Toyota - we don't want to be #1
Yes, you read that correctly
- Toyota is trying to play the humble role, or at least its North American president is trying to spin things in that
direction. Jim Press stated "We have no interest in GM declining, or in becoming number one." And to that I
say, "bullshit."I'm not trying to single out Toyota in any way, or begrudge it the success it's found in the past three decades. The company has built a reputation among car buyers for the quality and refinement of its vehicles, and industry geeks proclaim the company's manufacturing excellence; indeed, Toyota's production systems have, if not revolutionized manufacturing, then at least yielded efficiency improvements that were probably once thought to be impossible. But one doesn't refine automotive design and mass production to such a high level without having some serious ambition. To think that a company will come to rule an industry by accident is, frankly, simply not a plausible concept.
Do I want to see Toyota rub its success in the collective face of the American car industry? Certainly not. But I think it's just as insulting for the company to take on an "aw, shucks" attitude and insinuate that it's reached its current position by accident, because that doesn't give fair credit to anyone who'd been involved in this game.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Yaroukh 7:08AM (1/18/2006)
GM is #1 in sales not in profit though; so I believe Toyota when they say they don't want to be #1
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Doogs 7:24AM (1/18/2006)
I agree...Toyota didn't reach its position by accident...but I don't believe it did it through cold, cunning calculation, either. I'd call it a mixture of good decisions, fortunate market conditions, several instances of larger competitors dropping the ball, and just sheer good luck.
And personally, I believe them when they say they don't want to be number one. Because when you're number one, all the guns are aimed at you.
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brad 7:27AM (1/18/2006)
well its a good thing that toyota does'nt want to be #1 cause they never will be
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Corey W. 7:36AM (1/18/2006)
Maybe I'm a little lite on automotive history...
"...Toyota's production systems have, if not revolutionized manufacturing, then at least yielded efficiency improvements that were probably once thought to be impossible."
What was revolutionized? What impossible improvements?? Not attacking Toyota, just wondering why every AutoBlog article about the company seems to have some "beautiful white glow" around it....
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DarkKnight67 7:44AM (1/18/2006)
That's a bigger load of crap than you find at a manure farm!!! It's real obvious they don't want the top spot considering the way they've been going at it lately.
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Koba 7:57AM (1/18/2006)
I think Toyota has quite the bit of truth in that statement, only that I would add a big yet to the end. Toyota's current problems (at least quality wise) are caused by their explosion in sales recently, which leads to unsustainable, as well as poorly planned growth. Toyota is a victim of it's own success, so I can see how it's logical that they would like that success to slow down.
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Ophrey 8:05AM (1/18/2006)
#3
Your an ignorant fool
#2 doogs
I agree with you
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spdracerUT 8:38AM (1/18/2006)
Just a note, Japanese culture has its own unique take on personal interactions with regard to appearances, or how others view them. So a lot of stuff that they do or say related to how it'll make them appear won't make a lot of sense to us. They tend to be on the soft spoken, cautious side.
Case in point, I know a group of people who flew to Japan to have a meeting with some business men over there. Each individual in the American group was very out spoken as we are generally taught to express our individual ideas here. The Japanese group had like a group meeting and had one representative relay any information.
I think Toyota is just trying to save face, or not look like the 'bad guy' with the downturn in the US auto makers, whether it be directly or indirectly their fault. That's just Japanese culture I think.
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Source1 8:51AM (1/18/2006)
All sales reports, rhetoric, subjective opinions and prefernces aside..THE REAL WORLD WINNER IS.........
NYSE (GM): 19.82$
NYSE (TM): 102.18$
Any questions?
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Hemidakota 9:13AM (1/18/2006)
Why is it from the number 2 in the world talks more BS than other global manufacture.
I would caution Toyota, a few years from now, Koreans and Chinese will be knocking at your door.
Already there is a slippage in quality with groweth. A few slipup in stealing hybrid patents. Bland cars and trucks, and yet, number four in US NHTSA Safety Recalls.
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atFault 9:24AM (1/18/2006)
To add to what spdraceUT wrote, when it comes to design and manufacturing the Japanese have some important differences that set them appart from US manufacturers. These cross all types of design and are not specific to automotive, and are unwaveringly held in high regard.
1. Non-existance of self-expression or individualism
2. more complete use of sensory perception
3. greater 'spiritualism'
4. quality
5. power of adaptation
Their rise toward Number 1 could easily be explained by adhering to their principles of excellence, despite there never being a target of being number 1 globally. It is an unavoidable side-effect of Japanese design and manufacturing.
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Clyde Batter 9:45AM (1/18/2006)
It's a shame you have such a bad attitude about Toyota.
My family has been die-hard fans and owners of domestic vehicles for decades; however, simply look at the poor designs and lack of quality workmanship being pumped out by GM, Ford, and Chrysler.
These companies have to "pay" people to buy their sorry cars with massive rebates, while Toyota and Honda have focused on quality for years.
Ford and GM cars and trucks lose half their value in 2 years, while it takes 4-5 for Toyota to lose that much. Americans are not stupid, and they're getting tired of paying for low-quality vehicles offered by Detroit.
Toyota's goal is not to pass GM, it is simply to build the best cars in the world. GM's demise is a self-inflicted wound.
We may have the best country in the world in which to live, but face the sad truth: Japan kicks our ass in the quality of automobile building.
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Gary 9:50AM (1/18/2006)
#9 yeah, an obvious question, how many shares of each are outstanding? A company's stock price is only part of the equation. The other major part is how many shares are outstanding, giving the company's market value.
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Rick T 9:56AM (1/18/2006)
Toyota may prefer to remain Target to GM's Walmart. Target has virtually the same benefits and policies as Walmart yet flies under the radar screen because Walmart is number 1.
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Doogs 10:12AM (1/18/2006)
Rick T - EXACTLY!
Look around at various industries, and oftentimes its the number one player that gets all the flak, while the number two is either allowed to fly relatively under the radar, or often as not the recipient of profuse praise.
Wal-Mart and Target. Home Depot and Lowes. Microsoft and Apple. Intel and AMD.
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Jsmith 10:12AM (1/18/2006)
----#11 ---- What are you talking about? Greater 'spiritualism' lol. I'm sorry but that makes me laugh. Japanese designs bores the hell out of me. All of their cars look like someone else cars. I guess they build an ok car but man there are a lot of people swinging from their nut sack.
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John B 11:04AM (1/18/2006)
#4 Corey W.
It's been a long time since I was in B school but we did study Toyota and what I believe is called the Toyota Production System. What Toyota did isn't revolutionary in any technical sense but involves a continual evolution in all aspects of design, engineering, production and inventory control. Every aspect is continually under evaluation seeking incremental improvements. Here is a link with a brief summary.
http://www.strategosinc.com/toyota_production.htm
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spdracerUT 11:24AM (1/18/2006)
#13 Well, you can look at their stock performance over the last three years. GM had a peak of $55, and Toyota was at $45. So would you rather have gone from $55 down to $20? Or from $45 up to $100?
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John B 11:32AM (1/18/2006)
The above link doesn't seem to work but if you look under "Site Guide" in the web site you will find several articles including the one I tried to link to.
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Whatsinaname 11:35AM (1/18/2006)
I for one believe Toyota. Having experience with Japanese companies, they tend to be very slow and methodical with their growth strategies. More or less, the Japanese set revenue goals more than market share goals. If Toyota happens to make it to the number 1 spot then they would not mind it... but I do not believe they are chomping at the bit to get to that spot.
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