN-sizing, or WRONG-sizing.

It's ALL just corporate "shuffling" of the walnut (workforce) shells with the 'disposables' (employees) under those shells.

 

Plano is a good place to live and raise kids. Schools in that area are good. However, it's a terrible place to visit. My joke was that the best thing for a north Dallas visitor to do is to drive to Fort Worth. Good airport plus one ok airport if you count Love Field. Going on vacations out of state is easy.

 

Interesting, and this comes just as Hyundai opens their new building in Southern California, and it is a beautiful building which is located along side the freeway, free advertising to thousands each day. And KIA opened their headquarters a few years ago to along side another freeway. So I wonder if Lexus will be leaving soon as well?

 

Not sure if
Toyota Chief Lentz: "There is a Job in Plano for Everyone"
has been posted yet.

I find it interesting that there's what seems like speculation based upon an article or two about dysfunction and management problems at TMS in So Cal. I've never worked there so I have no idea nor do I have any close association w/anyone that does. It seems just like speculation to me and possibly a story that's link-bait... Remember, most publications are in business to sell advertising.

I did take a drive around the perimeter of their Torrance campus a few years ago. It's quite a large complex!

 

BTW, I've been busy so I'm not sure if this has been posted but I believe some articles have alluded to this. Toyota already dominates California. It's the #1 selling automaker in CA. It has a much higher hybrid and plug-in take rate than the US average. Prius (family) was the best selling model of vehicle in CA. Seems like they did pretty well even if there was the supposed management/cultural problem that some are claiming...

So, moving to TX makes sense since they are apparently a truck culture and it makes sense that's the next big growth opportunity. Understand and cater your customer better there... and maybe get people to adopt efficient vehicles too (e.g. Prius, HyCam and other Toyota/Lexus hybrids).

From Internet Archive Wayback Machine, you can see Toyota's (and Prius') dominance in CA. National hybrid and plug-in take rate at December 2013 Dashboard - HybridCars.com.

 

And the 40 million dollar incentive that Texas offered Toyota probably helped, although Toyota says:
Of course not. nothing as meaningless as money affects our decision making

Toyota says $40 million incentive not a deciding factor in move - Houston Chronicle

That is about $10,000 per job,according to the article.

 

This Stinks! Torrance must be shocked by this, but can't really blame Toyota for making this move, its getting more and more difficult to do business in California, soon it will be a true desert!

 

To quote from Toyota's Texas Move Isn't the Earthquake Californians Are Really Dreading – News – Car and Driver | Car and Driver Blog

 

Its a bad deal for texans, a bad deal for Californians, and a good deal for toyota and Rick Perry's hair. Toyota knows how to play the government subsidies game. There probably is a slight multiplier effect so Texas taxpayers likely lost only $6000 per job. A net loss for the country since in total Toyota will eliminate more jobs in California and Kentucky than they will create in texas.

I doubt toyota gets any california sales because of where its us headquarters are, or will pick up any texas sales. They likely lost some california sales with the way they closed NUMMI, which was mishandled, by its people in the california headquarters. I'm sure making the tacoma in texas not california is responsable for more sales - lower cost lower price with more texans buying them because they are made here. A more texas point of view might have them creating more effective advertising.

 

Agree with AG here. The majority of those car buyers that use company headquarters or manufacturing location as a priority in the decision process are looking at country level.

 

+1

Nice I agree with most of this but ...

Cheap shot at West, but I remember when CARB decided to pollute California ground water with oxygenate. It is really misleading when it comes to the truth on air pollution. California's air pollution is much worse than Texas. Houston got as bad, but has been working hard to get better, and ofcourse doesn't rank near those california cities. When it comes to renewable, texas started far behind, but has been adding renewable more than twice as fast as california on a kwh or percent gross power used basis over the last decade.

 

Honestly, who really cares what Car and Driver says or thinks? I sure don't.

 

I think its really a strange survey that that did. In it california came out better than texas in things that are much worse. Take Air quality. California always has the worst metro areas, texas had one houston, for a couple of years, then they fixed it. Statewide if you get to the north things get much better but as a state?
U.S. Air Quality Index State Rank
California is much worse than average coming in 14th worse, texas, well it should be 40th if we worked harder but its 34. I don't see how anyone could say california's air is cleaner than texas, unless they are comparing the northern part of california, far away from polluted Torrance, to Houston, not Plano where Toyota is moving. Plano' air pollution is bad for texas, it has about as bad of air pollution as Torrance, bad job How Green Is My State which seems to be counting co2 as airpollution, then again as its own figure. Its probably trying to double or triple count.

Now co2 is higher in texas, it makes more stuff, and its hotter. That takes more energy. Toyota can actually buy renewables for its Truck plant and its office for less than they paid for the california electricity. So why not, ask them to go renewable in texas, many other companies have.

I can't see how moving from torrance california, to less polluted texas, where renewables are growing faster in a brown move. Toyota should invest in renewables here though, its easy, you just pay a little more each month.

 

Plano city council today passed 50% city tax rate cut for Toyota; also incentive package totaling 6.7 million over a 20 year period.
Toyota stated that Plano was picked out of 1oo cities; and in time they would employ over 3600 employees.

 

Wow, we step away for a while and boy do we miss a lot of interesting chatter.

Hope you've all been well.

Lots of conspiracy theories here, not surprising I suppose, but I guess I will just tell you my own personal perspective sitting on the inside. I think the company has really demonstrated respect for people, one of its founding values, in all of this. They aren’t picking up and moving in 30 days, giving out pink slips or making the decision for any of us. Instead, as soon as the news hit, there’s been good communication, many different transparent options on the table (if you stay vs if you go), and a lot of people supporting one another through the discussions taking place in hallways, offices, conference rooms etc.

I am not a long time veteran in Toyota terms, I’m here just ~7 years, and those that know me know that I tell it like it is. So, I could be critical of this life-changing move (for the company and its employees), but given the way it’s all been handled, I have to say I am very understanding of it. I appreciate the options that have been clearly communicated and like many here in Torrance, I am weighing them. It’s a different decision for each individual with so many factors in play (family, friends, schools, houses, job function, career path, spouse’s jobs, weather, cost of living, oh the list goes on and on and on). So, it’s nice to have plenty of time to determine what’s best for each of us and continue doing what I, for one, enjoy doing on a regular basis in the meantime.

Thanks for those of you who kindly thought of us in this historic time.

Best,
Erica Gartsbeyn
Prius Marketing & Communications Manager
Toyota USA