Posted on 10/09/2005 6:30:56 PM PDT by Lessismore
Toyota is reportedly planning to produce vehicles at an American plant owned by Fuji Heavy Industries, maker of Subaru vehicles, as part of their new alliance.
Fuji Heavy's Subaru plant in Indiana will begin churning out Toyota cars as early as 2007, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported, and the firms will construct a new production line in the plant with annual output capacity of 100,000 vehicles.
But spokesmen for the carmakers said nothing has been decided.
General Motors, hit by sluggish sales at home, is selling its 20.1 percent stake in Fuji Heavy, with Toyota buying 8.7 percent and the rest being sold on the market by Tuesday. Toyota aims to dethrone GM as the world's top automaker and already has significant manufacturing operations in the United States.
Toyota, Fuji Heavy gearing up for broad-scale alliance
10/08/2005
The Asahi Shimbun
Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s planned gas-electric hybrid car will likely contain key components supplied by Toyota Motor Corp. as part of their new alliance announced Wednesday, sources said.
Other plans under consideration are production of Toyota vehicles at a Fuji Heavy plant in the U.S. state of Indiana and a role for Fuji Heavy engineers in Toyota's global development and production strategy.
The two aim to reach a formal agreement on their collaboration by the end of the year, at the earliest.
Toyota and Fuji Heavy plan to respect each other's brands and management, the sources said.
They will make a clear distinction between Fuji Heavy's Subaru vehicles and Toyota brand vehicles. They will not cross-market or use the same dealers to sell both brands.
In addition, Toyota has no plans to send executives to Fuji Heavy.
Fuji Heavy on Wednesday said it will sever its capital alliance with struggling General Motors Corp. of the United States. Toyota will become Fuji Heavy's top shareholder next week by buying 8.7 percent of the 20 percent of Fuji Heavy shares held by GM.
Toyota limited its shareholding in Fuji Heavy to speed up the alliance.
Acquisition of more than 10 percent of voting rights requires screening by the Fair Trade Commission under the Anti-Monopoly Law.
Fuji Heavy has been preparing to launch a hybrid version of its popular Legacy passenger car in fiscal 2007.
The company now plans to end development of major components, such as electric motors, and instead buy them from Toyota to reduce costs, the sources said.
Fuji Heavy also plans to propose that Toyota vehicles be produced at its Indiana plant to improve the factory's utilization rate.
Unlike GM, Toyota's sales in North America are thriving. Production there cannot keep up with demand, resulting in a rise of exports from Japan.
Toyota wants to promote its alliance with Fuji Heavy in three areas: manufacturing, start-up of production lines and development.
The automaker needs experienced engineers for its increasing production worldwide, particularly emerging markets.
"We can use Fuji Heavy engineers with high abilities in the Toyota group's global strategy," a senior Toyota official said.
In the future, the two automakers will study the possibility of jointly developing passenger cars, the sources said.
The two companies do not have any immediate plans to use Fuji Heavy's horizontal-design engines in Toyota vehicles.(IHT/Asahi: October 8,2005)
Because Americans can't pay an American auto company 4 to 10 thousand dollars extra so they can screw the Arabs out of a few hundred dollars a year.
We must stop this scourge of insourcing right away!
I'll never understand why Americans will pay Japan (or China) 4 to 10 thousand dollars extra so they can screw the Arabs out of a few hundred dollars a year.
My conversion to Japanese vehicles didn't have a damn thing to do with the Arabs. It was all about having to replace the tranny in a GM vehicle with only 48,000 miles on the odometer.
Perhaps because they want a vehicle made in America rather than one made in Mexico or Canada (or Sweden or England or Australia).
Because Japan and China aren't supporting the Terrorists who are attacking us.
Sure,m the japs amke some god cars, but my Crown Vic has 320,000, and rides pretty damn well. Maintenance in the last 50,ooo miles consisted of a new set of plugs and wires, and 1 10 amp fuse.
Might want to keep an eye on the chinese ilitary buildup. During the clinto admin, theyadvanced 30+ years in Nuke wepaon technology, too.
They don't take our money and buy Arab oil with it?
Unless they are hybrids, this is of little
interest to me.
I have an all American Fleet too.
Canada and Mexico contributed part too.
If we want to stay in control, we need to keep much more of our money and jobs at home.
Unions and resulting expense along with rising cost of union demanded benefits, along with steady decline in quality has made GM fail. I predicted this 30 years ago when they wouldn't listen to the public and kept on in their bull headed ways.
Why is the South rising again? Partly because of all the foreign auto makers who have opened non-union plants there, BMW among them.
My only question is why are we (the government) are giving all these breaks to Toyota? How many advantages can we possibly give them... and then they go and falsely claim that their cars are 'made in the USA'.
Give me a break!
Amen to that. I don't buy American anymore because the cars don't drive as well, and aren't as reliable as foreign ones. My last Chevrolet saved me some money when I bought it but was a terrible vehicle that broke all the time. I've since switched to Honda and haven't regretted it once. Chrysler is coming out with some nice stuff, but most cars in the GM/Ford stables (bar the Mustang and Vette) still aren't class competitive. The US companies don't deserve sales just because they are American. It is a free market and they must earn sales by putting out a better product than their competitor. Until Detroit stops putting out crap like the new Ford 500 (which has had very poor reviews compared to foreign cars), or the Chevy Uplander they don't deserve any more market share then they have.
Resale value is another reason I swiched. You buy a nice Caddy and five or six years down the line its worth about the same as an Accord that cost half as much and nowhere near as much as a similarly priced BMW.
Excellent point about resale value.
But what about all these kick-backs that companies like Toyota and Hyundai are getting to build plants in the States, and then go and play up the whole American connection when the 'heavy lifting is all' done back in Japan.
Can you tell? I'm holding my nose.
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