10-06-2005 19:36									#1
	Toyota raising prices -- japanese business Inflate your Upload Space

Toyota might be raising prices so that GM and Ford will survive, even though GM and Ford are making crappy cars that cost too much damn money.

Toyota is afraid that if it is too successfull, trade barriers will be raised in the US for its and other Japanese carmakers' products. But they already have a good chunk of the market, so it's time for them to finish GM and Ford off, gladiator-style. This ain't Japan and it ain't France. Collusion on pricing to help the weak companies just pisses people off.

quote: Toyota may raise car prices Report: The automaker may raise prices on new cars by 2% - 3% out of consideration for U.S. rivals. June 10, 2005: 7:58 AM EDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp. is preparing to raise prices of its new cars in the United States by an average 2 percent to 3 percent in October out of consideration for its struggling U.S. rivals, the Asahi daily said Friday. A Toyota spokesman said the automaker has not yet decided to raise U.S. prices, adding it is still looking at such factors as the competitive environment, costs and profit. The newspaper said Japan's top automaker is preparing to lift prices for almost all its new cars sold in the United States. The move would also reflect higher raw material costs and a cut in sales incentives, it said. To help restore health to the U.S. auto industry and out of fear of a possible U.S. political backlash, Toyota Chairman Hiroshi Okuda has said repeatedly for the past two months that Toyota should think about ways in which it could aid U.S. automakers -- such as by raising product prices. Japanese brands collectively grabbed a record 30 percent share of the U.S. auto market last year, but U.S. automakers such as General Motors Corp. (Research) and Ford Motor Co. (Research) are struggling with sliding sales and huge health-care costs. U.S. car prices are typically set higher when new models are introduced each year. But the rates of increase would be much steeper when cars undergo full-model changes every few years, the Toyota spokesman said. Toyota's shares rose 0.5 percent on Friday to ¥3,830, lagging the Nikkei share average, which rose 1.3 percent.

	10-06-2005 19:40									#2
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haha reversed protectionism LMAO...

japan takes pity on the US...

	10-06-2005 19:42									#3
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Japan could do the same thing by letting its currency float, as it should.

	10-06-2005 19:44									#4
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sorry i wanted to responsed to your post but i am still laughing

	10-06-2005 19:54									#5
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if the yen isn't floating then why is there a currency market in it?

	10-06-2005 19:55									#6
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It's not completely floating. It's a heavily managed market, where the Japanese government often intervenes.

	10-06-2005 19:56									#7
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quote: Originally posted by DeathByTheSword sorry i wanted to responsed to your post but i am still laughing

	10-06-2005 19:58									#8
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quote: Collusion on pricing to help the weak companies just pisses people off.

Having Ford and GM go under will likely piss people off more.

	10-06-2005 19:58									#9
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Is the government constantly intervening to maintain a low value of the Yen?

If so, why hasn't inflation in Japan gone through the roof?

If they're intervening to keep the Yen close to a reasonable level (and simply avoid shocks) then what real effect will fully floating it have?

	10-06-2005 20:01									#10
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Instead of saving GM or Ford, why not let them fall, then buy them?

	10-06-2005 20:01									#11
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As far as I'm concerned Toyota just proves they're sensible and patient.

And aside of that: ****, could Detroit possibly get pwned any more?!

Last edited by Colon on 10-06-2005 at 20:06

	10-06-2005 20:04									#12
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It's not like most of the cars are even built in Japan any more, Dan...

They build in Canada, the US and Mexico for the NA market just like GM does...

	10-06-2005 20:04									#13
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quote: Originally posted by chegitz guevara Instead of saving GM or Ford, why not let them fall, then buy them?

Put yourself in an investor's shoes. Would you buy them? If not, then why would Toyota buy them?

	10-06-2005 20:05									#14
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quote: They build in Canada, the US and Mexico for the NA market just like GM does...

And that's why Toyota should step up to the plate for the coup de grace.

	10-06-2005 20:05									#15
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I wouldn't even buy one of their cars, let alone the whole company.

	10-06-2005 20:06									#16
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quote: Originally posted by chegitz guevara Instead of saving GM or Ford, why not let them fall, then buy them?

