Toyota to Build Prius in U.S. as Fuel Forces Shift

[IDemo]

Source: Bloomberg

By Bill Koenig and Alan Ohnsman

July 10 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. said it will build its Prius gasoline-electric hybrid in the U.S. for the first time as part of an overhaul of North American production driven by record-high gasoline prices.

The Prius, the world's best-selling hybrid, will be assembled in late 2010 at a plant under construction in Blue Springs, Mississippi, Toyota said in a statement today. That factory originally was to build the Highlander sport-utility vehicle.

``It's just an indication of the demand for the Prius,'' said Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group in Ann Arbor, Michigan. ``With the outlook gloomy for fuel prices, it's a smart move for Toyota.''

The change in factory plans mirrors U.S. consumers' rapid shift to fuel-efficient models and away from large pickups and SUVs as gasoline soars above $4 a gallon. It also eases production constraints on the Prius, now built mainly in Japan, that have left the U.S. sales unit in short of supply of the car in the hybrid model's biggest market.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aF7dTm8dXI3g&refer=home

[n2doc]

1. Yes! One more reason to buy it n/t

[Norrin Radd]

2. How about an all-electric vehicle?

[IDemo]

4. They did produce the RAV4 EV for awhile, but ran into a problem

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_RAV4_EV

Whether or not Toyota wanted to continue production, it was unlikely to be able to do so, because the EV-95 battery was no longer available. Chevron had inherited control of the worldwide patent rights for the NiMH EV-95 battery when it merged with Texaco, which had purchased them from General Motors. Chevron's unit won a $30,000,000 settlement from Toyota and Panasonic, and the production line for the large NiMH batteries was closed down and dismantled. Only smaller NiMH batteries, incapable of powering an electric vehicle or plugging in, are currently allowed by Chevron-Texaco.

[msongs]

6. these corporations are the enemies of humanity nt

[BrightKnight]

14. Monopoly? - Chevron / Texaco bought the NiMH patent, closed and dismantled the plant.

Am I reading this correctly? They are blocking the production of large capacity NiMH batteries because they do not want to compete with plug-in or plug in hybrid cars.

That sounds very anti-competitive and it is definitely not in the National interest.

This is NOT what the patent laws were written to do!!

Why would GM sell the patent to Chevron? I get the impression that GM does not want plug-in cars on the market.

The technology was probably developed with tax dollars.

[Ichingcarpenter]

21. General Motors sold the patent for advance batteries to the oil companies

Gee, who would have thought?

[kentauros]

17. There has to be something in law about some technology being "for the good of all".

Maybe there's something like "eminent domain" on patents. Wrest their irresponsible control on this technology and release it for all to use :)

[customerserviceguy]

25. Eminent domain can apply to any kind of private property

but I sure wouldn't expect Bush/McCain to use it to piss off the oil companies.

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. 'Think' all electric car is gonna be manufactured here too.

For pint-size designs, these electric cars seem to dream of a global revolution where many fear to tread, or have tried with not very impressive results. And think about it, these cars are 100% recyclable!

But Th!nk Global, yes, think with an exclamation mark, a Norwegian company buoyed by undisclosed funding injection by Silicon Valley venture capital firms, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and RockPort Capital Partners, is rolling out the Ox, Open and City in North America within three years after a gallant start in Europe and I can’t stop to think when they’ll ever get to Africa.

Think cars are gas-free, city cars that will start selling in the US next year but the actual mass roll out is slated for sometime in 2011, and the company has recently opened its North American division to steer the promising mad drive from the gas pumps.


http://ecoworldly.com/2008/07/09/thnk-can-this-eco-friendly-car-start-an-electronic-revolution/

[MindPilot]

11. Tesla Motors is building their new factory in San Francisco. n/t

[LanternWaste]

3. I hope this illustrates...

I hope this is illustrative of a long-term shift in American thinking and purchasing habits away from the (albeit romantic) 'Detroit Muscle' cars and towards a more modest, environmentally friendly vehicle.

I really, really hope that we being to see many, many more European and Mexican-style micro-cars on the road soon.

[Indenturedebtor]

7. Good luck with that. If gas prices go down the selfish idiocy factor

When buying a car will go right back up to where it was.

One thing that surprises me is that no one talks about how fast these electric and hybrid cars accelerate? I mean they are fucking quick!

[LanternWaste]

8. I'm optimistic enough to believe...

"If gas prices go down the selfish idiocy factor..."

Maybe. Maybe not. I'm optimistic enough to believe that mankind has a penchant for adapting to long term survival needs, it just takes us a while to perceive those needs and then work on them.

