Posted on 06/04/2009 5:30:27 AM PDT by CSM
It might be a bad day for GM but it’s a much worse one for Toyota. Really. The days (decades, really) of weak domestic manufacturers shooting themselves in the foot with bad design, poor assembly, and non-existent customer satisfaction in passenger cars are coming to an end. Toyota didn’t have to outrun the bear, it just had to stay ahead of GM, Ford, and Chrysler. Years of producing huge profits in North America hit the wall for Toyota in 2009, and they’re likely not to return. Ever. The game has now changed—and it’s not good for Toyota.
Thanks to US and Canadian taxpayer support, GM and Chrysler are about to get a new start. They’ll enjoy fresh balance sheets, with minimized legacy liabilities and serious money earmarked for new products. (The taxpayers are paying for Fiat to develop cars for North America; you didn’t really think that the Italians would take this risk on their own did you?) Ford, by dint of luck or smart management, borrowed what it needed years ago to make the transformation outside of court oversight.
By the end of this year, all three Detroit automakers will be restructured, resized to match production with demand, and re-energized. They will reenter the market as the lowest cost producers inside the U.S. market, with slimmer, trimmer product lines. These automakers are getting ever-closer to 100 percent capacity utilization.
Looking at product, Ford’s passenger car line up just keeps getting better. The 2010 Taurus looks hot, the Fiesta test drive campaign is generating good press with the Twitter/Facebook crowd, and a new Euro Focus will be here in a two years. Slowly but surely, more Americans are considering a Ford passenger vehicle. Its trucks still lead the category and will continue to do so. Better products, increasing quality, and slowly increasing market share is building FoMoCo momentum.
GM’s go forward brands—Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac—still have some vehicles that don’t cut the mustard with consumers. But the balance is starting to tip back towards the positive. The Malibu and Camaro represent some better efforts. The gorgeous new Buick Lacrosse might give the new Taurus a run for the money. Cadillac will extend the CTS line and bring a new SRX to the market shortly. The Corvette still leads the pack in dollar performance value. And maybe, just maybe, the Cruze and Viva will live up to GM hype machine.
GM’s perhaps two to three years behind Ford with its product development cycle. But it can now concentrate on fewer models. Recent successful launches suggest that GM just needs time to plug the holes for the weak sisters. It now has the money to do so and you can bet (if you’re taxpayer, you already have) that the efforts on fuel efficient passenger cars will receive the bulk of the dollar spend. GM won’t abandon trucks (no matter what Nancy Pelosi thinks) and volume wise, GM leads.
Chrysler can’t do anything under their new pasta-fed management until the re-tooled imports arrive here for production two years hence. Its cars still (mostly) suck, except for the higher-performance versions of its LX cars. But it isn’t going away and will still find some buyers for its products at the pace of the recent past. So this company will just hang on . . . and on . . . and on.
Now, stop and think about this. What has Toyota done for you lately? Is there one single passenger car from Toyota that excites you?
Let’s keep the new Prius out of this discussion for the moment; it’s not a car for drivers but techno-geeks and greens mostly with excitement provided by the fuel gauge, not vehicle dynamics. The Camry might lead the C/D class in sales for now, but will this continue? What happens when Americans actually consider a Malibu or Fusion-based product instead? In terms of design appeal, the Camry looks dowdy or boring (take your pick) and its reliability isn’t any better than the Fusion. Put a four-cylinder EcoBoost engine in that Fusion and Ford wins.
Go through the rest of Toyota’s passenger car line up and compare each vehicle to the current and near future offerings from GM and Ford. The question is: will Toyota customers do the same?
Toyota (or Honda) products have been the default choice. That “Easy Button” is starting to get harder to press for buyers. Yep, Americans will begin to come back to consider Detroit products (at least GM and Ford), and that’s not good for Toyota. And we’ve really never left Detroit for our big pickups and SUVs, whle the Japanese are still mostly playing catch up.
Yep, it’s a bad day for Toyota and a great day for America. You can look forward to a new Detroit that will be competitive, if not lead, in cars and trucks for mass market Americans. Count on it.
