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Featured Toyota's Newest Production Approach Could Be a Sign of Trouble

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by Tideland Prius, Aug 28, 2022.

  1. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Full Article


    I posted it here because the Crown might be the next model so it may affect North America.
     
  2. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Apparently Toyota has no interest in what I want. Another symptom of the toxic MBA schools.

    Bob Wilson
     
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  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    sign of the times i guess. we've been so spoiled over the years, but we'll get used to it, like anything else.
    there was a 14 month wait when i ordered my first prius in 2004, and a 6 month wait for my factory ordered pip.
    patience is a virtue
     
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  4. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

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    We are seeing counter-measures from other automakers too. Toyota is not alone with the struggle to optimize as the market changes.

    Dropping features that would normally be considered standard is the trend I have encountered recently.
     
  5. mikefocke

    mikefocke Prius v Three 2012, Avalon 2011

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    Prices have risen and chips are still in shortage for a while especially for Toyota. So you eliminate some of the things that consume chips. And sell lower priced versions to sell more cars as fewer can afford the expensive ones. Doesn't take an MBA...
     
  6. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    I'm fine with not having any options, as long as the price stays low for the bare bone model without bells and whistles.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    If any of the stripped down models ditch the “enormous screen in middle of dash”, bring back controls you can adjust, easily, without taking your eyes off the road, that’d be of interest.
     
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  8. drash

    drash Senior Member

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    It sounds like we're heading to doing web only custom sales. If we're going to end up doing custom orders, what is the point of dealers? Wouldn't that relegate them to just doing what Tesla does, except for more places for service, like finalizing sales and customer orientation?
     
  9. ColoradoBoo

    ColoradoBoo Senior Member

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    I've wondered how automakers will adjust their products in this environment. You gotta give people what they want. In the past, when gas prices bottomed out, vehicles got larger and big, powerful engines (V-8's, Turbos, Hemis) were all the rage. Toyota even dumped their small T-100 pickup for the full-sized Tacoma in 2005 (which, IMHO, was a huge mistake.) The "super sport" and "heavy duty" vehicles flew out the door.
    So are we going to see more and more hybrids/EV's and smaller, more fuel efficient, vehicles since lower gas prices seem to be killed by this administration? Will they figure out how to NOT have 30+ computer chips in everything? I'm sure they have some very smart engineers working on it!!
     
  10. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Custom orders generally end up with higher costs.

    I once looked at a Scion. At the time, the factory had ran out of the base radio, so I could have gotten the upgrade for free. This sounds like that, but more a "if you want the car sooner, you can get it without the radio." If this leads to anything permanent, it'll be true stripper base trims.
     
  11. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    You say that like it's a bad thing.
     
  12. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    "You can have any color you want, as long as it's lack." There was a method to Henry's madness. ;)
     
  13. drash

    drash Senior Member

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    Actually in 2020 when they shut down the country (actually the world), I went all in on energy companies when demand went to 0, Dominion, BP, Exxon-Mobil, etc. (Trump was still in office but is totally irrelevant to this). I watched when the total number of operating wells in the US went from 685 to 67, I knew demand would quickly outstrip supply when the country rebounded. These companies aren't stupid, they aren't going to restart these wells with oil still fetching $20 or $30 per barrel. I was going to dump them at some future date, but then this Ukraine - Russia thing happened. Needless to say I'm getting some healthy earnings. :D

    Haha nope. A typical car has about 1,000 chips and it'll get worse as they add more safety features and make engines and motors more efficient. They certainly don't put fewer electronics into fighter planes or bombers.
     
  14. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    it doesn't take chips if you have dome lights w/out timers that slowly fade off, or if you have roll up window cranks instead of auto electric that sense whether your arm is in the way etc.
     
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  15. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    OK that's what 5 down, 995 to go? Go team no-chip!
     
  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i guess if you're desperate, you'll buy whatever is on the lot. i don't think any mfg's have an advantage here, but ev's might get hit particularly hard
     
  17. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    You know you can do all that and more in one chip. Those are not the features that are pressing prices up.
    Multiple chips are needed to run an ice efficiently. Even more chips are needed to handle all the cameras and sonars and on cars like a Tesla.

    I have read that tesla's have between 2000-4000 chips versus around 1400 for a regular ice car without many of the features. Its not the number, Tesla controls its software and hardware, and many of these are general purpose chips. It was able to rewrite software and use other chips. Old line automakers were not able to do this. Toyota also has gotten through the chip shortage well as they had kept orders and made a higher percentage of cars. That helped them have record profits despite selling fewer cars.

    Unfortunately there are so few car companies that the ones that did badly seem to be increasing prices and profits on those performing better in the shortage.
     
  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i would buy a stripped down tesla for 30k
     
  19. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    So would everyone. That's the problem.
     
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  20. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    well, elon just needs to take a cue from toyota :ROFLMAO: