Difference between GM and Toyota

[80Zedder]

i just found out that toyota buys their metal for those prius batteries not too far from where i live, maybe 3 hour drive. maybe i should take a trip with come c4 lol

[FenwickHockey65]

Toyota also built a massive new assembly plant to build the new tundra.

Too bad nobody wants one.

[fbodfather]

Originally Posted by Zabo

Hmm, next thing we know Toyota will come looking for loans.

-_- I'm sadistically happy at all this though. Shelby's probably grabbing his ankles now.

THEY ALREADY HAVE -- a LONG time ago!



Tax Fairness for U.S. Auto Makers – The Wall Street Journal
December 16, 2008
Your Dec. 1 editorial "America's Other Auto Industry" questions whether taxpayers should provide temporary federal loans to American automakers, but conveniently ignores one fact: Our taxpayers already give huge sums of financial assistance to foreign car companies right here in the U.S.
As proposed, the requested bridge loans represent roughly $4 billion in assistance to U.S. auto makers, that is, the cost of a low-interest loan. With 240,000 employees spread among the three U.S. companies, that works out to less than $16,000 in temporary taxpayer assistance per job.
By contrast, foreign auto makers receive far more from U.S. taxpayers in various forms of government assistance. In Tennessee, for example, state and local authorities offered Volkswagen $577 million in lowered taxes and other benefits in exchange for the plants it is constructing, at a staggering cost of $288,000 per job created.
Similarly, Toyota is receiving $300 million in support for its plant in Texas, or $150,000 per job created. Alabama provided Hyundai, Toyota, Honda and Mercedes an average of $111,000 in incentives per job. The list goes on. Unlike the temporary assistance GM, Ford and Chrysler are seeking, in almost all the cases, U.S. taxpayer subsidies to foreign companies never need to be paid back.
Let's make sure to keep the discussion balanced. Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mercedes, BMW, Kia and Hyundai already receive far more in permanent financial support from our own taxpayers than what the U.S. auto industry is seeking. Our own companies deserve equal consideration, no more, no less.
Stephen Collins
President
Automotive Trade Policy Council
Washington

[MerFmobile]

Great point. Further angering me as to why Detroit is getting so much bad press.

[bcannan354]

Damn.... what can we do to stop this madness. Thier are just too many CROOKS in power. We should start the impeachment process on all of these bastar3ds. It just burns my bacon to hear of all of this nonsense.

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by MerFmobile

Not that I disagree, but now that I'm trying out browsing the forums with the Crackberry I have a renewed disgust of quoting 20 lines of text for a 1-line response!

Wait until you want to edit someone's quote before replying - drive you nuts but still can't live without the damn thing.

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by fbodfather

THEY ALREADY HAVE -- a LONG time ago!



Tax Fairness for U.S. Auto Makers – The Wall Street Journal
December 16, 2008
Your Dec. 1 editorial "America's Other Auto Industry" questions whether taxpayers should provide temporary federal loans to American automakers, but conveniently ignores one fact: Our taxpayers already give huge sums of financial assistance to foreign car companies right here in the U.S.
As proposed, the requested bridge loans represent roughly $4 billion in assistance to U.S. auto makers, that is, the cost of a low-interest loan. With 240,000 employees spread among the three U.S. companies, that works out to less than $16,000 in temporary taxpayer assistance per job.
By contrast, foreign auto makers receive far more from U.S. taxpayers in various forms of government assistance. In Tennessee, for example, state and local authorities offered Volkswagen $577 million in lowered taxes and other benefits in exchange for the plants it is constructing, at a staggering cost of $288,000 per job created.
Similarly, Toyota is receiving $300 million in support for its plant in Texas, or $150,000 per job created. Alabama provided Hyundai, Toyota, Honda and Mercedes an average of $111,000 in incentives per job. The list goes on. Unlike the temporary assistance GM, Ford and Chrysler are seeking, in almost all the cases, U.S. taxpayer subsidies to foreign companies never need to be paid back.
Let's make sure to keep the discussion balanced. Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mercedes, BMW, Kia and Hyundai already receive far more in permanent financial support from our own taxpayers than what the U.S. auto industry is seeking. Our own companies deserve equal consideration, no more, no less.
Stephen Collins
President
Automotive Trade Policy Council
Washington

Why don't press outlets report this? I'm disgusted.