While it may not have any of the sleek cynicism so trendy these days, I happen to think that mankind is malleable to both direct, short term obligations, and the indirect, longer-term obligations.


:)

[Indenturedebtor]

9. Long term adaptations are nearly always asigned in hindsight

There are very few people in a society who are willing to live for the future. Every once in awhile they get enough influence to force the greedy selfish moron majority to do what's right. Other than that man is NOT a prophylactic species.

[LanternWaste]

10. As I said, I'm optimistic about the human species

As I said, I'm optimistic about the human species as a whole, which has led me top belive there's always a string-willed cadre of people looking ahead and pointing us in the right direction and showing us the brink we're about to fall over. Sometimes they're called philospophers, sometimes they're called scientists, sometimes they're called humanitarians, and sometimes they're called priests and prophets.

Heck, sometimes I'm even optimistic about our own culture. But, I'm merely an Australopithecus-- and not a very bright one at that. I don't presume to absolute knowledge of how smart we are as a people, nor how dumb. :)

[Schema Thing]

13. Which is exactly why the vaunted "market forces" don't get the job done

and why only government can effectively solve mitigate real problems.

[kentauros]

28. Here's another "fucking quick" EV

:D

Obvio

http://www.obvio.ind.br/obviona/Obvio%20!%20828%20side.jpg

http://www.obvio.ind.br/obviona/Obvio%20!%20828.jpg

http://www.obvio.ind.br/obviona/828.htm
• 828E - Electric Plugin version - preliminary specifications
Range 200 – 240 miles
Acceleration 0 to 60 < 4.5 secs with 200HP’s and two-speed transmission system
Top Speed 120 mph
Charge rate 30 minutes for 20 – 50 miles
Full Charge 2 hrs (fast), 5 hrs (normal)
Electric Propulsion
Drive system 120 kW, 220 Nm, 13,000 rpm
Regenerative braking
Innovative batteries and management system
Charger Onboard, plug in anywhere,
Up to 20 kW
Vehicle to grid (V2G) Bi-directional grid interface
Instrumentation:
Analog Cluster Speedometer, ammeter, battery state of charge
Multi-Function Display Energy use, efficiency, charge control functions,
cell-level voltage, temperature and V2G control


Targeted price 828E will be US$49,000.

But it's also "fucking expensive" :o

[Indenturedebtor]

32. You're not kidding about the expensive! Very cool though! n/t

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

33. Geek should love it..

I hope the owner can get an memory upgrade, at lease 3 Gb RAM. and in the future, can it be upgraded to Linux?


"A Philco´s Predicta styled "touch-screen” accesses the iMobile Carputer, running Windows XP with

60 Gb. HD and 2 Gb. RAM with GPS, DVD, MP3 sound, XM SAT Radio, e-mail, internet,

bluetooth, WLAN, 2 USB 2.0 and Firewire ...."

[DeepModem Mom]

12. K&R

[blues90]

15. And what will this grand plant be ?

some min wage , no insurance slave trap? I think it's more about the cost of shipping the cars here than for any other reason.

[ryanmuegge]

16. Shh. Toyota has a messianic reputation around here.

From my experiences, you're absolutely right. US Toyota plants pay their employees pretty low wages. We've got a plant around here, and they don't pay their employees shit. You're better off getting a job at the maximum security prison across the street.

That said, their cars are GENERALLY more fuel efficient than the ones produced by American companies. I'm not denying that, and their (this is in relative terms; they're probably capable of a hell of a lot more) fuel efficiency is commendable.

[LanternWaste]

31. Out of curiosity...

Out of curiosity, what is the starting wage for an entry level line postion at the Toyota plant near you?

[Ichingcarpenter]

18. Actually they pay higher than UAW because of 'Right to Work States"

Where they put their plants which are in the South. I think this article is fairly balanced
on the facts. The plant in Mississippi was already being built and is now being changed
to build the prius vs trucks.






Toyota Motor Corp. gave workers at its largest U.S. plant bonuses of $6,000 to $8,000, boosting the average pay at the Georgetown, KY, plant to the equivalent of $30 an hour. That compares with a $27 hourly average for UAW workers, most of whom did not receive profit-sharing checks last year. Toyota would not provide a U.S. average, but said its 7,000-worker Georgetown plant is representative of its U.S. operations.

Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. are not far behind Toyota and UAW pay levels. Comparable wages have long been one way foreign companies fight off UAW organizing efforts.

Who's to blame?

