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  • Toyota fan club

    Here's an article from Fortune that says that in a span of 5 years, Toyota has increased its output by about 50% and has increased profitability to boot -- to about $12 billion per annum. This is absolutely unreal growth and profit in an old manufacturing industry like cars.

    There was an article in Wired a couple months ago about GM and Ford chop shops that would take Toyota's cars apart to analyze them in extreme detail. The folks at these chop shops were dirisive of the Prius. They thought it was merely a marketing gimmick, considering that the Prius parts count was a lot higher than normal cars and it was a lot more expensive to produce. While reading the article, I couldn't help but think "these guys just don't get it." Toyota is producing a high technology vehicle that in its second generation is as reliable as their normal cars, even though it is much more complex and has a higher parts count.

    Anyway, it looks like Toyota is trying to make a leap to being a manufacturer of high tech goods rather than a boring old car manufacturer. This is a pretty cool strategy. Don't know whether it will be successful or not, but I wish them well.

    (As an aside, I note that while GM and Ford were busy buying out foreign competitors over the last decade, Toyota was sticking to its knitting and eating GM's and Ford's lunch.)

    Toyota's recipe for success
    The automaker has a commanding lead on a breakthrough technology -- one that could enable it to dominate the industry for years to come.
    Fortune Magazine
    By Alex Taylor III, FORTUNE senior editor
    February 21, 2006: 11:14 AM EST

    NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - In an industry where others are sputtering, Toyota is a juggernaut. It is producing nearly 50 percent more cars than in 2001 and this year it will almost certainly pass General Motors to become the world's largest auto company.

    Toyota (Research) alone earned more than all the rest of the world's 12 largest auto manufacturers combined -- $11.4 billion. And it is pioneering a new technology for the 21st century that will shrink gasoline consumption and limit greenhouse gases.

    In its March 6th issue, FORTUNE will tell the inside story of how Toyota -- the first non-U.S. company to break into the top ten on FORTUNE's Most Admired Companies list -- developed the hybrid Prius. It is a rare look under the hood of the usually secretive car company. Toyota overcame punishing deadlines, skeptical dealers, finicky batteries and its own risk-averse culture to bring the hybrid to market.

    The story of the Prius is a tale of technological potholes, impossible demands and multiple miscalculations, and it reveals how a great company places big bets on the future. The total output of the gas-electric sedan represents only a tiny fraction of the nine million cars and trucks the Japanese auto company will produce this year.

    But it has become an automotive landmark: a car for the future, designed for a world of scarce oil and surplus greenhouse gases. In developing the sophisticated new powertrain, Toyota has a commanding lead on a breakthrough technology -- one that could enable it to dominate the auto industry for years to come.

    And Toyota's push into hybrids is only going to accelerate. Although the drive to bring the Prius to market was led by Hiroshi Okuda and Fujio Cho, Toyota's two previous presidents, new boss Katsuaki Watanabe is keen on seeing hybrids enter the automotive mainstream.

    Watanabe, 64, who became the company's top executive last June, has the deferential air of longtime family retainer. But beneath that surface he is clearly intent on continuing Toyota's explosive growth of the past five years, in which worldwide production rose by more than half.

    In an interview with FORTUNE earlier this year at company headquarters in Toyota City, he stressed the importance of making hybrids more affordable for consumers.

    "We need to improve the production engineering and develop better technology in batteries, motors and inverters," he said. "My quest is to produce a third-generation Prius quickly and cheaply." To that end, he has added a third division to Toyota's hybrid R&D effort, dedicated to working on advanced technology.

    Critics complain that hybrids are inherently uneconomical because the $3,000 or more the technology adds to the cost of the vehicle can't be recouped with greater gas mileage; that they didn't improve fuel efficiency that much; and that some American models were being built more for performance than to benefit the environment.

    Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Japanese rival Nissan, likes to poke fun at Toyota's supposed social responsibility. "Some of our competitors say they are doing things for the benefit of humanity," he says. "Well, we are in a business, and the company has a mission of creating value."

    The knocks against hybrids are all true. But what the critics didn't put a price on was the value of being seen as eco-sensitive without giving up performance.

    "Does it save enough money to pay for itself?" asks Jim Press, president of Toyota Motor Sales in the U.S. "That's not the idea. What's the true cost of a gallon of gas, if you factor in foreign aid, Middle Eastern wars, and so on? The truth is on our side."

    By early in the next decade, Toyota expects to be selling one million hybrids a year. Since no other automaker can even approach that quantity, Toyota is way out in front -- which would seem an unusual place to be for a company that lagged behind its Japanese competitors in opening assembly plants in the U.S. and moving into China.

    "Is Toyota a conservative company?" asks Jeffrey Liker, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan and author of "The Toyota Way." "Yes. Is it innovative? Remarkably so. Go slow, build on the past, and thoroughly consider all implications of decisions, yet move aggressively to beat the competition to market with exceptional products."

    If Liker's right, that formula -- a combination of production prowess and technical innovation -- is an unbeatable recipe for success.
    I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

  • #2
    Prius.

