The big three aren't the only ones shutting down truck plants to build cars...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/bu...ss&oref=slogin

 

Wonder if the price of the prius will go up now that they arent using sweatshop labor like they do in japan?

 

Sweatshops don't matter. It's all about being green at all ALL cost. No matter who or how it effect everyone else. So, be smug.

 

Interesting. There was talk around here as recently as last month that Toyota was considering building the Prius here in Fremont (Nummi) because of the popularity and demand for them in California. But then I guess that would have probably required them to share some of their hybrid technology with GM, and they certainly don't want to do that.

 

https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=619266

It is all in there.

 

Japan doesn't have sweatshop labor making cars. The workers are paid pretty well.

Besides the obvious (the floor dropping out of the large truck market), the reson Toyota is moving Prius production here is because our dollar has dropped so far and our economy is so depressed that it's actually becoming cheaper to manufacturer a vehicle here than in Japan. Actually, it's becoming cheaper to manufacture a vehicle here than in almost any other first world nation.

Each time the dollar drops, your wage dropped.

The dollar has dropped something like 50% against the Euro's lowpoint.

That means to any country that uses the Euro, all else the same, you got a 50% pay cut over that period.

In short, based on world currency, we are drifting towards sweatshop wages.

 

Are you saying that Ford does not engage in similar practices by procuring parts from third-world countries?

 

Or even GM making the 3400 v6 in Shanghai....or the Daewoo import known as the Aveo?

 

http://sev.prnewswire.com/auto/20080...8062008-1.html

 

 

Yes I am. I am one of those people at Ford who procures parts from Overseas, and I can tell you that I have never gotten parts from a supplier who appeared to be using sweatshop labor...the plants I deal with are actually quite the opposite. Excellent working conditions, very clean, etc.

 

Wonder what the total cost to Toyota is for shipping vehicles from Japan and other Asian countries to the US? Last year alone they imported 47% of their total North America sales or roughly 1.5 million cars. With the price of fuel today not to mention the impact to the environment with not producing the product locally, its surely to be more costly than ever.

 

They couldn't have picked a worse time to make such a huge push on the new Tundra.

I just hope there is enough business left to continue the Mississippi plants.

 

They seem to be doing all the right things.

http://www.chinacsr.com/2007/12/26/1...ace-standards/

Good for them.

 

Reread this thread from the first week of June.
https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=612174

I (particularly) got lambasted for bringing the idea that Toyota would be equally hard-hit for investing billions into a new full-size truck at the beginning of this market shift. Some said the reason Dodge and Ford were singled-out for scrutiny was because they are strapped for cash - maybe so, but a bad decision is a bad decision, I don't care who you are.

So I find myself here 1 month later looking at an article that says "Toyota acknowledged Thursday that, like its rival automakers in Detroit, it misjudged the drastic swing in the American market away from larger vehicles". That is all I was saying 1 month ago.

Vendication is like a grain of salt... it can taste great when applied properly or can be a pain when rubbed in a wound. It feels a little better when it reveals the playing field is getting closer to parity for the big 2.5.

You guys who know me know that I am not crying in my beer over this "new problem never faced before by Toyota".