Japanese manufacturers to give America "breathing space"

[Coventrysucks]

If this weren't true i'd be funny.

This is the BBC, and now at three o'clock; the news... beep... beep... beeeeeep:

Toyota boss fears US trade fury

Japanese designs are proving popular in the US
Japan's car makers should consider giving their US rivals a breathing space to avoid the risk of a political backlash, the boss of Toyota has said.

Japanese car makers have taken nearly one third of the US market. Last week, General Motors posted a quarterly loss of $1.1bn, and Ford's profits fell.

By contrast, Nissan had record profits, and Honda's net profit rose 27%.

"We need to give time for some American companies to take a breath," said Toyota Motor chairman Hiroshi Okuda.

Mr Okuda, who is chairman of the Japanese employers' group Keidanran, said he was "concerned" about the situation at General Motors, the world's biggest car maker.

New trade wars fear

"Although a trade conflict, like ones....in the past, may be avoided, there may be some impact, because the car industry is symbolic in the US economy," the Asahai Shimbun newspaper quoted him as saying.

As a solution, he suggested either forming technical alliances with US firms, or raising the price of Japanese cars sold in the US.

However, a spokesman for Toyota later dismissed price rises. "Our basic stance is that prices are something for the market to determine," the company spokesman said.

During the 1980s, Japanese firms faced political tensions in the US as lobbyists for local industries accused them of dumping unfairly cheap goods on the North American market.

Since then, Japanese car makers have switched production to US factories and boast their cars contain a high level of locally-made parts, and US manufacturers have become more concerned about competition from China.

But in the last couple of years, the popularity of Japanese cars with American consumers has hurt US car firms. Toyota last year sped past DaimlerChrysler to take third place in the US market

Many motor industry analysts argue that US motorists prefer Japanese brands because US manufacturers' designs are dull and dated.

Honda profits

Honda continued the Japanese challengers' successes with its fourth quarter results on Tuesday.

Net profit rose 27% to 95bn yen ($896m; £470m) against a year earlier, while sales climbed 9.5% to 2.35 trillion yen, shrugging off an the impact of an unfavourable dollar exchange rate.

Operating profits jumped 24%.

Nonetheless, analysts were disappointed as Honda's figures came in slightly below their forecasts, as did its prediction of overall profits growth of 3% in the 12 months to March 2006.

Honda is best known for motor bikes, and the popular Honda Civic family saloon.

[deffenbaugh03]

Haha! I'm glad to see most americans agree our cars (mostly all of them) are crap. American car makers really need to shape up and get better. I'm not proud of my country in the current car industry at all.

[CdocZ]

Originally Posted by deffenbaugh03

Haha! I'm glad to see most americans agree our cars (mostly all of them) are crap. American car makers really need to shape up and get better. I'm not proud of my country in the current car industry at all.

Well, our companies here at home shaped up after alot worse of a loss back in the mid/late 70's fuel crisis: we lost our muscle cars. They made up about as much of the car industry as SUV's today, and gave American companies prestigious names (on the streets, not in the fancier area's, mostly). But we recovered.

We may take a huge hit, but chances are, GM will stay alive, and so will Ford and Dodge. We did it before, chances are we can do it again.

[Smokescreen]

1.1 billion? I though GM was actually doing better, lots of new cars and most of them have been getting decent reviews. I think the grim reality is, car are no longer something American companies can produce competitively. Truck wise I don't see a problem. They don't have a defined personality, I think if they got one, they would do a hell of a lot better. Dodge is the only one that has one, they have definitive American cars at least, big, powerfull (300C, Magnum, Charger) and RWD. The only thing is see changing anything is a big, big 360 turn, not just imrovement. They have to take a rick and do something that no one else does. For GM, the Zeta might have been their savior. I platform with lots of body options (wagon, sedan, coupe, maybe ute) engines, and powertrains. Make all the parts almost interchangable, so you could do it on one production line. Bring back slant sixes, and V8+RWD in their midsize and larger models. Make all the cars stand out. American cars used to be rather flashy, somthing their missing today. Use completly usless parts and things you don't really need. I know that might sound ubsurd, but when things are different and unique, people want them. Build a super compact, hybrid, customizable car with lots of character (VW bug, for an example) and with great milage. Car might not be the greatest, but if it is something people want, they will buy it. I think a complete revolution is nessacy, not just an evolution of current stuff.

