Are Toyotas American Made?

Unions provide protection for workers. Granted, we are usually paid more and make more demands but companies are greedy and these days are really likely to squeeze the workers to get bigger dividends. My company made record profits last year. Basically, If I were not union I would be making approx 80% of what I do now. Do you think my company would have charged 20% less for their product? I don't. You get what you pay for in employees. I mean, Toyota is still succeeding even though they employ union workers.

I think the real reason other countries have a leg up on manufacturing is because we take care of our people. We have rules and regulations that make the process more expensive. I.E. child labor, minimum wage, OSHA, ect...

The big three would benefit from better engineering. Period. Make things better from the start. Make sure things are in spec and provide what people want to buy.

 

Mine built in California by UAW workers.

Tacoma (made in CA) one of trucks listed on UAW site as UAW built.

 

Verified by Snopes as legitimate:

The President of GM sent out a letter to employees...... and one of
them responded, sent this copy to his
folks, who in turn, asked him if they could circulate the letter.......
very interesting........................


Abridged letter from Troy Clarke, President of General Motors

Dear Employee,

Next week, Congress and the current Administration will determine
whether to provide immediate support to the domestic auto industry to help it
through one of the most difficult economic times in our nation's history. Your
elected officials must hear from all of us now on why this support is critical
to our continuing the progress we began prior to the global financial
crisis...................

As an employee, you have a lot at stake and continue to be one of our
most effective and passionate voices. I know GM can count on you to have your
voice heard. Thank you for your urgent action and ongoing support.

Troy Clarke
President
General Motors North America

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is a response from one employee (supplier) .....

In response to your request to call legislators and ask for a bailout
for the United States automakers please consider the following, and please also
pass this on to Troy Clark, the president of General Motors North America for
me.

You are both infected with the same entitlement mentality that has bred
like cancerous germs in UAW halls for the last countless decades, and whose
plague is now sweeping the nation, awaiting our new "messiah" to wave his
magical wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same time allowing
our once great nation to keep "living the dream". The dream is over!

The dream that we can ignore the consumer for years while management
myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at the same time that our
factories have been filled with the world's most overpaid, arrogant, ignorant
and laziest entitlement minded "laborers" without paying the price for these
atrocities and that the masses still will line up to buy our products.

Don't tell me I'm wrong. Don't accuse me of not knowing of what I speak.
I have called on Ford, GM, Chrysler, TRW, Delphi, Kelsey Hayes, American Axle
and countless other automotive OEM's and Tier ones for 3 decades now throughout
the Midwest and what I've seen over the years in these union shops can only be
described as disgusting.

Mr. Clark, the president of General Motors, states: "There is widespread
sentiment in this country, in our government, and especially in the media that
the current crisis is completely the result of bad management. It is not."
You're right - it's not JUST management. How about the electricians who walk
around the plants like lords in feudal times, making people wait on them for
countless hours while they drag ass so they can come in on the weekend and make
double and triple time for a job they easily could have done within their normal
40-hour week?

How about the line workers who threaten newbie's with all kinds of scare
tactics for putting out too many parts on a shift and for being too productive
(mustn't expose the lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for
their horrific underproduction, must we)? Do you really not know about this
stuff?

How about this great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke's sad plea:
"Over the last few years, we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with
our competitors." What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40
years?!? Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and efficiency
between us and them? The K car vs. the Accord? The Pinto vs. the Civic? Do I
need to go on?

We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the
United States auto industry for decades. Time to pay for your sins, Detroit ..

I attended an economic summit last week where a brilliant economist,
Alan Beaulieu surprised the crowd when he said he would not have given the banks
a penny of "bailout money". Yes, he said, this would cause short term problems,
but despite what people like George Bush and Troy Clark would have us believe,
the sun would in fact rise the next day. And something else would happen.
Where there had been greedy and sloppy banks new efficient ones would pop up.
That is how a free market system works. It does work . . . .if we would let it
work. But for some reason we are now deciding that the rest of the world is
right and that capitalism doesn't work - that we need the government to step in
and "save us".

Save us? Hell, we're nationalizing. And unfortunately, too many of
this once fine nation's citizens don't even have a clue that this is what's
really happening. But they sure can tell you the stats on their favorite sports
teams. Yeah - THAT'S important. Does it occur to ANYONE that the "competition"
has been producing vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades now in this
country?.... How can that be???

