Toyota: "We Really Don't Want Anyone To Go Bankrupt"

by Edward Niedermeyer

August 13th, 2008 5:14 PM

toyota we really dont want anyone to go bankrupt

Toyota's Senior VP for NA engineering and manufacturing is rooting for the D3. "Competition is good for us," Steve St. Angelo told The Detroit News. 'The customers are the big winners, because it makes all of us better." But there's more to Toyota's largesse than simple concern for consumer choice. "We share many of the same suppliers, so if one of our suppliers has difficulty with either Chrysler, GM or Ford, there's a good chance they are going to have difficulty for us." And because of this interconnectedness, Toyota is helping its American rivals however it can without breaking U.S. antitrust laws. "When any of our competitors want to come to our plants, we let them," says St. Angelo. "We really don't want anybody to go bankrupt." The ToMoCo honcho professes faith in the D3's current leadership. "If you really look at the leaders of the Detroit Three, they're some of the finest leaders that this business has ever had. I hope and I think that they'll come out of this. It would help our company. It would help America. It would help our suppliers. It would help everyone." Not to mention the fact that rooting for Detroit helps Toyota in its quest to morph from evil, America-destroying transplant to leader of the United States of Toyota (as examined by Automotive News [sub] columnist Edward Lapham).

Comments

Join the conversation

4 of 29 comments

Phil Ressler on Aug 14, 2008
They talk about how their GM car is in the shop again, and about how the other guy’s Honda has never been in the shop except for scheduled maintenance. Hmmm...less than a week ago I was having exactly the opposite conversation with an Acura owner who was marveling over how little service my GM product requires compared to his car. Phil

Like Reply
Hogie roll on Aug 14, 2008

Wow, the widespread denial of market forces is scary. If the supply of vehicles immediately drops and the demand stays the same, the price can be adjusted accordingly. ie, happy days for whoever is still selling the product. A lack of production capacity is a temporary problem. Which could be easily overcome with a fattened wallet from profits and ton of automotive workers ready to work for cheap.

Like Reply
Pch101 on Aug 14, 2008
If the supply of vehicles immediately drops and the demand stays the same, the price can be adjusted accordingly. ie, happy days for whoever is still selling the product. No, it can't. Ultimately, prices are determined by demand, because those who demand can find substitutes, whether that is buying a used car or buying nothing at all. If car prices were to leap, sales would plunge. That's particularly true given the current credit crunch -- lenders might disregard the price increases, and simply cap their loans at lower amounts relative to the purchase price. A lack of production capacity is a temporary problem. It would not be temporary if there was a need to replace several hundred thousand vehicles overnight. It takes years to build a factory and train the workforce sufficiently that the company can build a quality product. Toyota certainly wants to win, but it is much better for Toyota if it can win through organic growth. This strategy has worked very well so far for the company, and it can continue to work. If they were selling cereal or ball point pens, it would be different, but cars are too costly and complicated for this to be helpful to them.

Like Reply
Capeplates on Aug 15, 2008

Why waste a torpedo when the boat is already sinking - sit back and enjoy the spectacle

Like Reply