[Fleet 500]

Originally Posted by deffenbaugh03

Haha! I'm glad to see most americans agree our cars (mostly all of them) are crap. American car makers really need to shape up and get better. I'm not proud of my country in the current car industry at all.

Overall, American cars have fewer problems than European cars according to Consumer Reports survey of 850,000 car owners:

[IBrake4Rainbows]

I'm very confused by this.

The Japanese have the chance to land bloody death blows to companies it competes with for sales, and it gives a reprieve?

Mustn't be a fair fight, or an "honourable victory".

Good on em for recognising the problem, but i think a lot of the workers wouldn't care what badge they were fixing onto a car; as long as they were still paid at the end of the day.

[Matra et Alpine]

Originally Posted by Fleet 500

Overall, American cars have fewer problems than European cars according to Consumer Reports survey of 850,000 car owners:

Yep, good to see the Ford Focus ( Eureops design from 4 years ago ) has pushed the quality of cars in MAerica.

Been over this old ground before. DON'T make the same mistake of grouping all Eureopan cars in your mindset as you only get to see the expensive and VERY expensive ones and the stats are WELL skewed by the M-B propensity for having motors fail in the seats

You sound a bit liek the bBritish bike industry in the 60s. They went under. Some of THE biggest names in the WORLD. Complacency is a terrible sucide

[Matra et Alpine]

Originally Posted by IBrake4Rainbows

I'm very confused by this.

The Japanese have the chance to land bloody death blows to companies it competes with for sales, and it gives a reprieve?

Mustn't be a fair fight, or an "honourable victory".

Yeah they've looked at GWB and his metnal state adn decided if they do damage any of the big three then the intelligence will claim the Honda/Toyota/Mazda factories are housing WMDs and bingo problem resolved.

Sounds like a company running scared if the street bully.
Funny how every other nations car industry had to change to survive - and now Britain has lost ALL of its original voluem manufacturers - but American companies get a "reprieve" !!! WTF ????? That's as clsoe to breaking international trade lawas as it gets. Roll on Airbus

[Dino Scuderia]

Went to the recent Atlanta Auto Show, GM and Ford really made a poor showing compared to the competition but they want to price their cars the same or more.

For example, the new Pontiac G6...not a bad looking car on the outside but I sat in one which had leather seats, but as usual all the plastic looked really cheap and there was no brushed aluminum or woodgrain trim like a lot of the competition has. The interior was just a big void, even all the control buttons in the dash were the same color as everything else. The price was $29,000!

The only cars that GM has that come close to world class are the new Caddy's and the Vette.

Ford doesn't have much, all they know are Mustang's and trucks.

Chrysler....just look at the Charger...need I say more.

Don't forget that Hyundai is now building cars in Alabama - the Koreans are going to surpass Detroit too. In many respects they already do. Did you all see the story on how many UAW members still smoke while working on the assembly line? Sheesh, the US auto industry is about 30 years behind at this point.

[Quiggs]

Originally Posted by IBrake4Rainbows

I'm very confused by this.

The Japanese have the chance to land bloody death blows to companies it competes with for sales, and it gives a reprieve?

Mustn't be a fair fight, or an "honourable victory".

Good on em for recognising the problem, but i think a lot of the workers wouldn't care what badge they were fixing onto a car; as long as they were still paid at the end of the day.

GM owns stock in too many other companies and industries. If they go under, a lot of other companies would suffer or go under, too. It'd be bad for everyone.

[Dino Scuderia]

GM needs to go to bankrupcy fast. It's really their only chance to survive, and get out from under the UAW which is their biggest (but not the only) noose around their neck. Then they need to slash nameplates/model by about 50%. They don't really need to kill of any divisions, they just need to keep each division focused on their best, non-overlapping product(s). Then they need to offer Korean-level incentives/warranties and prices to get people back in the damned door. It's an uphill battle that can be won if they have a friggin' game plan.

[lukeh]

I think the Japanese market will soon dominate the worlds car market there
cheap to buy and run
reliable
easy
what more do the people need.

[lukeh]

But i have to say i dont like Japanese American and Australian cars,

[labomba]

American corporate complacency... may well end in tears.