TNGA info

i respect everything, except how they screwed up the prime.

 

I've seen the graphic before and was struck with how similar the business model is to the failed GM shared platform effort from the '80's.

No matter what we hear from Akio about performance, image, blah-blah, the bean counters are in charge.

Toyota executives previously announced that half of all Toyota/Lexus production will share the TNGA platform. That means most cars and CUVs including RAV.

I really hoped TNGA would've helped to keep '18 Camry MSRP at or lower than the rate of inflation since Toyota admits that the long-term strategy of TNGA is to cut costs fleet wide, but instead we see price increases double or more than that. Given today's customer expectations of steep discounts and incentives, I guess they need to do that and then blow them out as distressed merchandise shouting at the masses that Toyota, too, can wallow in the mud with the rest, FICO's be damned.

Maybe Toyota's 50/50 partnership with Mazda announced Friday will introduce excitement into their cars, too. TNGA and Calty did a great job with Camry redesign, but I'd appreciate participating in their cost savings, too.

I'm still loyal to the brand for their longevity, durability and resale value, but obviously have doubts about their future design strategy. I'm not the only one since their stock is down YOY along with total sales volume like the rest of the industry.

But, Toyota has financial reserves, production capacity, and manufacturing processes to turn on a dime if needed. Look at what they did at the new multi-billion $ Mexico plant that was supposed to produce Corolla and shipped worldwide. Within months, in response to anticipated demand, the lines were converted to Tacoma production and Corolla shifted to a plant expansion in the US.

Anyway, thanks for the link to the robots, unsurprisingly not a single human shown in the process.