Smoke and Mirrors

This is like a CD that is skipping, it just won't get past a certain track.

Toyota uses advertising to push a point because they are in busines to MAKE MONEY. They very wisely captilized on our dumb love affair with the giant SUV and single-occupant pickup truck, the two bastard offspring of a concoction dreamed up by GM.

Toyota can easily cut production of pickup trucks and SUV's, which are only sold in North America anyway, and produce more small cars or even hybrid cars. They know how to make money and also didn't back themselves into a corner.

I suggest you travel to other countries, preferably on business so it won't cost you anything. Something like a Toyota Landcruiser is powered by a 6 cylinder turbodiesel that gets twice the fuel economy of the V8 here in North America.

They don't sell the Tundra outside of North America, but they DO sell the "Hi Lux" pickup. About Tacoma size, maybe smaller. With a 4 cylinder turbodiesel because that is what the market demands in the REAL WORLD.

GM, despite what you appear to believe, is also in the business to MAKE MONEY. Unfortunately, they pretended they could ignore harsh geo-political realities and instead hope the taxpayer would subsidize cheap gasoline in military expendiatures and body counts.

You know, dead soldiers.

So quit whining about how Toyota is pushing their "green" image. What you should be whining about is:

1. Why the politicians created the trade imbalance
2. Why the large corporations eagerly embraced cheap foreign labor
3. Why GM is so clueless

You have not addressed many of my points raised in this thread or your other thread. For example, GM is perfectly capable of producing a hybrid city bus, but not capable of producing a hybrid car.

GM received almost a billion taxpayer dollars from DOE to expressely develop fuel saving cars. Where the hell are they, and where was that money spent instead?

Why did GM create the "need" for SUV's and pickups, poo-poo the idea of fuel saving cars, and now whine about their financial troubles?

Or how about that 2000 GMC Sierra SLT 4x4 I used to own, the most unreliable vehicle I have ever had in 25 years of driving. If all GM vehicles are like that one, I'll never even look at another again.

Seems to me, you should be blaming clueless and incompetent GM corporate management. But if you try to do that, the brainwashed GM buyers will burn you at the stake.

OTOH most of us Prius drivers are educated and made very informed decisions. We even like to play along with threads like this one.

Man, all this typing is making me hungry. Better leave for lunch early. Also the co-workers are snickering so loudly I'm having a hard time concentrating.

 

...so how do you really feel Jayman?...please stop sugar-coating the topic and get it off your chest!

 

I'm wondering if you're doing this on other Toyota sites, or do you just like us?

 

Don't know. I'm not the sort of person to join a group to tell them why they are wrong.

Frankly, if I wanted a pickup, I would not buy Toyota, I would not buy GM and I would not buy Ford. I would buy Studebaker (which is entirely possible).

 

You don't even give the American public the benefit of the doubt?

You think your neighbor is SO stupid that she can't even read the big EPA numbers on the sticker on the car and compare that to a Chevy or whathaveyou?

I think you think most Americans are idiots. I beg to differ. I think that for most Americans, they don't just go out and buy a car as an impulse buy... it's an important decision, so they do their homework.

 

My father is a member of the Studebaker Driver's Club. He has a 1964 GT Hawk. Fantastic car to drive, but it rarely goes out except in parades. His friend had a 50s pickup that had over a million miles on it (not the same engine) which unfortuately was destroyed in a crash. I nearly got an Avanti and my wife wanted to get a Wagonaire station wagon (which had the sliding roof for upright hauling). Unfortunately the cost of gas (this was at the time 12mph was considered good) prevented such purchases. You can still get parts, but they cost an arm and a leg.

 

I agree... There's lots of problems in this country... but the least of all is that Americans are buying Toyotas. To blame the entire hypothetical downfall of the US on an evil Japanese corporation is way over the top...

If an economic downfall happens, it'll be because of a million different reasons, not just what cars we happen to be driving.

 

Born and raised in San Diego. I've never seen instrumentation on any other car (vacuum gauge is standard) plus a built in roll bar. I drove one from a show (personalized plates with EZRYDER). Ahh, 25 cents a gallon engine.

It would be interesting if you could retro-fit a car for a hybrid, the Avanti would be sweet.

 

To answer malorn's question:

It was wise for Toyota to capitalize on the love affair of SUVs in the US but unwise for GM to because of the different approaches Toyota and GM took.

Toyota diversified their fleet of cars, trucks and SUVs to appeal to many different markets. I don't like Toyota's Trucks or big SUVs, but I like the Prius, for example...

GM, over the years, became very top heavy, investing more and more into JUST SUVs, and to an extent, put all their eggs into one basket. The problem?

When fuel prices started to rise, and the natural disasters of late summer occurred, the American public had a very noticible shift away from big SUVs.... THIS WAS NOT THE DOING OF TOYOTA... however powerful you say Toyota is, they do not yet have the power to raise the price of gas or control the weather...

But Toyota and Honda especially were able to whether (appropriate) the storm(s)... In September, they were both able to register a small increase in sales... GM, on the other hand, saw their sales plummit 28% because they HADN'T diversified... GM Chief Lutz even continued to say during the crisis that he believed in the SUV and that the SUV was key to GM's future... all while SUV sales were falling.

That's why Toyota was wise. They were able to sell SUVs when SUVs were hot before the gas crisis, but after the crisis, they still had compelling offering in other vehicle classes, including the extreme of the Prius.



Also, Toyota isn't offering a turbodiesel in the US because they pollute. Turbodiesels do not meet emission standards in key markets in the United States, and no can manufacturer (even VW of Mercedes, who have been the biggest proponents) are allowed to sell a new car that's a diesel in California and other eastern States.

 

Or bus either, unless it's a hybrid.

 

And cars like the Prius, the Echo, the Matrix... etc etc...

 

in the United States, because of d**kh***ds who think that the size of their truck is directly proportional to the size of their p***s

 

Regardless, they are unquestionably diverse. That means there is usually something in their line that would appear to a person, but also a lot to not like.

I don't like Toyota trucks, i'd never buy one myself, but considering the market, it was wise for them to invest in it without sacrificing the smaller cars they've been good at, and other innovations.

It's business.