Jobu37

Seven Car Companies Hurt Most by Recession

Toyota's share was falling long before the economic crisis hit so it may not be a given that it will bounce back quite as quickly as you appear to be implying. Toyota can no longer charge premium prices due to their perceived quality superiority anymore. Reality is starting to settle into the market and consumers are beginning to realize that they can buy higher quality, better looking vehicles from other manufacturers such as Ford. I realize that there will always be blind loyalists but it is safe to say that the number of blind loyalists has and will continue to diminish. Blind loyalty aside, what consumer in his right mind would choose a Camry over a Ford Fusion when the Fusion has beaten the Camry, and all others, in quality surveys for the past three years, and it also gets better fuel mileage, has better handling characteristics, and costs $1,000 or more less. And don't kid yourself about Toyota holding the line on rebates, while they still have some of the lowest rebates around they have increased by a larger percentage than most. Only Kia, Hyundai, Chrysler, Nissan and GM have been more aggressive with rebates. Check the rental lots, you will find alot more Toyotas amongst the Kias and Hyundais so even their current sales are inflated compared to their historical retail demand.

Why I'd Avoid Toyota, The #1 Automaker in the U.S.

Japanese - the importation process in Japan adds many levels of cost to any product imported. So a 25K Chevy ends up costing closer to 40K. Historically , the government has kept the Yen artificially weak in comparison to the all currencies but especially the dollar. Recent times have allowed for the Yen to start moving closer to the natural exchange rate but it took a global semi-depression to do so. In recent months the Japanese central bank has been able to get it back up near 100 Y per $. All Japanese manufacturers count on the weak Yen to overcome their high labor costs and make their products competitive.
China - requires an auto manufacturer to team up with a Chinese firm before you get any real access to the market. Vehicles directly imported are hit with their version of a VAT. They also manipulate the exchange rate against the dollar.
Korea - essentially has a "Non-Korean tax". Even if you build a plant in Korea but are not a Korean based company your product is treated as if it is imported. Obama is supposedly addressing this in the current negotiations taking place on a new "free" trade agreement. Korea has essentially said that if you take away our auto tax we will ban U.S. beef. So lobbyists for the beef industry will derail any headway being made on free auto trade from the U.S. to Korea.
Mexico - the majority of their purchases are from Mexican plants owned by American, German, and Japanese auto manufacturers.


On Jun 22 05:50 PM 303820 wrote:

> Buddhabill...since according to you the auto industry is a global
> affair...can you tell me how many made in America cars and trucks
> the Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Europeans and Mexicans buy?