I am hoping this will give them a kick in the ***. I am trying to view this as a good thing.

 

No but reality is reality, at least in terms of fuel efficiency.

CAFE performance by Toyota .... and GM, for model year 2006
- Domestic: 34.7 .... 29.2
- Import: 34.6 .... 30.2
- Light Truck: 23.6 .... 21.7

(http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/pdf99/426721_web.pdf)

And honestly, I would still give Toyota the edge in durability, as in I think on average a 5 or 10 year old Toyota is a better vehicle than its GM counterpart.

 

The most rediculous thing I read today was that some asshat analyst got on CNN and proclaimed that "Most 'American' vehicles today are made elsewhere while most Toyotas are made here."

Hey CNN, I know you have Larry King still but you could at least TRY to get someone who knows what he's talking about.

What a wonderful way to push Toyota on the unknowledgable....

 

American cars made elsewhere (Impala) are more American than a Toyota built here (any Toyota)

 

IIRC the Impala is 85% domestic content, while the Camry is 75% or so, so it's not really overwhelming.

And, how much GM/Ford North American production is in Canada or Mexico? Honest question.

 

Dunno about Ford but W-bodies are made in Canada, HHR is built in Mexico, some GMT900 production is in Mexico. I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

I believe Ford builds some Fusions in Mexico.

 

Lots of "domestic" toyotas are made in canada too

 

I wouldn't say that everyone at CNN is talking crap.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/24/news...ion=2007042416

 

GM assembles W-bodies (Impala, MC, GP, LaCrosse) in Oshawa, GMT-900s in Oshawa, and Theta (Equinox, Torrent, XL7) in Ingersoll.

Ford assembles the Edge/MKX at Oakville, and Crown Victoria/Grand Marquis/Town Car in St. Thomas

DCX assembles minivans and Pacifica in Windsor, and LX cars in Brampton.

Honda assembles Civics, Ridgelines, Pilots, and MDXs in Alliston.

Toyota assembles Corollas, Matrixes, and RX350s in Cambridge. Woodstock will soon start assembling RAV4s.

 

TOKYO (AP) - Toyota Motor Corp. became the world's top auto seller in the first three months of the year, passing rival General Motors Corp. for the first time, the Japanese automaker said Tuesday.
Toyota sold 2.348 million vehicles worldwide in the January-March quarter, company spokesman Satoshi Yamaguchi said, surpassing the 2.26 million vehicles that GM said it sold during the same period.

The results mark the first time Toyota has beat GM in global sales on a quarterly basis, he said.

While the figures represent only quarterly sales results, they foreshadow a tough challenge for GM as it fights to hold onto its title as world's top automaker—a claim usually staked on annual production figures.

Toyota has been gaining steadily on GM in recent years, and analysts have been saying it is only a matter of time before it eclipses its Detroit-based rival, which has seen its market share shrink in the United States even as it leads sales in China, a market with tremendous potential.

While GM has struggled to shore up earnings with job cuts and plant closures, Toyota has expanded rapidly, thanks partly to the popularity of its fuel-efficient cars.

In 2006, Toyota's global output surged 10 percent to 9.018 million vehicles, while GM produced 9.18 million vehicles worldwide.



Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

Biggest != profitable. Gm needs to not worry about being in first place and worry about building quality cars and making money.

 

This was a long time coming and it actually looks like GM is reversing the trend, as is Toyota.

 

I don't think the GM execs really care...as long as they can draw huge their huge salaries...that's their bottom line.

 

Yeah.

 

Look at what happened with Circuit City...