Toyota Opens Technical Center in the Belly of the Beast (MI)

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

Not the best metaphor for a writer (or reader) who’s feeling a bit thick-headed this AM (although I have to say, Jay, that Coppola’s Director’s Cut chardonnay is wicked pissa). Anyway… first we had Honda’s robot playing violin for the Grosse Pointe gadflies at the symphony hall. Now Toyota is expanding– as in opening not closing– a new facility in York Township. Toyota’s press release re: their new Toyota Technical Center (TTC) is full of gloating, snickering and sneering. Not. But it does feature some of the same characters we last saw sticking their noses in the federal taxpayers’ trough, rooting for bailout billions on behalf of ToMoCo’s competitors. Yes, Shigeki Terashi, TTC president, “celebrated the grand opening of its new engineering and safety testing facilities here today with Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Congressman John Dingell, as well as several hundred government officials, community leaders, suppliers and Toyota team members.” Those team members will now be “engaged in engineering design, prototype building, vehicle evaluation and engineering, materials engineering, powertrain tuning and design, regulatory affairs and advanced technical research. TTC has developed the Avalon, Sienna, Solara, Tundra and Venza vehicles for the North American market.” Now what?



Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Casper00 Casper00 on Oct 09, 2008

    perfect, now if they can only bring back the Supra and the turbo-charge Mr2.

  • Psarhjinian Psarhjinian on Oct 09, 2008
    perfect, now if they can only bring back the Supra and the turbo-charge Mr2. Sadly, this is exactly the wrong time. If you're lucky, you might get the Aygo and the Camry wagon.
  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
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