Toyota weighs price hikes to aid U.S. rivals

[SnowGoose]

Found on MSNBC:

Here's the link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8142612/

OSAKA, Japan - In the interest of preserving relations between Japan and the United States, the chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. Wednesday suggested his company might raise vehicle prices in America to support U.S. automakers.

Hiroshi Okuda said Wednesday he feared the possibility that U.S. policy could turn against Japanese auto makers if local giants such as GM and Ford were to collapse.

[Kolesar]

1. I would love to know what the sales margin is on a Toyota Prius

and how that compares to other Toyota makes.

[Jacobin]

10. Actually, they lose a lot of money on Prius

Cost to them is about $40,000 per unit.

They are smart. They know that once they get it selling in volume, the cost to produce will come down and they will be the only real hybrid game in town.

[Kolesar]

15. Toyota's execs claim that they make a profit

Selling at a loss is considered dumping. I expect the Prius margin is quite lean. I expect the margins on the other Toyotas are four times higher.

Toyota is raking in huge profits because their cars are considered to be high in quality and general excellence. I have met a more than a few motorists who despise US autos and won't even consider them (I call them snobs). Contrast that with the US automakers who have offer cheaper prices, rebates, or 0% financing to sell their products.

[pimpbot]

23. I wont consider a US auto

And I'm not a snob. The last US car I owned broke down a lot. I'm good at fixing cars too, but it ended up not being worth the parts and time I was putting into the car, since the resale value was so low. Not to mention the poor gas milage.

Now I've had a mitsubishi 3000gt for four years. I do a fair share of maintence on it, but nothing MAJOR. Plus it has 140k on it and still going strong. Doors dont rattle. No rust.


My next car will probably be a infinity g35. Possibly my first "new" car.

[Booster]

24. I've posted this before, but it needs repeating here. I bought an

Explorer, which had 3 recalls in the short 2 years I had it (I absolutely hated driving the thing). When I went back to my dealer for them to fix the recall problems, they said "we really don't make any money on fixing recall problems. Why don't you take it to another dealer". That's the major problem with US car makers. After you buy it, they really don't want to be bothered. I am not a snob and I will never buy another US car - the US could take some lessons from the Japanese on how to treat their clients.

[Kolesar]

29. $34,220 for a car that supposedly handles better than a Ford Focus.

But you will probably never notice the difference in your work-a-day commuting. 13 years later it will be in the crusher, no matter what it cost. Conspicuous consumption: http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/roadtests/roadtest/60902/page001.html

[Mizmoon]

30. I've had two new American cars

One a Saturn, the other an F-150. Very pleased with both. The saturn was totaled. It saved my life when I got in a bad accident. Can't complain about that.

The F-150 runs well and the service has been excellent, with one caveat. The starter had to be replaced before it was even a year old. However, to their credit, they paid for every thing from towing to repair and actually dropped the fixed truck off at our house for us.

Just wanted to cheerlead a bit for American cars. I've had good experiences.

What I don't get are the people who buy the bottom-of-the-line Mercedes and BMWs. It's a $32,000 nameplate on a plain vanilla car, if you ask me.

[K8-EEE]

28. I Wanted A Prius But The Were Wanting $5000 Over Sticker!

I really don't believe they aren't making money -- those things are flying out the door in all the So CA dealers, my friend had to drive up to Sacramento to get one...

[Robbien]

2. Judges rule to protect companies, companies raise prices to protect

companies and the general masses are unaware busy watching Michael Jackson.

[htuttle]

3. BREAKING: Japan slows down to allow the fat kid a chance to catch up

USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!


:eyes:

I don't know about you, but I find this very embarassing for some reason...

[rzemanfl]

6. Me too, remember when people drove "cheap Japanese cars"

and listened to "cheap Japanese transistor radios?" I remember as a kid getting stamped metal toys that said "Made in Japan" on the outside and "Budweiser" on the inside. How times have changed.

[Total Disaster]

7. Ditto. What a fucking insult to our automakers. n/t

[SnowGoose]

9. Yea, it doesn't sound like they're exactly intimidated, does it?

Another sentence:

"Okuda, who as chairman is removed from the auto maker’s day-to-day operations, raised eyebrows and invited criticism on both sides of the Pacific when he said two months ago that Toyota should think about ways in which it could aid U.S. auto makers — such as by raising product prices — as they reel under massive health-care costs and sliding sales."

Another argument for Universial Healthcare. Can anyone enlighten us as to Japan's system for distribution of healthcare? I have no idea how they do it, but it seems clear that it's working better than over here.

