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Toyota claims Jim Press lied about gov't funding Prius development
Jim Press worked for Toyota in the U.S. a total of 37 years, so the Japanese automaker was no doubt shocked when the current co-captain of Chrysler LLC dropped a bit of untruthiness about his former employer in a recent Business Week article. Press claimed that the Japanese government paid for 100% of the development of battery and hybrid system of the Prius, an advantage that U.S. automakers don't receive from their government. Today, Toyota came out and said Press was just plain wrong. A Toyota spokesman claims that Toyota received absolutely no money from the Japanese government for developing the Prius. Who is telling the truth? We have no idea, but until Press parted his lips in this Business Week report, we had never heard of allegations that Toyota received funding for the Prius from the Japanese government, let alone that the vehicle's hybrid powertrain development was entirely paid for by the government. [Source: The Detroit News, Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Kevin 1:04PM (4/02/2008)
Why did Autoblog pick out a photo that makes Press look like he's saying, "Duh, I'm stooopid and my name is chuckie booooobus." ???
Great pic, btw.
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Dude 1:15PM (4/02/2008)
You got a point.
http://images.google.com/images?q=jim+press
Red 2:17PM (4/02/2008)
@ lad,
Honda was formed by more or less one man with a penchant for racing. Toyota was formed business men. There's a big difference between the two philosophies of the companies.
I think there may be some truth to Mr. Press' story. Mr. Soichiro Honda actually started out designing piston rings for Toyota. He constructed an entire facility for it, but his facilities were practically destroyed during World War II. After this, he founded what would become Honda which was at the time (late 1950s) was a small independent company that stood seperate from larger conglomerate companies. All of Japan's major automakers, including Toyota, were essentially Japanese business conglomerates who had VERY close ties with the government. The Japanese government had EXTENSIVE control of the Japanese auto industry and to some degree, they still do (like the "gentlemen's agreement, for example).
So I wouldn't be surprised if there was in fact some truth to the Japanese government having any say in Toyota's research and development and funding. Besides, Toyota's quite well known to fib about practically any and everything more-so than any other automaker I know of. Speaking of the Prius, just this past week at the New York Auto Show Toyota reps were saying the Prius was the first hybrid vehicle sold in the United States in 2000. Truth be told, Honda's Insight was available in 1999, about 11-12 months before the Prius. Go figure.
tankd0g 10:08AM (4/08/2008)
That's how he looks now. It's called getting old.
TwinTurbo3000GT 1:07PM (4/02/2008)
hmmm...what does Press have to gain by saying that?
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SeattleJeremy 1:10PM (4/02/2008)
He can say the Japanese goverment helped Toyota by funding the Prius development, so what is the US Goverment going to do to help us?
TwinTurbo3000GT 1:23PM (4/02/2008)
sure but if it's just a lie, he's gotta know Toyota is gonna jump on him. Maybe he has some sort of proof?
I guess we'll see how it plays out.
lad 1:56PM (4/02/2008)
If Mr. Press is correct, Nissan and Honda must be spitting mad that they didn't receive the same Japanese government resources. If I was Nissan I would merge with another company, perhaps a French Company with a good CEO, you know someone like Carlos Ghosn from Renault, and have him start asking the Japanese government the tough questions...wait they already have!
slider912 1:14PM (4/02/2008)
Poor dude looks like that Droopy Dog cartoon. The look of Cerebrusitis, perhaps?
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Matt Nelson 1:16PM (4/02/2008)
Sadly, the current U.S. priorities are to provide subsidies for the Oil companies.
I suppose a little more investigation will be necesary to devine the truth to the matter.
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Throwback 1:18PM (4/02/2008)
Would not surprise me if true. The Japanese government have played with the YEN for years to the advantage of their major exporters.
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geo.stewart 1:28PM (4/02/2008)
as the only non-nipponese to serve on their board, he is probably the only one to have the knowledge and a reason to mention it.
doesnt surprise me. doesnt mean its true but doesnt surprise me.
dan spalinger 1:19PM (4/02/2008)
Sounds like sour grapes from someone who jumped ship from Toyota to the disaster that is Chrysler...agreed he is well compensated for being in charge of such a disaster...but it can't be fun to be captain of the Titanic...
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Disgruntled Goat 1:29PM (4/02/2008)
Most nations outside of the U.S. help their domestic industries quite a bit so it really wouldn't be too much of a revelation that the Japanese government paid the development costs for Toyotas hybrid technology.
Here in the U.S. our government helps domestic industry too, it's just that we do it by paying factory farms to not grow stuff, by heavily promoting outsourcing to third world countries and by giving tax breaks to large corporations so they can give their execs higher bonuses.
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TriShield 1:31PM (4/02/2008)
Given the Japanese government's history of subsidizing and protectionist measures to help it's home teams compete and dominate globally this really shouldn't surprise anyone.
Press has nearly 40 years with Toyota and knows the company intimately, I'm sure he knows a whole lot more than he is letting on too.
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The Other Bob 1:36PM (4/02/2008)
I totally agree.
Scott 1:41PM (4/02/2008)
Japan has always been an "export or die" nation, and their gov't has always followed that line of thinking with their marquee companies. I wouldn't be too shocked, nor do I really blame them.
This is much less surprising than how hard they tried to prop up insolvent banks the last 15 years.
You see it in the EU with EADS/Airbus, some argue here with Boeing and military contracts, etc. "Fair" trade is a laughable term and an unattainable goal.
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Julius 1:44PM (4/02/2008)
Given Japan's governmental aims of developing exporting, I wouldn't be surprised. And houw would this be any different than, say if batteries for the Volt were paid for out of DARPA funds?
in any case, you can still pick apart what Toyota is saying: "we received absolutely no money from the Government" can still mean "we received a heck of a tax write-off equal to the sum of the development costs"...
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MoonRover 1:50PM (4/02/2008)
I believe Press, Japan subsidizes Toyota's healthcare expenses, why would anyone believe anyone at Toyota. They have always given their industries a leg up on their competition, and always will, it is in the best interest of Japan. Sure they paid for the developement of the batteries, lets get real, Business Week is no paragon of virture either, they have been known to stretch the truth.
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psarhjinian 2:34PM (4/02/2008)
Japan doesn't subsidize Toyota's healthcare needs. Let's be accurate here: Japan (and almost every other industrialized nation) has public medical care. The US, by comparison, has a total trainwreck of coverage that results not only in a higher per-capita cost paid to the government, but also requires its citizens to pay on top of that.
Americans have been spoonfed a huge lie _for decades_ about this. In theory, lower coverage should mean lower taxes; in practice, more per-capita tax dollars leave an American's wallet than a Canadian/Brit/Swede/German to health care _and you still get crappier service_.