Toyota announces price hikes

If everyone just buys the best, America will make the best. We absolutely have the capability.

But why make the best when you can sell lots of them anyway?

Of course right now, they are so outclassed that they can't even sell "lots".

 

Here is a link on this subject:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/busines...ota-prices.html

 

Amazing!! This just shows just how bad the American Auto Industry missed the boat when it comes to hybrid technology and other forms of gas saving cars. This must be the first time someone raises prices because too many people want their product. When I went to the article, I was expecting Washington D.C. putting higher tariffs on the cars. I am glad that Honda is not going along with it. If the domestic companies are that inept, that is their own darn fault!! I was going to wait and see What options and improvements are in store for "06", maybe I better not wait that long.

 

Does anyone else wonder how better off GM would be right now had they not so successfully fought the tightening of CAFE standards all these years?

Maybe, if those standards had stayed on target, GM would now have the cars that people want.

 

This is like asking the better ballerinas to wear sandbags tied to their feet so as not to make the clumsier dancers feel insecure. Frankly, I think raising Japanese auto prices to "help" American car makers is merely rewarding the Big Three for making SUV's and other bad choices. This is bad policy and could lead to a race to the bottom.

 

I've said it before: The U.S. auto industry is suffering mostly from the bad rep it earned over past decades making and selling junk just because it could.

By skimping on design and quality control they thought they were maximizing profit.

Surprise! Toyota will now be maximizing profit because the US consumer is anxious to buy advanced designs executed with quality material and workmanship. They may say it's to help the US industry, but they will be laughing up their kimono sleeves.

 

Supply vs. Demand. Economics 101.

Toyota runs the risk of losing customers (market share) when there is too much demand for the supply it produces. (how many orders has Coastal Dave lost?) Great ideas and products are one thing, being able to produce is quite another.

If people make the decision NOT to buy a car, based on price, then it's their decision. Confidence is not lost the company.

But, being on a list and made to wait exorbitant amounts of time, and even asked to SETTLE for something that isn't your primary wish - that puts a negative feeling in some consumers. I'm sure we all grumbled a little about Toyota as we waited patiently (or impatiently) for our cars.

When the American manufacturers failed to see the market opportunity of hybrids, Toyota (and Honda) was wise enough to fill the void. That miscalculation has a lot of us grumbling about American manufacturers.

Could Toyota possibly see a backlash on the horizon which could possibly affect the company image - and thus, overall company sales of ALL product lines? Maybe. But one thing is clear - in today's economies, the company that can react quickly to dynamic market forces wins.

 

I hope this is gonna happen only after my Prius gets here! Sounds like the next model year, huh?

My mother started in on me yesterday about how I should be buying an American car because of the GM layoffs.

I just told her the same things you guys are saying. I've bought Fords for 30 years and there's just nothing American that matches even the conventional Japanese cars for mileage.

The American car commercials show and encourage dangerous and wasteful driving. They just have to grow up and learn that slower speeds and better cars save lives, fuel and the environment.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA\";p=\"96823)</div>

To be honest, I've thought the price on the Prius seems unusually low given the overall feature set of the model.

Has anyone seen data of what the rate hikes will amount too?

 

I've bought many American cars in the past. Problem is, they never seem to come out with anything new or interesting (with the exception of the Mustang, my personal favorite of which I still own one). For example, the 2005 Taurus I rented while in Florida last week had a CASSETTE player, and crappy, oh-so-boring green/red analog gauges. Even though that's cosmetic, but damn, I don't think American car interiors have changed much since the mid 80's! Credit where credit is due, the Ford F150 and Mustang series are awesome vehicles. It's no coincidence that I can't even think of ONE GM vehicle that stands out in my mind. Sad, truly sad...

It all boils down to this: the Japs are always trying new things, new technologies in their vechicles, and for whatever reason, American automakers have that, "If it sells, why change it", adverse to change, mentality.

 

Oh yeah, back on topic...

I think it's all BS.

SPECTACULAR spin on Toyota's part... "We're raising our prices to help you..."

Know anyone else who ever actually felt good when informed of a price increase?

 

I have been duped by American auto manufacturers for the last time in my life. I have bought American because I thought it was patriotic, because their cars LOOKED good, Because I wanted to support American Auto workers. I have been burned for the last time. Remember the "K" cars? Remember the 6 mpg Ramblers? Remember the aluminum engines in the early '70's? The American auto manufacturers carelessly sold this hardworking American their junk and repeadidly so. Thet have had their short-term profits and their laught all the way to the bank with MY sweat for the last time. I say be patriotic, buy quality (Toyota) and let the purveyors of JUNK eat cake. Let those corporate cynics grow up and produce quality and PROVE it over a quarter century and perhaps they can survive. IMHO GM should go the way of American Motors and the rest should sell quality AT A FAIR PRICE and earn the respect they so gleefully destroyed. AND they should do so without government bailouts like MY personal business where my mantra has always been THE CLIENT FIRST and the referrals will come to boost my bottom line. If Toyota outprices me I will buy Honda. If they join Toyota I will buy German. If they all collude to raise prices to 'protect' GM I will bicycle. What I will NOT do is buy CRAP!!! I choose not to support a business plan which does not have MY interests as it's goal. The American auto manufacturers fought safety standards, fought CAFE goals, fought the public's cry to release this nation from Corporate Oil's stranglehold, took untold millions from government give-aways and now cry foul when a better mouse trap is presented. When will corporate heads GROW UP and stop bullying then cry when they are slapped down? For that matter, when will corporate heads stop stealing hundreds of times the wages of their workers for less work???

 

It's a stunning reversal of Henry Ford history. One of his personal philosophies was to make sure to pay his workers enough so that they'd be able to afford his cars.

Now we've got this opposite foreign philosophy of making Toyota cars so expensive that workers are forced to by American cars instead (who, btw, are often not paid enough to even afford to buy one of them).

Cruelly ironic.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(paul16451\";p=\"96965)</div>

Actually, American auto workers are paid pretty well. In fact, they are truly the originators of the American middle class.

And they make a damn good product, when their bosses give them proper designs to work with.

Though I suspect some of the outsourced work might not get compensated as well.

 

Our son made the observation that the price incease is probably based more on Toyota's having underpriced the Prius early on and needing to recoup their costs, rather than some altruistic desire to help the befuddled American auto makers. I think he's probably on to something.
I heartily agree with the posts about GM crap. It's disgusting how the Big Three have taken Congress to bed and beaten the American public by subverting transit systems, etc, etc. I feel for the workers who can do a decent job, but have little pity for the _ _ _ holes at the top.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid\";p=\"96932)</div>

It's not like Toyota can actually come out and say "We're raising our prices because of the sagging dollar and because we can". That'd be entirely too honest of them.