[htuttle]

12. They've had at least partially nationalized health care since the 1920s

I think that nowdays they have a similar health care system to what you'd find in Europe.

[Kolesar]

16. Yes, the health-care burden is hobbling the Big Three

GM spends more per auto on health care than they spend on steel.

[wallwriter]

22. Yeah, cause without health care costs, the Pontiac Aztec

would have been a sales miracle...

[Art_from_Ark]

32. The Japanese national health insurance system

Essentially, everyone who is a resident of Japan is required to enroll in the national health insurance system, called "kokumin kenko hoken". Premiums are based mainly on family size and income level. Typical premiums for a family of four run $500-600 every two months, and are usually deducted from the insured's bank account at the end of even-numbered months. The national health insurance pays 70% of the costs of doctor visits, hospitalization, prescriptions, necessary dental work, and some other services, like electro-massage. There is no quibbling over who pays what-- the patient pays 30% of the bill.

Full-time workers can also qualify for "shakai hoken", which pays the remaining 30%. I've never qualified for this, so I don't know the particulars. There are also supplemental private plans available to cover things like income lost due to hospitalization or disability

[Kolesar]

33. Thank you for that concise summary .. eom

[Sandpiper]

4. LOL! So much for "building a better mousetrap"

Toyota, who makes a superior product, proposes artificially hiking its prices to keep afloat the inferior products of its competitors.

Maybe the U.S. Big 3 could help themselves out by, I dunno, making better cars.

[tridim]

5. Maybe the American car companies should do some real R&D,

and make cars that can compete with the Japanese offerings? I guess that's a bit too much logic for them.

[BrightKnight]

19. Passion, design, engineering, quality control, efficiency...

This is not about employee benefits. It is my impression that American cars are generally cheaper than their Japanese competitors. They need to cut PAC spending, reduce executive compensation and make beautiful well engineered cars.

[wuushew]

8. This is stupid on Toyota's part

U.S. policy would be fruitless against domestically produced Japanese cars or Toyota rightfully declaring American policy in violation of WTO rules.

[musiclawyer]

14. Agreed

Dumb on Toyota's part. Old school thinking. Nobody blames Toyota for whatever shakes out with US auto industry. Toyota's prices go up, and Hyundai and Kia do cartwheeels, as their sales go up even more so than now, through squeezed consumers look for quality at a decent price without ridiculous mark-ups.

[NuttyFluffers]

26. agreed x2 This is a redux of 1980s under reagan.

they, the usa gov't upon pressure from pacs, pressured japan to raise the prices on their autos to help usa autos not collapse from their bloated inept mgt. didn't work then, won't work now.

whatever. still doesn't mean i'll buy another american car ever again.

[truthisfreedom]

11. nothing like a little healthy competition, followed by WINNING, to make

you suddenly scared of the losers...

[madrchsod]

13. toyotas are made in the united states

the trucks meet nascar truck series rules of american content. the camry is made by american workers and contain 55% us parts which is down from 75% when they opened the plant.

[NickB79]

17. Crap, I better buy that Matrix NOW

Anyone else think this might be a crafty way to get undecided auto buyers to get off their asses and buy Toyotas by threatening a price jump?

[EVDebs]

18. They'll be able to buy GM pretty soon, but if they buy the stock now

won't they be lining Kerkorian's pockets ? Who's going to make the UAW workers the best deal ? 25,000 are going to get tossed...

[AX10]

20. Isn't this anti-free market. Toyota makes a product the....

people want, I don't see any need to raise prices.

[NuttyFluffers]

25. yes, this would be the magic of geopolitics.

we've been to this song and dance in the early 80s. didn't work then when the japanese capitulated, won't work now.

oh yeah, and the "free market" is less real than the tooth fairy, fyi.

[uncle ray]

21. pffft, they're not considering doing it to give us a chance

they are considering it as a preemptive move to us putting high tariffs on their cars, so the money goes into their pockets instead of the moranic american gov't. yes i know their cars are made here, what, you don't think our gov't can find a way to slap a fat tariff on them? just wait.

[Voltaire99]

27. Shades of the early 80s...

Not the first time Japan, Inc. has bowed to demands. The last time, 1981, it agreed to limit imports for three years so Detroit could catch up.

It sure takes a lot of bitching and moaning to keep the "free market" free, doesn't it? The threats made in private must be quite remarkable.

[leesa]

31. Why should Toyota help companies that refuse to build sensible products?