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    • #3
      High Tech vs. Mass-produced Dreck
      The cake is NOT a lie. It's so delicious and moist.

      The Weighted Companion Cube is cheating on you, that slut.

      Comment


      • #4
        Ghosn doesn't get it either, I'd say.
        DISCLAIMER: the author of the above written texts does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for any offence and insult; disrespect, arrogance and related forms of demeaning behaviour; discrimination based on race, gender, age, income class, body mass, living area, political voting-record, football fan-ship and musical preference; insensitivity towards material, emotional or spiritual distress; and attempted emotional or financial black-mailing, skirt-chasing or death-threats perceived by the reader of the said written texts.

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        • #5
          Toyotas rule....Well, Japeneese cars rule.

          People are finding out that Japeneese cars outlive any other car on the market plus being cheap on gas. Yes, here in North america parts costs 50% more than american (piece of shlt) cars, but hell, when they dont break down half of the time than american cars, you end up saving money...and my respect.

          Spec.
          -Never argue with an idiot; He will bring you down to his level and beat you with experience.

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          • #6
            I've found Japanese dealers here to be also pretty good about not fixing problems that aren't there.
            "Yay Apoc!!!!!!!" - bipolarbear
            "At least there were some thoughts went into Apocalypse." - Urban Ranger
            "Apocalype was a great game." - DrSpike
            "In Apoc, I had one soldier who lasted through the entire game... was pretty cool. I like apoc for that reason, the soldiers are a bit more 'personal'." - General Ludd

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            • #7
              camry and p/u, both went well over 100k and were ditched with miles to go

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Apocalypse
                I've found Japanese dealers here to be also pretty good about not fixing problems that aren't there.
                Ya well, that depends on the dealer, not the make and model. You have screwballs everywhere...But dealers are highly checked today...The thing is that they fixe something that they know will break in let's say, six months...Even if you dont need to do so right away, they rather change it now and make the money then see you tow your car somewhere closer to where it breaks down, when it does.

                Spec.
                -Never argue with an idiot; He will bring you down to his level and beat you with experience.

                Comment


                • #9
                  I really don't understand why people keep claiming American cars break down when they always do better then European, Korean, Malaysian, or any other non-Japanese cars on the market in terms of quality. Even in Japan it is only really Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and Subaru who make above average quality ars while the rest (Mitsubishi, Mazda, Isuzu, Suzuiki, etc) all make average or below average quality cars. If you want the really high quality cars then Toyota and Honda virtually stand alone among the Japanese makes while the others are very close to American quality rankings while the non-Japanese or American cars tend to be low quality crap.
                  Last edited by Dinner; February 21, 2006, 22:06.
                  Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

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                  • #10
                    Not that they break down, Japaneese cars last longer. They always did. Mazda GLC and 323 lasts up to 300000km with regular oil changes. 626 also.
                    The only american cars that USUALY do this are the Chevette (unkillable) and the Ford Tempo/topaz (which is my winter car). No other american cars stand the test of time vs japaneese cars, may it be electrical or engine parts.
                    The only down side to japaneese cars is that you have to have it oil treated every winter otherwise the body rusts all over while the mecanics still stay strong...

                    Spec.
                    -Never argue with an idiot; He will bring you down to his level and beat you with experience.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Apocalypse
                      I've found Japanese dealers here to be also pretty good about not fixing problems that aren't there.
                      Stay away for Universal City Nissan. They wanted to replace a battery, which lasted me another four years, and they wanted to replace my front axle when the problem was an unbalanced front tire.

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                      • #12
                        Does toyota make motorcycles and scooters?
                        I need a foot massage

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                        • #13
                          I'm just really impressed that Toyota can keep its quality standards so high while increasing production by 50% in 5 years.
                          I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Brachy-Pride
                            Does toyota make motorcycles and scooters?

                            Not sure, but they make generators, lifts, trucks, buses, lawn mowers and boat engines.

                            But I dont think so, otherwise, I dont think that toyota would have bought a part of Yamaha...But what do I know...

                            Spec.
                            -Never argue with an idiot; He will bring you down to his level and beat you with experience.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Spec
                              Not that they break down, Japaneese cars last longer. They always did. Mazda GLC and 323 lasts up to 300000km with regular oil changes. 626 also.
                              The only american cars that USUALY do this are the Chevette (unkillable) and the Ford Tempo/topaz (which is my winter car). No other american cars stand the test of time vs japaneese cars, may it be electrical or engine parts.
                              The only down side to japaneese cars is that you have to have it oil treated every winter otherwise the body rusts all over while the mecanics still stay strong...

                              Spec.
                              You ignorant dumb ass. It is very clear you know nothing about cars. Chevette.

                              BTW how many 30 or 40 year old Japanese cars do you see on the road? I see lots of 1960's Chevys and Fords but very few 1960's, 70's or even 80's Japanese cars despite the fact that I live in the main market for Japanese cars in America (and has been the first place to see Japanese market penitration). The reality is that two Japanese makes are very high quality, two are average, and the rest are below average.
                              Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.

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