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Toyota: Resistance Is Futile

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by jkash, Oct 1, 2004.

  1. jkash

    jkash Member

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    Here's a theme you'll be reading variations on for years to come: Toyota Motors (NYSE: TM) as Borg. (No, not the Stock Advisor pick, Borg Warner (NYSE: BWA). The other one. You know -- the cyborg bad guys from Star Trek.)

    Case in point: a story in The Wall Street Journal last week about how Toyota has so much cash on its balance sheet that it is taking over some of the functions of the Japanese central bank, becoming the lender of last resort to Japanese companies in dire financial straits. When a company starts taking on the attributes, and fulfilling the functions, of a nation state, look out -- you're dealing with a Rule Maker.

    More to the point, on Monday, Toyota announced that next year it will double its production of hybrid gas-electric Prius sedans for sale on the U.S. market. This was not exactly news, mind you. Back in July, Toyota advised it would be significantly expanding U.S. sales of the Prius, and might go so far as to double them. But now that "might" has become a resounding "shall."

    Let's take a quick look at the numbers. Worldwide, Toyota currently makes about 125,000 "Prii" per year. Toyota is now boosting that number to 180,000. U.S. sales of the Prius are expected to be in the 40,000 range this year. Next year that will be 100,000. So in 2005, Toyota will boost production worldwide by about 55,000, and send literally nearly every extra car produced -- to the U.S.

    This, my friends, is an all-out assault on the U.S. auto industry and its hopes of competing successfully for "green" car buyers. So far, among U.S. automakers, only Ford (NYSE: F) has produced a hybrid passenger vehicle (the Escape SUV) -- using, by the way, technology licensed from Toyota. GM (NYSE: GM) has a few Chevy Silverado hybrids. DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX) is supposedly working on a hybrid Ram pickup and Mercedes sedan, but little is known of when they will be ready for market.

    Right now, Toyota's only serious competition for hybrid passenger vehicle sales comes from back home: Honda (NYSE: HMC), with its Civic and Insight hybrids. (Nissan (Nasdaq: NSANY), which, like Ford, licenses its hybrid technology from Toyota, won't even enter the fray until 2006.)

    Given the disarray and limited offerings of the competition, Toyota's flooding of the U.S. market next year may well satisfy the lion's share of the demand for hybrid vehicles -- leaving no buyers left for the also-rans, and little hope of gaining economies of scale on their hybrid product lines. If they don't act soon to reverse this trend, within a year or two at most, resisting Toyota may become truly futile.

    Read the original article by clicking this link.
     
    #1 jkash, Oct 1, 2004
  2. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    well it not like toyota hasnt done this before... after all, what is the #1 selling passenger car in america?

    well, i can tell you the big 3 dont make it.
     
    #2 DaveinOlyWA, Oct 1, 2004
  3. Jerry P

    Jerry P Member

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    Apparently investors like Toyota's decision to increse Prius sales in the U.S. - the stock has risen over $3.00 in two days. I watch it daily and it has been fairly quiet until yesterday when I noticed a $2+ rise. Then I saw the headline about the increased allocations and it made sense. I am glad I bought a measly 20 shares in Sept. 2003 for $63.25 a share. I will certainly not get rich with this ( well, maybe in 20 years or so!) but I bought it only because I like what they are doing with ecologically-friendly transportation.

    I only hope that Toyota does not fall into the ways of GM. They got so big they let quality and innovation slip away. I have heard some concerns about build quality of some of the U.S. made Toyota cars on other boards. Canadian-built cars are supposedly some of the best Toyota produces. Cultural differences???
     
    #3 Jerry P, Oct 1, 2004
  4. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    It's extremely easy to pick on the people who are doing things right and paint them in a light that they are doing it TOO well. I would like to see the same article written with the slant of what American auto makers have done to allow a foriegn competitor to come in and hand them their testicles.

    I've said it before and I'll say it again: In Sept of 1993 the Department of Energy initiated a program with American automakers to produce a high efficiency automobile. It is called the FreedomCAR program. They've had 11 years and the best they could do is license technology from Toyota.

    Here's where I get that date and info:
    http://www.energy.gov/engine/content.do?PU...DE=PRESSRELEASE
     
    #4 TonyPSchaefer, Oct 1, 2004
  5. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    Tony

    have you seen my posts on the "Supercar" fund... it was a program started by the clinton administration in hopes of developing a family sedan that would get 80 mpg... well it suceeded...

    but it came at the cost of relaxing CAFE. that was a huge mistake. even worse was the fact that bush won the election and completely shelved the supercar project. one of the greatest blows to the american effort to reduce polution and dependance on foreign oil. one cannot even begin to imagine how much the country was hurt by that.

    instead of continuing to fuel the economic growth of the 90's, we instead have to buy gas.

    this is what could have been

    http://priuschat.com/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=799

    read about how it never had a chance...

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/special...special.special

    the article is entitled

    SuperCar: The Tanking of an American Dream
     
    #5 DaveinOlyWA, Oct 1, 2004
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