[TheCaptain]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

Why don't press outlets report this? I'm disgusted.

I swear, somebody pays to keep GMs name in the bad news section. Did we hear about this? No. Did we hear when Toyota shut down its new Tundra plant? No. Did we hear when Ford used employees pensions to finance the company? No.

It seems to me, the general public is out to hang GM just for being the giant, (the worlds leader in sales for 84 years!) that (maybe, maybe not) gets taken down.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

Why don't press outlets report this? I'm disgusted.

The media hates GM. No one really knows why, but the media would report a 20 vehicle recall by GM but ignore a multimillion vehicle recall by toyota.

[Captain Awesome]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

Why don't press outlets report this? I'm disgusted.

The press has changed their business model to "creating" news rather than reporting it. If they like a guy for some reason they will report only good stuff about him. If they don't like a guy (or a woman) they will report only bad news about that person. It can influence a LOT of people, and make them do things they would not ordinarily do (if they had unbiased "news")!

[Nexus6]

Originally Posted by Captain Awesome

The press has changed their business model to "creating" news rather than reporting it. If they like a guy for some reason they will report only good stuff about him. If they don't like a guy (or a woman) they will report only bad news about that person. It can influence a LOT of people, and make them do things they would not ordinarily do (if they had unbiased "news")!

its because the media has been de-regulated as well.5 people own all of the radio stations in the U.S. and im sure its the same with TV. when only the top 1% have all of the power ,there is less to go around.That is why anti-trust laws were created in the first place,but thanks to de-regulation you can kiss that all goodbye.Conglomerates need to be broken up.

[PieNsky]

Ok, let's clear this up a bit. toyota shut down its Texas Tundra plant in August and has started running a VERY few trucks only on one shift. It also has another plant that produces the Tundra, and its full size SUV in Indiana with two assembly lines that is running partial production or nothing. It also has shut down one of its NUMMI plant's shifts that produces the small pickup in California . Its Camry,Avalon and Venza plants in KY are having non production days in December and January, lines are slowed down and the employees are having to cover, so far, 4 of those non production days with their vacation. It will also stop producing the Solara at its KY plant too. Did you hear about that?

[camaro5]

Originally Posted by Stevo

Thank God GM has the wisdom to not follow these losers... damn bean counters can lead a company astray if yer not careful... sh$t when your company's too afraid to even make cars (really ugly golf carts) that people think they should want ...yer gutless


Toyota Motor Corp. is shelving its plans to build the popular Prius hybrid in Mississippi as the slump in the auto industry continues to hobble the Japanese carmaker known for it emphasis on fuel-sipping vehicles.
Toyota's plant under construction in Blue Springs, Miss., was scheduled to begin production in 2010, marking the first time the gas-electric Prius, which has been on sale for more than a decade, would be built outside of Japan and China.
But Mike Goss, a spokesman for Toyota's U.S. arm, said Monday that despite investing $300 million in the plant so far, the automaker is delaying production there indefinitely because of the industrywide downturn.
Construction of the plant is about 90 percent complete, and Toyota will finish the building, Goss said. However, the installation of the factory's equipment and machinery — "the most time-consuming" element of construction, he said — is delayed indefinitely.

GM puts brakes on Mich. factory that will build Volt engine as it tries to preserve cash

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp., anxiously conserving cash so it can keep operating into 2009, said Wednesday it would halt construction of a plant tied to one of its most important projects while the automaker awaits a Washington bailout.

