Tag Archives: toyota

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Corporate America Incompetence: Toyota opens new U.S. factory, two years behind schedule, blame Wall Street

A new Toyota factory opened in Blue Springs, Mississippi.  Company officials hope sales of Corollas goes up enough they can produce 150,000 new Corollas every year.

They also hope no more parts supply issues will hamper U.S. production.

The Mississippi plant could employ 2,000 people, and is the 14th Toyota factory in North America.

The factory was supposed to open more than two years ago, but the credit crisis hit Toyota’s financing for the construction, which caused the delay.  Toyota officials specifically blamed the Lehman Bros. scandal.  Thanks Wall Street!

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Toyota to cut production by at least 30%, blaming floods

First the March 11 disasters in Japan, now the floods in Thailand.  Toyota says they can’t get enough parts to build their cars.

Toyota and Honda are suffering major parts supply problems (Honda already cut North American production by 50%).

Toyota is cutting back on worldwide production.  November 7, according to NHK, Toyota will be forced to cut production by at least 30%.

Toyota was trying to recover from the March 11 disasters, and had hoped to produce 330,000 vehicles in Indonesia, for the month of November.  Now they are hoping they can produce 230,000.

Blame it on the incompetent ‘just in time’ parts supply policy.

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Honda to slash North American production, Toyota cutting work hours

Honda wants to cut north American production by 50%, and they’re blaming the latest flooding in Thailand.

Output at all six of its factories in the United States and Canada will be cut in half from November 2 through 10.  Also, they will stop all production in North America for one day on November 11.

Toyota announced they will cut overtime hours at all 13 north American factories, again because of a lack of parts caused by flooding in Thailand.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

No Economic Recovery for U.S.: Toyota doubles production…in India

Toyota announced that demand is up so much that they’re doubling production…in India.

Toyota will invest $220 million into its Indian operations, with the goal of increasing production to 310,000 vehicles per year by 2013.  Toyota added that it’s all types of vehicles that are enjoying increased demands, from economy cars to SUVs and mini vans.

India is one of the fastest growing car markets, last year overall sales grew by 34%.  Toyota admitted that it does not expect high sales in Japan, and sales in the U.S. are not good.

For the United States Toyota has reported some confusing sales numbers.  At the beginning of 2011 they reported an increase in sales, yet as of the end of May, Toyota says U.S. sales dropped by 27.9%.  That’s based on “daily sales rate (DSR) basis”, when you look at their raw volume it gets worse, sales down 33.4%.

How about Toyota’s divisions?  Lexus reported a drop of 46.3%, and TMS Hybrids sales dropped 49.2%.

Of course Toyota officials blame the March 11 disasters in Japan for causing part of the sales decrease, by interrupting the production of  parts.  But, I remember reading an article that said there were already dockyards full of Toyotas, both in Japan and the U.S., because there was a lack of orders from U.S. dealers.

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

No Economic Recovery for the U.S.: Toyota launches new car in India

Toyota announced the premier of a new car, not in the United States, but India!

The new car is a small low priced car called the Etios Liva.  It’s smaller than most Toyota sedans.  The price is about U.S.$9,000.

Toyota also announced that India was becoming its fastest growing car market.  The number of Toyotas sold in India, last year, was double the number sold five years ago.

 

Business/Economics, International

Japanese car makers lose Billions since March 11

Japanese vehicle makers announced they’ve lost billions since the March 11 disasters.

Toyota was the biggest loser at $1.3 billion. Honda lost $900 million and Nissan almost $500 million.

The biggest problem for the Japanese car makers is the loss of production, due to lack of parts.  The lack of parts is due to the “just in time” supply model that most of Japan’s industries rely on.  This model means that the big producers do not make their own parts, and they don’t keep a lot of spare parts on hand.  Instead they rely on smaller producers to supply those parts.  Also, the smaller producers can not keep a stockpile of parts on hand, because they can’t afford to.

The March 11 disasters resulted in 60% of Japan’s nuclear plants going off line. Japan’s industries are almost totally reliant on electricity from the nuclear power plants.  The result was factories all over Japan shut down.

Japanese car makers didn’t even try to forecast their performance for the next year, because the lack of electrical power will continue, at least ’till the end of the year.

Fukushima

Toyota has better idea of how bad the parts supply problem is

Toyota officials claim they have a better idea of the parts supply problem, but they refuse to go into any detail.

Supplies of microchips, rubber materials and paint additives are the main problems (affected by the loss of electrical power by the shutdown of nuclear plants, most of Japan’s electricity comes from nuclear power).  However, Toyota officials refuse to discuss how many parts they might have, or if there are going to be anymore production delays.

One Toyota official said they normally have two and a half months of inventory on hand, but did not elaborate.

Business/Economics, International

Toyota on its way down to number 3, Volkswagen up, blame “just in time” house of cards

Toyota has already lost its number 1 ranking, no thanks to the March 11 disasters in Japan.  Now its heading down to number 3.

General Motors is now the number 1 world producer of cars, not just because of what happened in Japan, but because GM’s sales are taking off in China.  Who’s about to become number 2?  Volkswagen.

VW is expected to produce 7 million cars by the end of 2011, right behind GM.

Japan is now rethinking its “just in time” supply system.  The March 11 disasters reveled the inherent flaw in the system, especially without any back up systems in place.  A “just in time” system is a house of cards, just pull one or two, and the whole house comes down.