NYT Gloats Over ToMoCo's Truck Travails– A Little

by Robert Farago

July 11th, 2008 11:49 AM

nyt gloats over tomoco s truck travails a little

"[Cutting-back on U.S. light truck production] shows that Toyota is just as fallible as anybody else,” said Joseph Phillippi, a principal of AutoTrends Consulting. “They’re human after all.” Well gee, who'd a thunk it? I guess former Detroit News cheerleader (now ace New York Times scribe) Bill Vlasic couldn't resist putting the boot in, as the Brits would say. To be fair, the article is extremely fair in its assessment of the relative impact of the SUV/pickup truck extinction on the Big 2.8 vs. Toyota. And we get another glimpse of what makes Toyota the Automaker in Front. “By using this downturn as an opportunity to develop team members and improve our operations, we hope to emerge even stronger,” claimed Jim Wiseman, ToMoCo NA's external affairs Veep (sounds sexier than it is). Happy talk? "They have piles of cash and are as flexible as any company in the industry,” said analyst Maryanne "Where's GM's Sense of Urgency?" Keller. “This is probably a good thing for Toyota because, in their history, they have shown that adversity is what makes them stronger.” Not to mention the fact that doing less badly than your competition is the same as doing better.

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M1EK on Jul 13, 2008

The Focus is competent. The Cobalt is a punishment. The Aveo is ridiculous. Big difference between the first one and the last two. (Why on earth would you want to buy a small car only to get the relatively poor mileage AND awful quality of the Chevies in that list? At least the Focus is mediocre)

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Quasimondo on Jul 13, 2008
Give them time, quasimondo, give them time…but not as much time as the domestic branded automakers will need. For years all I've ever heard about Toyondissan is how their plants can be easily adapted to build any car at any time and how nimbly they can move in the market. Having the Indiana and/or San Antonio plants retool rather quickly would've confirmed that, but this isn't happening. Toyota says there's a Prius shortage in the U.S., so why wait until 2010 to ramp up production at a plant yet to be built? Have claims of adaptability been overstated?

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Reclusive_in_nature on Jul 14, 2008

A NYT writer bashing Toyota?! Must have found out the Tundra is made in the U.S......

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JuniorMint on Jul 14, 2008

M1EK: ...The Aveo is ridiculous... (Why on earth would you want to buy a small car only to get the relatively poor mileage AND awful quality of the Chevies in that list?) The Aveo, horrendous little monster that it is, is manufactured by Daewoo. It's Korean. I didn't really need to point that out, as it doesn't change the sentiment. I just enjoy spreading bad news, for the same reason I like telling little kids that Santa isn't real. Cheers!

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