Toyota to Export U.S.-made Sequoia, Sienna
While Chrysler is busy berating its suppliers to cut costs by setting-up shop overseas, Toyota is about to export U.S.-made vehicles to foreign climes. Asahi Shimbun [via Reuters UK] informs us that "Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, will begin shipping the Sequoia large sport utility vehicle to the Middle East some time this year, and the Sienna minivan as early as 2010 to China and other markets… A Toyota spokesman said the automaker was always looking for ways to best supply vehicles on a global basis but declined to comment on the report." The report is good news for workers at ToMoCo's Indiana plant. And there is precedent here. Last year, Toyota sent some 7k American-made Avalon sedans to the Middle East. With the current slowdown (as in collapse) of the U.S. truck market, how long before Texas-built Tundras (same platform as the Sequoia) apply for a passport? Why we could see a whole new generation of African warlords driving modiified American-made Japanese pickups.
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GM has been exporting US-engineered and assembled vehicles to the Middle East for a very very long time.
I was in Kuwait for most of 2004. It's the only foreign country I've ever been to where most of the vehicles on the road were American. Full size trucks and SUVs are as common as weeds there, as are full-size cars like the Chevy Caprice Classic. The vast majority of these were GM products. I'm assuming the cheap fuel (something like $0.50/gallon) has a lot to do with this. In Kuwait having a good air conditioner is better than getting good MPG. So US-built full-size trucks and SUVs make sense, especially since Toyota has a very good reputation in the Middle East.
If your oil is cheap, there's nothng to beat the inches whether the length or cubc inches. US cars all have damn cold A/Cs. Just high oil price killed them. My old 73 Eldorado was a dream to drive, but sucking gas is an understatement.
Other than close the factory, what else is Toyota to do? With the new Texas factory online Toyota has far too much capacity for the big Tundra/Sequoia family of vehicles. Might as well send them to the Middle East where the cash is plentiful and fuel is cheap.