GM said it is putting the brakes on the construction of a factory in Flint, Mich., set to make 1.4-liter engines for the Chevrolet Cruze and the Chevy Volt plug-in electric car.

It's just one more effort by GM to hold on to every penny possible as it speeds closer to the day when the 100-year-old industrial giant won't be able to pay its bills.

The company has been scaling back just about everywhere -- shutting down vehicle production, ending sports sponsorships, turning off escalators and even cutting back on office supplies -- to stay afloat.

GM is seeking up to $18 billion in government loans as it tries to survive the worst U.S. auto sales environment in 26 years. It says it needs $4 billion before this year runs out.

GM board member Kent Kresa told The Associated Press last week that the company might make it into the early part of the first quarter, depending on auto sales, yet GM has several billion dollars worth of supplier payments due shortly after the first of the year, and analysts have said the company probably doesn't have the cash to pay them.

GM announced plans in September for the new engine plant in Flint, 50 miles northwest of Detroit, and said production would begin in 2010. But the company is delaying the purchase of big-ticket items needed to build the factory, such as structural steel, spokeswoman Sharon Basel said.

The plant's engines will extend the range of the rechargeable Volt, GM's high-profile next-generation vehicle that will be able to travel 40 miles on electricity alone. They will also power the Cruze, GM's new small car that is supposed to get around 40 miles per gallon.

Basel said Volt and Cruze development will continue as scheduled and the company still plans to bring them to showrooms in 2010. The construction delay, she said, may be temporary until the company figures out its cash situation.

"Everything that involves heavy cash outlays obviously is under review," Basel said Wednesday. "Our intent is to still go forward with a new facility bringing that engine to Flint, Mich."

Basel said the delay, which The Flint Journal reported Wednesday on its Web site, is part of GM's overall effort to conserve cash until a decision is made on the government loans. President George W. Bush stepped forward to say he would act to save the domestic auto industry after a bill authorizing $14 billion in loans for GM and Chrysler LLC was thwarted in Congress.

Ford Motor Co. has said it has enough cash to survive 2009.

Bush administration officials said they were still evaluating options and attempting to avoid a disorderly bankruptcy of the companies while suggesting that concessions from all sides would need to accompany any deal. Several lawmakers have pressed for an array of terms and conditions in any deal crafted by the White House, complicating matters.

Meanwhile, GM has held off many large expenditures, such as the steel for the Flint plant, Basel said.

"Those are huge cash outlays, and we don't have the cash," she said.

Basel said there is plenty of time to build the factory, install equipment and get it up and running in time to produce engines for the two new cars. The company already makes the 1.4-liter engine at a plant in Austria, she said, giving it another option for engines.

"We have lots of options. The construction of the new plant is not going to interrupt our plans for the Volt or Cruze," Basel said.

Work will continue as scheduled on the Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant, which will make the Cruze starting in mid-2010, said GM spokesman Chris Lee. The company has not formally announced where the Volt will be built, although the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant was identified in the 2007 contract with the United Auto Workers. Lee said Volt production remains on schedule for later in 2010.

GM said in September it would invest $370 million in the new factory, which will employ 330 hourly and salaried workers and allow the company to double its global production of smaller engines by 2011. The plant will have 300 flexible work stations that will let GM build different four-cylinder engines without retooling.

The United Auto Workers union agreed that new hires for the plant would be paid $14 per hour, about half the wages of a current UAW worker. It also agreed to a new flexible pact with GM that lets workers do multiple jobs.

The new factory brings the prospect of more jobs to an industrial city hard hit by auto job losses. GM's nearby Flint Engine North plant closed in August.

The state of Michigan approved $132.5 million in tax incentives for the automaker to spend $838 million on the new plant and to upgrade four other facilities.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081217/gm_plant_delay.html

[TomServo]

Seems prudent to me, why proceed with construction, out fitting and staffing if you don't need the capacity. And once demand increases they can ramp up.

Oh and Merry Christmas.