Gm's Volt: Made In China?

On point one the wealth is disappearing at over $2 billion a day. Will life go on, of course it will, it just will be much different for us as Americans.

On point two, I would make all trade agreements absolutely reciprocal. If country A had a 20% tariff on goods then the US would institute a 20% tariff on all of country A's goods and services. If country B decided to artificially manipulate itsw currency to make its goods more attractive a duty would be placed on that country's goods until the manipulation stopped.

 

You said, 6.9%...wait and see when the next badge of Gen III hybrid proliferate to other Toyota models. 1 million sold now but 10 million
per year within a decade.. That's foresight, profit not measured by
each quarter return but taking the longer view...

 

We will see won't we. When will the Prius be sourced and built in the United States, since this is the largest market to date?

 

Trade deficit = $2.23 Billion/day, $93 million/hour, $1.55 Million/minute

Automotive trade deficit with Japan = $145 million/day, $6 million/hour, $100,000/minute

Estimated trade deficit with Toyota = $78 million/day, $3.24 million/hour, $54,000/minute

I am wondering if toyota will put that in their next "moving U.S. forward" ad?

 

You continue to worry about GM's outsourcing to China, I have never seen china even listed on the content sticker of any GM product, but refuse to acknowledge Toyota contribution to the economic funk the US is in.

Hill, what would you suggest to stop the destruction of the Us manufacturing base?

 

> I suggest, All corporate America to change its accounting profit seeking from quarter to quarter and invest more development seed money.
> strategy aimed for the long, make no more now but in target to sustain
future windfall and for once listen to general public as to what they want in the near future. Not a "Brainer" really....

 

You really want to compare Toyota's employment to that of the Detroit Three in the US? Compare the philanthropy? Compare the investment? You really don't get it do you. Just remember this, every time Toyota gains one point of market share 16-18,000 US jobs evaporate. That is a fact, so you can talk about toyota's contributions to the US economy but when using "net" contributions toyota's contribution is a joke.

 

Hm, start by doing something with the entrenched and ineffective (and way over-compensated) executive structure, and deal with the unions.

The US car makers need to change their design and manufacturing philosophy, if they are to survive. If they continue to make products which nobody (other than farmers and trailer-dwellers) wants, then things will just get worse.

The Detroit car designs which see the light of day are the running joke of the world, and not getting better. So, open markets are not going to make the Germans or the French flock to the Cadillac dealership. Oh, and the markets ARE pretty widely open. We just don't make enough stuff, that the world wants, even with the currently bottom-dwelling US Dollar.

As to Toyota shifting production to the US, they are already investing heavily in infrastructure here. My problem is, if you look at reliability records for Camrys (not that I'd buy one, you'll find that US-made Camrys have a significantly lower reliability than Japan-made ones. Better than Detroit, but still worse than Japan. So, as a sane consumer, guess what I'd chose to buy?

 

You continually want to talk about midgets and giants with the Detroit three. The facts are that 10,401,744 vehicles were made in the US in 2006. The Detroit 3 you keep slamming manufactured 7,168,393 of them, or 69%. Your precious toyota manufactured 831,593 of them, or 8%. Are some parts of Fords and GM's made in China, are some manufactured in Mexico, of course, but you continually are missing the larger picture. How many jobs are dependent on the 7,168,393 vehicles produced by the Detroit 3. I have a Detroit 3 assembly plant about 2 hours form my home. The plant employs about 2,500 workers, but more than 20,000 tier 1,2,3 suppliers etc make their living form the plant. Start looking at the big trade picture an dstop getting your news from the likes of michael moore.

 

You don't think the Easy Credit helped bury the United States? Of course, with easy credit, a business owner laughs all the way to the bank while the consumer is stuck with indentured servitude to the bank/finance co

At your dealership, how much of your sales are based on easy credit? 80% Perhaps 90% Because once you cut out international trade and exclude the Chinese - who appear quite happy to float the US a lot of money - there is no more credit.

Personally, I think it would be great if credit cards, payday loans, and other easy credit sources went away. Our economy would become rational again, not the hocus-pocus mess it has right now

And again, why should you care? The coming economic collapse certainly won't affect you or your kids. Unless you squander your money, you will be at the very top of the food chain

 

I am 4th generation at this so selling cars and the car business is "in my blood" so to speak. While I have been diversifying like crazy the last 7 years, it still scares me to look at a balance sheet and see what I have invested every day in the car business.
The last 4-5 years it was unreal to me how many people were using the "bubble" created by the appreciation of their homes to live extravagantly, including buying cars and trucks. Now that new found money is disappearing and people are further in debt than I have ever seen. If you could see the financial situation of the average customer it would scare you.

 

Maybe you should focus on Toyota? The US trade deficit with Toyota is $28 billion a year.