UAW Region 8 Director Gary Casteel said if Toyota workers were paid more than union workers last year, the blame lies with Detroit's auto executives. The companies have lost market share because of past mistakes, which have translated into fewer bonuses for workers, said Casteel, who is on the union's executive board.

"Our profit-sharing formula, I know, is better than theirs -- if our vehicles are selling," Casteel said.

Ron Lare, a 59-year-old Ford employee on pre-retirement leave, said Toyota workers shouldn't get too excited about their wages because bonuses fluctuate. The only thing consistent, Lare said, is union protection.

"The floor beneath their feet is basically what the UAW has won," said Lare of Detroit, who has worked at Ford for 28 1/2 years. "If the UAW gets beaten down, their pay is going to come down. You let there be a real recession in the auto industry -- that bonus won't be there for Toyota, either."

Union perks vs. nonunion perks

The pay comparisons reflect the relative profitability of the foreign and domestic companies more than shortcomings of the UAW. But the situation chips at the argument that workers united in solidarity can get better wages, benefits and job security -- especially as the UAW shrinks and growing foreign companies continue to ward off organizing efforts.

"How do you convince someone you're better off with the protection of a union when they're making more money than the union employee?" asked Alfred McLean, a 66-year-old hourly UAW member at General Motors Corp.'s Warren Tech Center. He has 28 years of experience.

Workers for foreign automakers don't pay union dues, but they do share the costs of insurance and retirement plans. UAW-represented autoworkers get health insurance and a full pension after 30 years -- valuable perks they will fight to keep during contract negotiations this year.

But even accounting for Toyota employees' health care spending -- $700 per year on average, according to the company -- the Georgetown workers still made more in 2006.

General Motors Corp., which lost $10.6 billion in 2005 and didn't issue profit-sharing checks last year, paid its production workers an average of $27 an hour, GM spokesman Daniel Flores said. That would be a base of about $54,000 a year, based on a 2,000-hour work year. The $30 average at Toyota's Georgetown plant, which includes a bonus, equals $60,000 a year.

Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group representatives said GM's base pay figures are similar to theirs. Only Chrysler, which had a 2005 profit, paid a bonus last year. The $650 bonus was not enough to surpass Toyota's pay. >>>>>snip
http://www.aftermarketnews.com/default.aspx?type=art&id=80833

[DainBramaged]

30. We know better, they build plants where unemployment is high

local wages are low, and the educational averages are lower than in most of the areas of the country. They reduce sick days, vacation pay, and dangle carrots infront of the great unwashed who line up at the employment door waiting fr a chance to work for 'Yoda".

They have trouble getting qualified workers to operate the robots because their pay is NOT comparable to UAW wages. And don't buy a car built on Monday, their reputations for poor attendance on Mondays makes their quality suspect. And they do one thing US car makers refuse to do, turn the car around and fix problems before they get loaded for the dealer. Their actual initial defectives rates are just as high as ours. and one last thing, they use few local suppliers for parts, they import 90% of the parts they use for assembly, including most engines.

[intheflow]

19. That was the first thing I thought when I read it would be in Mississippi.

If not the #1 leader in low wages in the country, it's easily in the top 3. Plus, Mississippi tends to turn a blind eye to environmental degredation. Cheap labor and cheap environmental oversight--it's a win-win situation for Toyota.

[IDemo]

20. Toyota's US wages -

http://www.img-partners.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=39&Itemid=1

To date, Toyota has matched United Auto Workers wages for tens of thousands of Toyota factory jobs. In Georgetown, Ky., for example, its pays an average wage of $26 an hour. Although that's a bit less than UAW workers get at GM or Ford factories, bonuses that Toyota pays twice a year to hourly workers more than make up the difference.

[blues90]

22. what the average age of their workers?

This was one of the main arguements when it came to be known that toyota paid less insurance based on a younger employee group.

[IDemo]

23. Don't know

But a little searching reveals that it's not all good for labor at Toyota plants: http://www.nlcnet.org/article.php?id=562

[blues90]

26. Reading about those worker conditions

Does look like many Toyota owners here have contributed to slave labor just like just about everything else.

If this is the case then how will Toyota turn a profit in the US without cutting somewhere?

Since the big three are all but dust in the wind all at the greed of the owners of the big three then it does seem like Toyota in the US can do about anything including subcontracting which puts the labor on their own as far as any benefits go.

[IDemo]

27. I'm patching together a post for GD from the info at the link

True Progressives need to factor in the human costs along with environmental ones, whether shopping for cars or jeans.

[WriteDown]

24. Easy to do.....

When you pay no legacy benefits.

[donco]

29. At least they’re not building the plant in Mexico. nt