BS article.
A buddy of mine drives 18 wheelers. He hauls new car parts(or rather did haul new car parts) He told me GM car parts MADE IN CHINA, Toyota parts,Made in USA and Canada. I will not buy another GM vehicle.
A long long time ago, before a lot of people had ever heard of Toyota, we bought one, figuring we’d keep it a couple of years. A couple of years turned to 10. Then 15. The dang thing lasted 20 years.
The author’s ruminations mean nothing to people who have had this sort of experience.
I'd go further than that, and say they're pimping for 0bamamotors. The word has been given from on high that it's time to talk up GM.
The writer of this article must be on the sauce.
The word ‘bankrupt’ or ‘bankruptcy’ doesn’t appear, nor does decidedly unsilent partner Barack Obama.
Worrying about Government Motors producing the next Camry or 4Runner is like worrying about the Bengals’ playoff hopes.
Apologist for the uaw?
I love my Highlander and will buy another for my son if I can
afford it!
If you would like to be added or dropped from the Michigan ping list, please freepmail me.
I bought a Fusion last year...fully loaded, V6, dual exhaust, leather/heated seats, satellite radio, SYNC technology, sunroof, spoiler on the back, etc...in a very classy white suede color. Beautiful car...and rides so smooth...very nice...lot’s of bonus extras at a lower cost over its foreign compeitors....should be a winner for Ford....(looks a whole lot nicer, more appealing, more sporty with the spoiler).
I have never purchased a new American car and haven’t owned one since 1992 (86 Bonneville SE). I have owned Toyotas, Honda, and Hyundai. Currently have a Sienna and a Hyundai Azera. Sorry...but I like quality and reliability. Hyundai is really building awesome vehicles now and Kia is the low cost alternative. Plus I would love to own a Toyota Sequoia (providing Obama doesn’t drive gas prices back up over $4/gal).
“I don’t agree with this analysis. I’ll consider buying a Ford, but I will never buy another GM car, out of principle.”
I wholeheartedly agree.
I owned a 2000 Malibu and gave it to my daughter. I’ve put dozens of hours and thousands of dollars worth of repairs into it.
My 2002 Mazda has the same amount of miles on it as the Chevy. I’ve only had to replace the spark plugs.
That Malibu was the last Chevy I’ll ever buy. I hope my daughter trades it off before something else breaks on it.
Isn’t that Camry the previous generation?
Yeah, because every citizen in Michigan is somehow responsible for Goverment Maoters, and every UAW member is a thugocrat or bootlicker.
Up yours, pally.
Filed under *whistling past the junkyard*.
That's the bottom line.
I’m with you two. No GM or Chrysler. Sad thing is, I was looking at the Chevy Malibu as a replacement for my Camry. My Camry runs and looks perfect, I just wanted something new. Customer lost for GM.
If anything, I’ll now drive my current car until the wheels rot off. Thanks Barry!
“Apologist for the uaw?”
Me or the author? Me, no. The author, most likely.
We bought a 2009 Toyota Corolla Sport and it gets a reliable 30 mpg in the city and 37mpg(even with the ac on!) on the high-way, using crappy ethanol 10 per cent gas blends we’re stuck with in central Va. It does better much in other states(ie with sunoco gas which doesn’t use as much ethanol in their middle grades). It has great power for such a 4 cylinder engine and its handling actually gets better the faster you drive it due to its sports tuned suspension. It also looks like a beautiful deep blue sculpted jewel box. I don’t think Toyota has much to worry about for a while in terms of market share.
That being said, I have to say Kudo’s to Ford for not taking a bail out. Ford may actually get increased market share for the simple fact that Chrysler and GM will be a little out of commission for a while and won’t have a lot of product where-as Ford will have product and will pick up former GM and Chrysler customers. I read that Ford will actually be increasing production in the 3rd quarter...just in time for Christmas! I’ll bet Ford even shows profitability this year!
So I’ll be looking at Fords as well!
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