Will there be a backlash against Toyota?

[Sac State]

Its a global economy. Japan is one of our biggest world allies. If Toyota's were made in Saudi Arabia or Iraq, yes, I would boycott them.

But, I work hard for my money and I got tired of sitting in GM and Ford service bays waiting for stupid things to be fixed.

The domestic's got fat and lazy. Uninspired designs, shoddy workmanship and cheap rent a car fleet images prevailed.

I doubt I will ever buy a GM, Ford or Chrysler product again. Of the US cars/trucks that I have purchased new over the years everyone of them had a major flaw or lingering frustrating issue never resolved by the dealer.

Of all the Japanese cars/trucks that I have owned the most severe issue was a sunroof rattle that was fixed on my first visit to the Toyota dealer.

Here is the differnce in my eyes....

GM, Ford, Chrylser=rent a car, cheap and no resale
Toyota, Honda=high value, high demand, fun to own

Good luck you will need it.

Why should there be a backlash? They beat us at our own game. Kudo's to them.

 

[Mark86]

By the way, I'm sick and tired of hearing John Cougar Mellencamp's song "This is ourrrrr country" in those truck commercials they show ALL THE TIME during NFL games.

That commercial gets on my nerves as well! The new Tundra commercials are pretty funny.

 

[Bill42]

To address in part the possibility of backlash and standing. Toyota has built its big truck plant in Texas - home of the truck. They are making a statement.

Believe me, when Texans begin to accept Toyotas as one of the trucks of choice it will indeed be a sad day in Detroit.

How accessible are toyotas you may ask? My housecleaner drives a new Yaris sedan. Toyota is reaching into all market segments; Lexus, Scion, etc.

Detroit has lost. They must reorganize and refocus on the new realities or they will be added to the big scrap heap of history.

Also, look at the tacoma commercials. Two young guys going around the country to high school football games. I mean, c'mon, they are associating themselves with America's Game.

If you look at their commercials it really says something about what the are trying to achieve. "moving forward" - yeah, move on from what your parents drove, what you may have driven when you were younger and didn't have a choice, etc.

 

[atomic punk]

That's a very good point regarding the marketing scheme they are using.... whereas the American companies usually only focus on blue collar workers, cowboys, and good ol' boys. I'm no marking guru, but I think that they've had that demographic locked up for a long time and should STOP targeting only those owners. It's probably a good time for them to market their USA-made products to a different segment of the population.

A good example is Budweiser's latest ad campaign, using Jay-Z.

 

[jjtricket]

There was a backlash against the Japanese carmakers in the early 80's. You were un american if you purchased a Toyota, Honda, etc. Look where were at today. Toyota is on the way to be the #1 automaker.

 

[NoLimitSoldier]

I personally don't believe there will be a backlash at all. I agree with most people here yeah the Big 3 are Big **** up's all their vehicles are crap, and as most have said they spend most of their time in the dealership bays being worked on, and they have no resale value. I mean look at Mazda decent car company until they got in with Ford and look at them now struggling to make it back up the charts.... (Toyota should look at that) Anyway and to those who say yeah well most of Toyota's fleet sold in America is built in America by America's so it's helping America why can't Detroit be more like Toyota. IMO this comes down to (as someone else stated) management as long as Toyota factories continue to hold quality on a pedestal then their vehicles will continue to have high quality, it's not until management puts their pockets before quality does it suffer. I truly believe this is what has happened to the big 3. Also the big 3 just have outright boring cars for the outrageous prices they try to charge and the fact that even now some Ford and GM base models don't come with power options as part of the price absolutely astonishes me. I'm willing to be the last Honda, Nissan, or Toyota that came with manual windows and locks was the mid 90s I mean hell I had a 1990 Nissan 240 that had power everything minus the sunroof and you could go today and buy a piece of crap GM that you would have to pay extra for the power windows and locks...... I think that is pure BS!

 

[DarksideSurf]

Kia is a good example of an automaker that went from crap to quality in under two decades. Their vehicles are now becoming top notch competitors with Honda and Toyota. If the Koreans can do it, why cant Ford/Chevy/Dodge do the same?

Because we're so damn smart and sexy...

 

[peter78]

I remember when Toyota became #2 and knocked down Ford. They didn't say mcuh are were pretty humble. Now, it looks like to beat GM in number of cars sold. They are not saying much. I think there will be a backlash of sorts.

In December Ford closed the a plant in Atlanta. It is hard to see people lose their jobs. I wouldn't mind seeing American cars do better, have less repairs, less depreciation. Ford and GM keep trying to go against the imports, remember Pinto and the Vega. My hope is they see the light, pay the CEO 1/8 of what they are getting now, use CQI (continuious quality improvement) and start building some kick ass cars.

In the future I will be buying the cars with all the RED dots in Consumer Reports Annual Car issue, it would be nice to see Ford and GM in that class of car.

 

[RonMAIDEN]

There was no backlash against any Japanese company once they started to control teh electronics market so I doubt there would be toward any car companies from abroad. I'm sure we are past that as a country and nothing like it was 30 years ago.

 

[TeryT]

Tundra is the BIG one!

The thing that could really hurt the domestic market will be the 07 Tundra. Big trucks are Detroit's bread & butter. The new Tundra looks poised to really make a dent, with a true full-sized offering.

In true Toyota form, they let Nissan have at it with the Titan. Toyota did their homework, and it will be interesting to watch. I predict that this will be the thing that unseats GM. But GM & Ford have perhaps their best products in the truck line, so we'll see. It will be a good fight I think, and consumers will win.

Over on RV.net, where those boys really like their big trucks, there has been several recent threads on the Tundra, including this one: Tundra Crewmax

 

[Boston_Runner]

Just like when America was the major manufacturer of TV 30 years ago, the US auto industry is now following its path. The US auto industry will be gone in 20 or 30 years from now. We will go on to bigger and better things like we alwasy do.

 

[007Runner]

Just like when America was the major manufacturer of TV 30 years ago, the US auto industry is now following its path. The US auto industry will be gone in 20 or 30 years from now. We will go on to bigger and better things like we alwasy do.

I remember as a kid, my dad so proud of his 25" Zenith console television.
It was practically the best television you could get back then. American cars ruled the road with a fist of American steel.

Then Japanese TV's and cars started to show impressive quality at a great price. As I reached the age of adult hood and needed to purchase a TV for myself. The TV and car market were so much different then when I was a child. Only a fool passed up that HD Sony television because Zenith was on it's way out and by today's standards is considered to be inferior quality.
When a person tells you he purchased an American car, it takes considerable effort not to laugh in his face. You want to say, why would you do a stupid thing like that? This comment was directed toward Japanese cars at one time. I really don't think it will take 20 more years for American cars to vanish like the television did. You said it so well, on to bigger and better things.

 

[jpalaska]

There's an old joke from the '80s that still rings true today:

When the government raised the standards requirements for cars (mileage, safety, emissions) the Japanese auto manufacturers hired 1,000 new engineers to meet the standards.
The American auto manufacturers hired 1,000 new lawyers to fight the standards.

JP