Let's see:
* Fuel efficient
* Listening to customers
* Investing in the proper tooling and automation for the long haul
* Not being too complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr W Edwards Deming
four decades ago
* Ever increased productivity through quality, lean and six sigma plans
* Treating vendors like strategic partners, rather than like "the enemy"

* Efficient front and back offices
* Non-union environment.

Again, I could go on and on but I really wouldn't be telling anyone
anything they really don't already know in their hearts.

I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of wanting
someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten yourself into - my
children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis, as I did at their age. I do
for them what my parents did for me (one of their greatest gifts, by the way) -
I make them stand on their own two feet and accept the consequences of their
actions and work them through. Radical concept, huh. Am I there for them in
the wings? Of course - but only until such time as they need to be fully on
their own as
adults.

I don't want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there certainly
are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of parenting and
government. Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins. Bad news
people - it's coming whether we like it or not. The newly elected Messiah
really doesn't have a magic wand big enough to "make it all go away". I laughed
as I heard Obama "reeling it back in" almost immediately after the vote count
was tallied. "We might not do it in a year or in four." Where was that kind
of talk when he was RUNNING for the office. Stop trying to put off the
inevitable.

That house in Florida isn't worth $750,000.

People who jump across a border really don't deserve free health care
and welfare benefits.

That job driving a forklift for the big 3 really isn't worth $85,000 a
year.

We really shouldn't allow Wal-Mart to stock their shelves with products
acquired from a country that unfairly manipulates their currency and has the
most atrocious human rights infractions on the face of the globe.

That couple whose combined annual income is less than $50,000 really
shouldn't be living in that $485,000 home.

Let the market correct itself people - it will. Yes it will be painful,
but it's going to be painful either way. And the bright side of my proposal is
that on the other side of it is a nation that appreciates what it has, doesn't
live beyond its means, gets back to basics, and redevelops the work ethic that
made it the greatest nation in the history of the world, and probably turns
back to God.

Sorry - don't cut my head off. I'm just the messenger sharing with you
the "bad news".

Gregory J Knox
President
Knox Machinery, Inc.
Franklin , Ohio 45005

 

My Tacoma was built in California and my Wife's Camry was built in Kentucky. I'm sure the wages paid, taxes collected, etc. for the manufacture and sales of those two pumped more money into the U.S. economy than if I had bought a Ford or Dodge that was made in Mexico. The Chevy Equinox is assembled in CANADA.. with a transmission that is made in JAPAN and an engine that is made in CHINA!!! "An American Revolution" my @ss!!!

I'm 43 yrs old and I've been back & forth between Japanese and American cars all my life. I've had mixed results with the American makes but nothing but GREAT luck with the Japanese makes.

I remember back in '91 when there were lots of stories in the news and on TV about the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor - and I felt a little guilty about my wife and I having two Japanese vehicles in the driveway ('87 Mazda 323 and a '90 Nissan Hardbody). Our next four vehicles were Fords - a '93 Taurus and a '96 Windstar for her that were both CRAP - and a '87 Mustang LX 5.0 (bought used with 90K and drove to 160K) and a '96 Mustang Cobra (bought used with 40K and drove to 100K) for me that were both FANTASTIC. Then... we got a new 2000 Dodge Durango 2WD for her that was OK for the first 60K miles or so - and then turned into an absolute NIGHTMARE. I lost SO much money on that POS. We finally cut our losses and traded it for her current '07 Camry (40K+ trouble-free miles so far). I just handed down my 150K-mile '99 Nissan Altima (most relaible, trouble-free car I've ever owned) to my teenager and bought the new '09 Tacoma. I hope it'll keep the streak alive.

