Filed under: Car Buying, Etc., Japan, Toyota
Toyota considering price hikes in the future
While high gas prices have had less of an effect on Japanese automakers than their American counterparts, the soaring price of commodities like steel have stung just as badly. Toyota is considering raising the prices of its vehicles in response to those higher commodity prices, at least in its home market. The Toyota elite will make a decision after pouring over April-June sales data and 2nd quarter production costs. The news comes only days after Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn suggested that Nissan would raise its prices in Japan if a market leader decided to do the same. Toyota executives did not mention raising the price of its own cars and trucks here in the States, but add rising inflation and a weak dollar to high steel prices and the move seems very likely.
[Source: Reuters, Photo by YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty ]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Purifoy 7:08PM (6/27/2008)
And sadly, the beat goes on . . .
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ambientFLIER 10:32PM (6/27/2008)
This just in: Automakers are considering raising prices sometime in the future, keeping in line with the last 100 years of business.
WOW!!! Thanks for keeping me well-informed, autoblog!!!
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REALITYCHECK 11:37PM (6/27/2008)
Wink Wink .... if you raise prices so will I! I think they should call that price fixing. I am just amazed at how Ghosn gets away with this stuff, If Ford would say that the press would want their hide or the Justic department would start an investigation.
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Yar 6:30PM (6/28/2008)
It's not gouging if people still buy it.
waiownsyou 12:34AM (6/28/2008)
PORING*
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Soul Shinobi 1:28AM (6/28/2008)
Unless I'm out of the loop for modern slang, I think you meant "Boring." However, I am concerned, because "B" and "P" are not near each other in any keyboard layout (I checked the list of keyboard layouts on Wikipedia). If I may, might you be intoxicated?
waiownsyou 1:57AM (6/28/2008)
"The Toyota elite will make a decision after pouring over April-June sales data and 2nd quarter production costs."
No, the correct word is PORING. To pour and to pore are different things.
So in short, I'm not intoxicated. You're blind. Did you not see that asterisk?
taipeileviathan 7:22PM (6/28/2008)
oh my god, we told you guys to use your spell-check, but i guess what you really need is an education. it's freakin' PORE over, and i would not have mentioned it except that a few entries up chris tutor writes "insure" rather than "ensure". for crying out loud...
Soul Shinobi 2:30AM (6/29/2008)
Well then, I'm embarrassed!
Jim 7:17AM (6/28/2008)
"Toyota expects to raise the price sometime in the future".
That's the kind of dumb statement you can expect from Toyota. Those Toyota people are brilliant!!
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tankd0g 9:55AM (6/28/2008)
Also plan to make more Priuses and sell less Tundras. Oh, and September will follow August this year.
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Colin Smith 10:47AM (6/28/2008)
Since the cost of everything is rising why wouldn't manufacturers increase their prices?
Economies of scale and production technology can only compensate so much.
The dollar is down too and that will affect US prices.
Where I sit EVERYTHING is more expensive: people are finally looking at life-changing options; the most significant seem to be moving closer to work - twenty miles is too far away - buying cheaper food and growing more - and not to changing the car.
We were only talking about this last night at work and the consensus seemed to be to run our present cars into the ground and then buy the most economical replacements, regardless of style or even amenity. If it runs, cheaply, it's the car to get.
Small economical cars in Europe are at a premium now and there are acres of tarmac filled with new and second hand 4WDs and simply overlarge cars nobody much wants - or really needs.
The changes are systemic, not cyclical.
In short: driving will cost a lot more for us all.
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Noidor 11:16AM (6/28/2008)
Of course, prices are going up and up. Just yesterday I made a ton on everything gold related gold, including gold itself, and dumped most of stuff like Wabtec because any company out there which makes products out of steel (rail cars, ships, trucks, cars) is going to be put in a s*** position.
And this is once again thanks to a weak dollar and US intentional policy of exporting heavy inflation since 1970. Europe is 3.7%, China and India are close to 8%-10%, we're at 10% too. Consequently high prices are unavoidable throughout the world, and US is the core producer of this mess.
And once rest of the world will say, "enough is enough" and will no longer accept dollars, then people will truly suffer. I love how people are welcoming foreign investment right now, and did they ever really try to think why? Sole reason is they don't have any other use for the dollars they have, so they're simply taking their stuff back.
I'm going to be like George Carlin on this, sit back, make some pop-corn, and enjoy the theatre through collapse of the whole thing.
Jeff Gilleran 9:30PM (6/28/2008)
My suggestion about high steel prices is go with alternative materials.
They may cost a bit more to tool up, but they would have a 2 fold improvement.
1 is weight savings. (better fuel economy)
2 is just as strong as steel. (still safe).
Everything ive ever read says that car makers already have the technology for lightweight and strong vehicles, but they dont want to spend the money.
Now that fuel is over 4 bucks a gallon, and steel is getting very expensive.. sounds like its time to shift away from using so much steel and move to alternatives.
I would think that would be the next best move for all automakers.
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rypt 3:13AM (6/29/2008)
Which GM & Toyota are already doing. Didn't we hear a while ago that they hope to make everyday cars from CF soon - as the costs of it will drop once they start to make stuff from it in bulk?
PAUL kNECHT 10:24AM (6/29/2008)
Yes fuel is high, some countries even higher, if your getting 20 miles to the gallon, find a roller skate vehicle with 4 wheels that gives 30 to 40 miles per gallon, use that car to buy good food on sale, and continue to drive and enjoy life, and eat, & shop at the mall, economy demands it. Yes??????????? Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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ebm14 8:21PM (6/29/2008)
I think it is smart for the Japanese not to increase it's prices.
Japan has used recycled steel in the past. If their country keeps raising prices there will be job cuts; job cuts will result in their market not launching enough IPO as well a smaller maternity rate; Life insurance companies will lose out since the population is decreasing from all of the burdens of lame economy. Soon these companies will just want to invest in China and India.
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