Originally Posted by Wall Street Journal

Toyota Revs Up Its Push in U.S. - Decision Expected Soon On Location of New Plant

By NORIHIKO SHIROUZU - January 4, 2007

Toyota Motor Corp., coming off fresh market-share gains and a steep drop in sales by its Detroit competitors last month, is poised to turn up the heat further on the Big Three by naming a site in the Southern U.S. for its eighth North American assembly plant as early as this month, people familiar with the matter said.

The opening of an eighth plant, a move Toyota has been pondering for months, would signal the company is gearing up for a drive to wrest even more of the U.S. market from the domestic car makers in the next several years. It would also further strengthen Toyota's hand politically should a new backlash against foreign brands arise out of the increasing troubles of the domestic auto makers and their suppliers.

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group are all losing money in their North American auto operations, in part because of declining sales of their profitable full-size trucks and sport-utility vehicles. The shift of consumer tastes to more-fuel-efficient cars has helped Toyota, Honda Motor Co. and other Asian auto makers gain share in the past year.

The Big Three again suffered last month, according to sales figures released yesterday, capping a tough 2006 for Detroit. Toyota posted market share of 15.4% for the year, supplanting DaimlerChrysler, with 14.4%, as the No. 3 U.S. auto maker. GM and Ford posted market shares of 24.6% and 17.5% respectively, according to Autodata Corp.
GM's vehicle sales fell 13% and Ford's 13% in December, compared with the same month in 2005, while DaimlerChrysler's fell 1%. Toyota, however, saw its vehicle sales climb 12%. Overall U.S. auto sales fell 3.6% in December from December 2005 to 1.4 million vehicles.

Total annual U.S. sales last year dropped to 16.56 million light vehicles from 17 million in 2005. Setbacks for the Big Three accounted for much of the decline. A persistent housing slump and relatively high fuel prices are expected to further damp vehicle sales this year, with many analysts predicting 2007 sales at or just above 16 million. That would be the lowest total in nearly a decade. The drop comes ahead of negotiations this year between the Big Three and the United Auto Workers union, which has already made concessions in job cuts and benefits.

GM is counting on a freshened-up fleet of trucks -- as well as other vehicles due out later this year -- to spark consumer interest. But GM's North American-built light trucks were off 19.1% for December compared with December 2005. GM yesterday cut its quarterly production estimate once again, to 1.12 million vehicles in the first quarter from 1.14 million.

At 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, shares of GM were down $1.27, or 4.1%, to $29.45. Shares of Ford were unchanged at $7.51, and DaimlerChrysler rose 62 cents, or 1%, 62.03.

Toyota has narrowed the site search for its eighth plant to three to five locations and could announce its choice as soon as this month, the people familiar with the matter said. Among the five locations are Chattanooga, Tenn., and Marion, Ark., they said. Others mentioned by people familiar with the matter included a location near Alamo, Tenn., and a site in North Carolina.

Toyota and its affiliates already operate major facilities in Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky, and have smaller plants in other southern states.

The new plant would have annual manufacturing capacity of 200,000 vehicles and start production in 2009, these people said. Toyota currently has manufacturing capacity of a little more than 1.5 million vehicles a year in North America. Including the new plant and others being built and ramped up, that capacity would climb to about 2.2 million vehicles. The auto maker would have to win several more points of market share to keep all eight plants filled.

Toyota's new plant would probably produce the next-generation Toyota Highlander sport-utility vehicle and possibly a tall station wagon akin to the Chrysler Pacifica, said the people familiar with the matter. The wagon, under development at a Toyota technical center in Ann Arbor, Mich., is being called the "Ace" and is a replacement for the Toyota Solara, they said.

Toyota has postponed building a new engine plant in the U.S. and will likely expand its existing engine-manufacturing facilities in the U.S., most likely by beefing up its engine plant in Alabama, people with knowledge of the matter said. A decision on engine-manufacturing expansion, the individuals said, also will likely come before the end of the first quarter of 2007.

Last month, Toyota announced it plans to boost its global production to a record 9.42 million vehicles this year, up from the 9.04 million vehicles the company expected to produce in 2006. The plan exceeds the 9.18 million vehicles GM expected for 2006 and could allow Toyota to dethrone GM as the world's biggest producer of automobiles.

Originally Posted by graham

This actually doesnt bother me much. At least Someone is replanting lost jobs sent overseas by greedy American execs. If Toyota wants to keep building their cars here, fine (somewhat). As long as the domestic content keeps on climbing with it.

Originally Posted by 96_Camaro_B4C

Yeah, the greedy American execs who occasionally have to choose between building something in a different country, or continuing to lose money which would ultimately lead to the whole company falling...

It isn't the American companies who are currently swimming in profits...but Toyota sure is...

Originally Posted by mzgp5x

Have you ever spent time in Georgetown Ky. with your Chevy??? They look @ you as a traitor. Very strange closed society there. I guess money is power. And, they own Georgetown.
(97 Camaro 383 - D1/ M6/ Meth injection)

Originally Posted by Caps94ZODG

all I can say is I will be laughing my butt of when GM or Ford falls. I really would like to see what happens in a time travel way.

But hey were doing it to ourselves..Helping Japan control American economy..
good for us..

Originally Posted by JB'z 94

what a shining endorsement. the future looks bright?