http://www.autoweek.com/article/2009...NEWS/910029996

 

Wow, with a spare capacity of 30%, something will have to give for Toyota in the form of Plant Closures if markets don't turn around soon.

Also interesting to see that the US market has tanked since the CFC Program finished.

I said this at the time that the industry will have a huge hangover when this CFC ended.
It is s short term solution to a major problem...money!, credit and gas prices.

 

They make a good appliance for the uninterested, but they also support their appliances with the same level of attention of your local street bum.

See?

 

Toyotas are boring, even more boring than hondas, and thats how they're perceived by young people

If you dont care about cars and just want it to work buy a toyota

Just went to a focus group and saw the redesign for the tC, it looks like the unholy mutant offspring of a tC and 300C, comes with big 19-wheelies, pioneer assault stereo, etc. Struggling to make it more fun and exorcise some of the chick car aura.

IMO they need a halo car and build some marketing around that (supra, MR2, whatever, something new)

Pretty hard to build an interesting car when it doesn't seem like anyone on the board is interested in cars

 

It's true, their current lineup is pretty boring. However, I like the Prius, which my mother owns, even though it's a polar opposite to something like the RX-8. Instead of slicing up turns, running the engine up the powerband, and bitching about gas mileage, I find myself enjoying conservative driving whenever I'm in that car in order to see what kind of gas mileage I can squeeze out. It's just a shame that it turns like a boat.

How's this for an interesting Toyota?

 

Those are exactly my thoughts for considering a Prius in addition to my RX8!

 

Well going back to the drawing board on the styling would help - ALL current Toyotas are ugly and serioulsy over-penned - they're a visual blight!

 

Toyoda?


The company name butchered you have ...




.

 

If even as big as Toyota is crying for help, Mazda wont be that far off.

Now Im looking at that R3 in the lot .... 10K off INVOICE here I come? LOL !

 

Don't be so certain..

Ever heard, the Bigger they are the Harder they Fall..

 

Told YA!

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-...05-701348.html

 

mazda=smaller=more flexibility.

toyota=bigger=more rigidity and fixed costs.

 

subscription is a no for me

Free version

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091005/..._japan_mazda_1



I can also sense a "BIG SALE" is coming real soon ....

 

Mazda also said it will issue new common stock later this month that will reduce former U.S. alliance partner Ford Motor Co.'s stake to 11 percent from 13.8 percent. The automaker will issue 460 million shares from Oct. 14 to Oct. 20, raising as much as 95.9 billion yen ($1.1 billion) for research and development into green cars and safety features.

Going....Going........Gone?

Looks like Mazda did not have a lot of Luck in Buying Toyota's Hybrid Tech from the Prius, as it was rumored.
$1.1bil is quite a few Cookies for small Mazda as just R&D into "Green Cars", more like the money will go into copying the Toyota/Honda Designs and changing it enough not
to infringe on Copyrights....they all do it...take a bit here, and there and put is together and what have you got....

 

Mazda & Ford need each other to survive (more like Mazda needs it, whatever) cuz they shared a lot of parts.

But lesser Ford the better. Mazda(japanese) wants to get the controls back for decades.

 

I don't know to what extent one needs the other. Ford uses a lot of mazda engines for the smaller cars, especially in europe and uses mazda platforms to build other cars.
So mazda will see a lower income but Ford will need to start from scratch a lot of things... That's when you can steal a big slice of a market!

 

maybe it's a new start for mazda......a return of pre 80's mazda.......before Ford.

Ash, do you think really that this financiary moves means "we go alone with hybrid?"

 

Umm, I am just not so sure that Hybrid is going to be a large market segment or market % or share...still too early to tell, I think it needs more players.

Then there is the massive additional cost from a buyers point of view...the return on investment is not there...let alone if it is profitable for the car maker.

Has Toyota made any money from the Prius...not much one would think.

So does Mazda go it alone???...I still think they should wait and see, I really like their philosophy of lighter but safer cars with more efficient engines....to me this is a much better idea at the moment..

Not so sure Mazda can do all these drive trains, Banger, Rotary, diesel, and maybe Hybrid?

 

Well Mazda was actually dividing the engines with Ford so this will be a big question to answer.
Anyway FIAT can produce several, different and crappy engines so i would love to see them fail with chrysler instead of mazda struggling to survive as somebody is hinting here.

Anyway Mazda never had a huge range of engines and car styles compared to the other japanese car makers so i'm fairly sure that this hangover will affect them less than the sinking honda and the drowning toyota
Less is often more in the industry when you need production agility and solid marketing.

 

Yes, and Mazda's export sales, although down since the "crisis" were powering along very well and is starting to improve again.

Something just does not sit right with the Fiat/Chrysler deal...you know Italian's G, if they don't get their way they will just walk away from a deal..VERY hot headed...lol..not you though!

 

I do am a hot head, with italians! I really don't like our behavior and that deal says much.
Then just go have a look at fiat's engine gamma. Too many engines, too many cars with different platforms and close to 0 carry over. That's what honda did as well, and we can see the results

 

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e7d45a5a-b...nclick_check=1


Mazda said it would spend Y60bn of the cash it intends to raise on “environment- and safety-related development”, including petrol-electric hybrids, an area in which it has lagged competitors such as Toyota and Honda.

The rest of the cash would be used for factory upgrades and other general capital investment, the company said.

Mazda uses a hybrid system developed by Ford in the single hybrid car it offers, a version of its Tribute small sports utility vehicle, which is itself based on the Ford Escape. Only a small number of hybrid Tributes have been sold.

Mazda said it planned to show a prototype hybrid passenger car at this month’s Tokyo Motor show and will begin selling the car by 2011. The new vehicle may use hybrid components supplied by Toyota, the world’s biggest car company and the largest producer of hybrids.

Mazda asked Toyota to sell it hybrid parts earlier this year, according to people familiar with the matter, though both companies have declined to confirm details of the arrangement.

 

Toyota already shut down the San Antonio plant for a short while to cut back on Tundra production.

Recently they announced they will start producing Tacomas at the plant since they sell so much better.

After owning a Tacoma for 10 years I decided to get another. Just bought an '07 PreRunner a few months back. From my experience no other car company comes close to Toyota's quality. I doubt they will be in trouble for very long.

 

My financial google-fu is lacking. Where is Mazda listed? I am only seeing it listed in Germany? I think I will keep tabs on it, and buy some shares. Not like 13% stake or anything, but maybe 50-100 shares to have on hand. I'm willing to invest in their future

Yeah, build quality is great. Service and support quality is .... somewhere farther down the shadowy portion of that ladder. I'll never buy another Toyota again, unless they want to start standing behind their vehicles, dealerships, and customers.

 

Glad to see Mazda is doing fairly well... As far as toyota it was expected