Toyota doesn't do grand take-overs. They work by steadily and gradually building their business. It's probably one the reasons why they're so succesfull.

	10-06-2005 20:08									#17
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quote: As far as I'm concerned Toyota just proves they're sensible and patient.

If they had said that they need to raise prices because they can't take on so much market share so quickly while ensuring that they still put out a good product, then that would have been cool. But to say that they are doing it to prop up a sick man, so that in turn Uncle Sam doesn't do stupid stuff is really depressing.

	10-06-2005 20:08									#18
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There's no sane reason for Toyota to take over a burden as large as the employee pensions owed by GM and Ford.

If GM went into unrecoverable bankruptcy then Toyota might buy a couple of their assembly plants and hire some of their laid-off workers, but why buy the whole cow when you can just get the milk?

	10-06-2005 20:09									#19
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This isn't new. Back in 1981/82 Japan voluntarily limited themselves to 1.6 million (iirc) cars shipped over to the US for the exact same reason: They didn't want to be blamed for putting Ford/GM/Chrysler out of business.

	10-06-2005 20:10									#20
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quote: Originally posted by DanS Put yourself in an investor's shoes. Would you buy them? If not, then why would Toyota buy them?

Hmmmmm.

	10-06-2005 20:10									#21
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Toyota just announced they're building another huge assembly plant in Ontario, winning against US-based bids.

	10-06-2005 20:20									#22
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quote: Originally posted by DanS If they had said that they need to raise prices because they can't take on so much market share so quickly while ensuring that they still put out a good product, then that would have been cool. But to say that they are doing it so that Uncle Sam doesn't do stupid stuff is really depressing.

It's depressing because they may be right. Congress is already in a protectionist mood and one wouldn't want to provoke a backlash by driving US' industrial symbols into the ground.

Ford and GM are running themselves into the ground already - Toyota knows they're going to win over anyway - so why risk drawing patriotic ire by rushing it?

	10-06-2005 20:24									#23
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Toyota will end up pwning the Big Three.

I don't think people would be that pissed off if GM and/or Ford went under...everyone knows the Japanese make better cars, Toyota has a jillion plants in the US, and all that's ever in the news about Detroit is layoffs.

	10-06-2005 20:29									#24
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quote: Ford and GM are running themselves into the ground already - Toyota knows they're going to win over anyway - so why risk drawing patriotic ire by rushing it?

The Japanese have been selling cars in the US for a long time. Everybody has a good idea about the quality of cars and trucks that they build. It's not quite like the early 80s. I think a backlash would be minimal, at this point.

Besides, if there's a sick man in the business without a viable business, then it's better for us that he be killed as soon as possible.

	10-06-2005 20:31									#25
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It'd be sad to see GM go under. They've got a fuel cell vehical slated to come out in 2011.

	10-06-2005 20:35									#26
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And by then Toyota will have 18 models of fuel cell cars which cost 1/2 as much.

	10-06-2005 20:41									#27
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This is brilliant. Toyota gets to take the high road, make more money in the process, and wait for GM and Ford to die out.

	10-06-2005 20:44									#28
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This isn't the high road. American consumers are getting shafted!

	10-06-2005 20:44									#29
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quote: Originally posted by DanS The Japanese have been selling cars in the US for a long time. Everybody has a good idea about the quality of cars and trucks that they build. It's not quite like the early 80s. I think a backlash would be minimal, at this point. Besides, if there's a sick man in the business without a viable business, then it's better for us that he be killed as soon as possible.

Ford and GM still sell about half the cars in the US, and they employ hundreds of thousands of Americans, directly and indirectly. If they'd go under there would be a *serious* amount of noise and a lot of blame-shifting in Toyota's direction.

By raising prices, they're throwing the ball to Detroit to prove themselves. They're essentially stating "We are not predators on a mission to crash America's industrial symbols: we just try to make good cars.", which probably is better PR than any kind of aggressive tactic would be.

	10-06-2005 20:46									#30
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Detroit has two responses:

1. Use the reprieve to fix (if possible) operations.

2. Raise their prices accordingly.

If they do #2, we should wash our (metaphorical) hands of them.