Toyota beats GM in global car sales for first time
01-21-2009, 07:05 AM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Toyota beats GM in global car sales for first time
01-21-2009, 07:24 AM
#2
You know what happens to people and companies at the top, right?
01-21-2009, 07:31 AM
#4
Registered User
Originally Posted by QUIKAG' date='Jan 21 2009, 10:24 AM
You know what happens to people and companies at the top, right?
01-21-2009, 07:58 AM
#5
Registered User
Originally Posted by honda606' date='Jan 21 2009, 08:31 AM
They rely on their old tired ways, lose all hope for innovation, and hopefully die a slow painful death.
01-21-2009, 08:05 AM
#6
Originally Posted by honda606' date='Jan 21 2009, 10:31 AM
They rely on their old tired ways, lose all hope for innovation, and hopefully die a slow painful death.
I don't believe the "We don't care" line. It bothers them GREATLY, and if it didn't then their employees should be even more worried. I like (most of) the steps they have taken in the past couple years and just steered my dad into purchasing one of their products. They have several products I like which I would have not said ten years ago.
There are reasons Toyota has been more successful over the past decade, and everyone on this board knows what they are.
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01-21-2009, 10:34 AM
#8
Moderator
Toyota is changing Presidents expressly because people feel the company is stagnating, fwiw.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1232430214...=googlenews_wsj
Apparently Toyota already feels its in a crisis of sorts?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1232430214...=googlenews_wsj
Toyota faces its biggest crisis in decades as its sales drop across the globe. Akio Toyoda, grandson of the company's founder, believes the company's managers have become too conservative and bureaucratic, according to people familiar with the situation.
In announcing Mr. Toyoda's appointment, Toyota said it needed someone with youthful perspective who could carry out changes needed to reverse the company's decline. The Wall Street Journal earlier this month reported that Toyota's senior board decided to hand the job to 52-year-old Mr. Toyoda, replacing Katsuaki Watanabe, who will become a Toyota vice chairman.
The U.S.-educated executive is known for an aggressive management style and for his criticism of Toyota's current management, saying it had allowed the car maker to overextend itself in a relentless pursuit of unseating General Motors Corp. as the world's biggest auto maker.
While Toyota is likely to be recognized as the world's largest auto maker by unit sales when GM announces its 2008 sales figures this month, it's a victory that has come at an enormous price.
Rolling out plants and models across new markets from India and China to the U.S. and Brazil this decade strained Toyota's resources. The pace has led to a series of serious missteps, from misreading the market to producing faulty products and building underutilized plants.
Rolling out plants and models across new markets from India and China to the U.S. and Brazil this decade strained Toyota's resources. The pace has led to a series of serious missteps, from misreading the market to producing faulty products and building underutilized plants.
Toyota's problems pale before the debilitating condition of Detroit's auto makers. And if it succeeds in weathering this crisis, it could emerge as an even more powerful force when the economy turns around.
But with sales and profits shrinking in recent months, Toyota has been operating in crisis mode, reduced to penny-pinching measures like turning down the thermostats, curbing production, slashing management bonuses and laying off thousands of temporary workers.
In November, Toyota formed an emergency committee tasked with finding ways to make deeper cost cuts and to boost sales.
But with sales and profits shrinking in recent months, Toyota has been operating in crisis mode, reduced to penny-pinching measures like turning down the thermostats, curbing production, slashing management bonuses and laying off thousands of temporary workers.
In November, Toyota formed an emergency committee tasked with finding ways to make deeper cost cuts and to boost sales.
01-21-2009, 11:43 AM
#9
Originally Posted by Rednine' date='Jan 21 2009, 01:25 PM
Enlighten us...
They don't run models for 9 years before a new one.
They contstantly upgrade engines and design new ones. (the GM 3800 pushrod was a great engine but for a ZILLION years)
Better fuel economy in general.
Higher resale value.
Higher quality scores over the years and far better public perception of quality.
Better interior materials and ergonomics.
Better minivan, family car, economy car than GM. A staple for the average american.
Car models not cladded from the fatory in plastic styling gimmicks. (see just about any 1980-2000 pontiac)
I could go on. You can argue GM makes better trucks all you want, you can try to say the quality is the same, you can say they have had great cars all you want. But Toyota did not pass them out of sheer luck. Consumers respond to better products. GM's product has improved by leaps and bounds over the last four years, but anyone who could not see why Toyota gained market share, cuaght up and passed GM as largest car maker would have had their head in the sand.
01-21-2009, 12:48 PM
#10
Moderator
Originally Posted by vader1' date='Jan 21 2009, 04:43 PM
GM's product has improved by leaps and bounds over the last four years, but anyone who could not see why Toyota gained market share, cuaght up and passed GM as largest car maker would have had their head in the sand.