January 6, 200719 yr Read this in the paper today. I just rolled my eyes, especially when I got to the part where someone from Toyota responded by saying that Toyota wasn't worried about becoming #1, but just wanted to focus on quality. Yeah right. We've heard the opposite of both of these (GM & Toyota's) comments before - GM saying they aren't concerned about staying #1, but wanted to focus on quality/profitability, and Toyota saying that they are #1 bound... Two companies trying to be all things to all people...
January 6, 200719 yr Every time I mention General Motors, usually at work or something... there's always someone who mentions that Toyota will overtake them. Before I even get a chance to respond, someone else always mentions that they don't give a flying if GM is second, just as long as that new Camaro comes out, and they can build some kickass products again. So, I doubt people really give a damn anyway.
January 6, 200719 yr I have not read a single article in the past 18 months that has not mentioned, at one point or the other, that Toyota will overtake GM. In fact, the bleeding heart Toronto Star has even gone as far to say Toyota is the "biggest auto manufacturer by market capitalization" because Toyota has not been overtaking fast enough for them, I guess! But didn't the usual suspects predict Toyota would overtake GM in 2006? I guess now they've moved the goal posts to 2007. Soon it will be 2008. Must be a big disappointment for them, the poor dears. I am not at all concerned about this, at least not as much as I was a year ago. I don't think GM will be overtaken, not with her successes in China and South America, as long as GM can stop the freefall in North AMerica.
January 7, 200719 yr I have not read a single article in the past 18 months that has not mentioned, at one point or the other, that Toyota will overtake GM. In fact, the bleeding heart Toronto Star has even gone as far to say Toyota is the "biggest auto manufacturer by market capitalization" because Toyota has not been overtaking fast enough for them, I guess! But didn't the usual suspects predict Toyota would overtake GM in 2006? I guess now they've moved the goal posts to 2007. Soon it will be 2008. Must be a big disappointment for them, the poor dears. I am not at all concerned about this, at least not as much as I was a year ago. I don't think GM will be overtaken, not with her successes in China and South America, as long as GM can stop the freefall in North AMerica. Figures lie and liars figure. At least they explain the basis for their statements by mentioning capitalization. Of course 99% of consumers don't understand what they means so they'll just take the statement as fact. Lemmings. Market cap is a fleeting number than can change on a dime. Literally.
January 10, 200719 yr Yeah, that's much like the new MEDIA derived statement of "The world's most profitable automaker" which is clearly a MEDIA forced contradictor to "The world's largest automaker" Most of the media has already declared Toyota the winner (Just like always) and most americans already believe it. But it will be a HUGE story when it happens (Which is likely why the media is trying to push it along) and we'll see all sorts of bull$h! sob stories about the fortune GM has squandered and about how excellent Toyota and the new "Asian big 3" are in every way. I don't really care.... In fact I'm a little bit excited for Toyota to take the top spot. Then the target is on their back and I hope they crumble under the pressure. Once you're on top, there is no place to go but down
January 10, 200719 yr It's funny how CR, who is supposed to be on the side of consumers, hasn't picked up on this fact: if Toyota is the most profitable vehicle manufacturer, yet their volume is quite a bit below GM, then couldn't that imply they were gouging their customers? Being hugely profitable is great for shareholders; not so much for buyers of your product. Double edged sword, no?
January 10, 200719 yr It's funny how CR, who is supposed to be on the side of consumers, hasn't picked up on this fact: if Toyota is the most profitable vehicle manufacturer, yet their volume is quite a bit below GM, then couldn't that imply they were gouging their customers? Being hugely profitable is great for shareholders; not so much for buyers of your product. Double edged sword, no? They dont have the same costs/overhead that GM does. For every 5 billion GM spends in health care toyota is spending 1 billion, for one example.