 

Companies have the right to greedy and unions are structured to suck the life out of them. And it is really quite simple if you work somewhere and you don't agree with what's going on, then you move on. design your own company and be greedy yourself. Unions are like anchor babies, they seal the gravy deal. Once your in you are in. Unions for the domestic car companies cost the manufacturers between 2500.00 and 3000.00 per vehicle in just retirement benefits alone. Every car the big 3 builds starts 2500.00-3000.00 in the hole just to pay union benifits and retirement packages. Unions killed the steel industry. Toyota proves that Americans can build good cars and quality products if they choose too, and Toyota employees choose to do and it shows. They don't look for ways to do less and get paid more. You wanna get paid more? Worker harder. Getting a raise is not an entitlement to being empoyed. You should earn it. Advancing within the company is not a right but a privelage and is earned with hardwork and knowledge of your business, not something that is acquirred by seniority and some union law. The difference between a Toyota worker and big 3 union worker is, one wants to advance and who wants to know more and do more as opposed to the attitude of they owe it to me. Do the math, it's a pretty simple equation, and it should no surprise of why the big 3 FAIL. By no means is the decline of auto industry completely the unions fault, but it is a HUGE factor. Ask the steel workers in Pennsylvania how they feel about unions or the people of Flint, Michigan or any of the other facilities closed, shut down, gone. Facilities that used to be run by the union, ask them how them union dues are treating them. I fault noone who works in a union based envirement, I understand that in alot of communities you do what you do to survive. I get it. But without them, America stands a better chance.

 

Preach brother preach, Gregory Knox for president!

 

Define profit. There are many ways in which "profits" are used. One would be infrastructure.

Who do you think owns the majority of Toyota stock?

 

The Toyota family.

Sort of the same type of arrangement that works at Ford, the only member of the Big 3 that hasn't come to the goverment for a handout.

 

Now if Ford would just drop the UAW shit they'd probably prosper, quality would really go up & people would come buy their vehicles. I had a 97 v6 5spd mustang that got 27 mpg religously that only pissed me off due to the plastic idler pulley that came on it & the replacement one at the dealer was steel. Other than that I loved it. Only American car I ever had worth a shit. I, as many people have, have tried being true to America & got shit on to the point of just saying fuck it, it isn't worth it any more. What do these asswipes in the management areas of the the big loser 3 & the unions (not just UAW) not understand about their shams being busted & time to get right just completely amazes me. PLEASE REMOVE HEADS FROM ASSES & WAKE UP OR BECOME EXTINCT! The government cannot save you! Only the consumers of this land can when & if you start doing shit right & put out products of use & worth a shit.

 

Profit generally is the making of gain in business activity for the benefit of the owners of the business. in the case of a publicly traded company, the shareholders would be the owners. i know that the majority holder is probably in Japan, but if you got the $$ they could be bought out. it doesn't really matter to me if it's a Japanese uber rich guy or an American uber rich guy. it's not like the American guy will share it with you anymore than the Japanese one will...unless you own stock in GM, Ford or Chrysler. the American companies continue to outsource everything they can, including assembly, where the Japanese companies continue to build new manufacturing facilities here in the states. sounds like Toyota is using their "profits" more to american's advantage than the mighty big three. Ford took out loans about two or three years ago somewhere in the neighborhood of 26 billion. read about it in fourwheeler magazine, if IRCC. they are private loans though, not government issued. they sure are touting the "no bailout for us" aren't they? if they had known the government would be handing out money now, they probably would have waited.

 

Exactly.

 

I agree, Toyota does plenty for our economy and also in ways other than just economically, which is another reason I have no problem buying from them. American workers built my truck so that's a plus in my book. But in the end, the bulk of the profit ends up back in Japan.

There's nothing wrong with Ford using private loan entities to get themselves back on track. Who are we to judge them for that? They're doing what businesses all over this country do every day. BUT, as you say, they haven't accepted our tax money so good for them. At least the feds don't have a hand in their pocket. Oh, wait, yes they do, they (feds) have the unions.

 

you could buy some stock and keep a little more here.

nothing wrong at all with what Ford did to keep things going, but just because they haven't gotten a bailout doesn't mean they aren't in trouble, they just reached that point before the others and resolved it the only way they could at the time.

i guess i just don't have a problem with profits going to Japan. they do exactly the same amount to improve my life as the Ford owners do. only, i don't expect Japan to do anything here with it, wheras if Ford, an "American" company makes big money, i feel they should do more for americans with that money. which i can't say doesn't happen, but i'm only 150 miles from Detroit, and i've never seen it. around here, Honda is the company that helps the local economy.

 

I will solve this entire battle in two words



Pontiac Vibe