January 10, 200719 yr It's funny how CR, who is supposed to be on the side of consumers, hasn't picked up on this fact: if Toyota is the most profitable vehicle manufacturer, yet their volume is quite a bit below GM, then couldn't that imply they were gouging their customers? Being hugely profitable is great for shareholders; not so much for buyers of your product. Double edged sword, no? That would be a liberal perspective. Anybody making big profits in their eyes is gouging. I'm not so sure I'd call it gouging. Whenever I see these kinds of profits I can always point to an opportunity the company is taking advantage of, right or wrong. In Toyota's case they're taking advantage of the Detroit big 3's saddling with union legacies and concurrent public apathy. If we're going to bitch about profits we should be pointing our congressmen at ExxonMobil which has taken every opportunity available to screw the US consumer with gas prices. They complain they have no control over gas prices but yet they have been raking in billions in profits. They are criminals to my mind because we as consumers have no other choice - we have to buy gas from somebody and the oil companies have obviously colluded to set pricing for high profits. Toyota on the other hand has plenty of competitors. They are simply taking advantage of a temporary situation in their favor. I say temporary because the current situation in the car business is tenuous and can not be sustained.
January 10, 200719 yr At this point I say let's concentrate ON QUALITY over quantity.... if we give up the No.1 spot for a year or two or even a decade the pendulum will swing the other way again, more important is to get some conquest sales from all those disgruntled Toyota owners and to make sure GM does not loose customers due to lacking quality or product "holes". The Zetas are a HUGE start. They are the biggest step in the right direction since 1996. Sigma was/is awsome but cadillac can not carry GM all by itself.
January 10, 200719 yr At this point I say let's concentrate ON QUALITY over quantity.... if we give up the No.1 spot for a year or two or even a decade the pendulum will swing the other way again, more important is to get some conquest sales from all those disgruntled Toyota owners and to make sure GM does not loose customers due to lacking quality or product "holes". The Zetas are a HUGE start. They are the biggest step in the right direction since 1996. Sigma was/is awsome but cadillac can not carry GM all by itself. I agree. The key is quality. There is still a gap here and GM needs to close it. In the mean time (concurrently) there is some momentum in the product area at the moment and they should take advantage of this to get public mindshare and start turning the tide of public opinion.
January 10, 200719 yr That would be a liberal perspective. Anybody making big profits in their eyes is gouging. I'm not so sure I'd call it gouging. Whenever I see these kinds of profits I can always point to an opportunity the company is taking advantage of, right or wrong. In Toyota's case they're taking advantage of the Detroit big 3's saddling with union legacies and concurrent public apathy. If we're going to bitch about profits we should be pointing our congressmen at ExxonMobil which has taken every opportunity available to screw the US consumer with gas prices. They complain they have no control over gas prices but yet they have been raking in billions in profits. They are criminals to my mind because we as consumers have no other choice - we have to buy gas from somebody and the oil companies have obviously colluded to set pricing for high profits. Toyota on the other hand has plenty of competitors. They are simply taking advantage of a temporary situation in their favor. I say temporary because the current situation in the car business is tenuous and can not be sustained. This reminded me of a story I heard on the news a while back and prompted me to do a follow up. You may be pleased to know investigations are supposedly ongoing. http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/45655.php?con...ontentId=156427 http://www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?A=2426&Q=316404 I believe it started with connecticuts attorney general and is now a multi state investigation. This guy has results, too. http://www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?A=2426&Q=318726 http://www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?A=2426&Q=313626
January 10, 200719 yr This reminded me of a story I heard on the news a while back and prompted me to do a follow up. You may be pleased to know investigations are supposedly ongoing. http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/45655.php?con...ontentId=156427 http://www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?A=2426&Q=316404 I believe it started with connecticuts attorney general and is now a multi state investigation. This guy has results, too. http://www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?A=2426&Q=318726 http://www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?A=2426&Q=313626 The only problem I see with this guy in Ct is the fact he's chasing the little guys jacking up their local price at the pump. No one appears to be going after ExxonMobil who is the real culprit. In a way you could say they've hastened the situation at Ford and GM by artificially and illegally pushing up the price of gas at the pump and singlehandedly destroying the market for SUV's and trucks.
January 11, 200719 yr I was a little dissapointed to see the only success so far has been shaking down the local gas merchants but he has talked about going after the "big oil" co's, too. The interview I saw he seemed adamant about getting to the bottom of these record profits and so on. Granted of course attorney generals will always stick their noses somewhere if it means good press for them.
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