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Toyota hopes for revival after sinking to No. 3

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Toyota he was confident the company was headed in the right direction.

maybe, but the World Stock Markets are heading in the opposite direction. Also, few local brands from emerging markets may offer tough competition to Toyota.

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some14someAug. 09, 2011 - 08:02AM JST

Also, few local brands from emerging markets may offer tough competition to Toyota.

You're right, and that's why most global automakers have to form a JV with those local brands. I believe China even makes it a requirement (probably more so to protect their local brands).

Another point to note is that even if the world stock markets are heading in the opposite direction, China and India have enough population (potential demand) for their domestic markets which is seen as major opportunities for global automakers. In other words, they don't have to make cars in China/India and sell to the world when they can just sell domestically with so much potential demand. The only problem is they have to find a balance between affordable cars for the general population, and prevention of sky-rocketing labor costs like they are seeing in some areas of China right now.

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TahoochiAug. 09, 2011 - 08:41AM JST. You're right, and that's why most global automakers have to form a JV with those local brands. I believe China even makes it a requirement (probably more so to protect their local brands).

it's More complicated then that. What the Chinese will make is a basic 4 cylinder car. I doubt seriously China can make competitive world cars in 20 years. The cars with internal combustion engine is a complicated process and Toyota has the know how. They have 20,000 to 30,000 parts in each vehicle. As a first step, the Chinese know this and they puchased Volvo to undertand the technology, but Volvo is a Volvo and they are not very competitive. The Indian auto manufacturer purchased outdated Jaguar technology.

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sfjp330: That's why I said China requires foreign car makers to form JV's with China car makers...... to ensure the survival of their own brands. But if you read some14some's comment, or the rest of my comment, you would know that the global market is not looking promising right now anyways. But that doesn't matter if you're making cars in China or India simply because of the potential domestic demand for cheap cars (one third of the world's population in China and India, and most of them don't have cars).

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This can be what happens when a company tries to be the foundation of Japan Inc. and places too much reliance on one country for production of cars and parts. Diversifying production and suppliers was economically justified years ago. But Toyota felt compelled by political forces to keep jobs here.

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ganbatte ne

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As a potential car buyer, Toyota cars are ugly today in comparison to the 80's and 90's models. No sale. Really like the Hyundai car models for the body designed. Going for the designed and quality which Hyundai seems to have right now over Toyota.

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TOYOTA - MAKE AN AFORDABLE SPORTS CAR

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MESSAGE FOR TOYOTA:

MAKE A SPORTS CAR make a sports car make a sports car make a sports car What am I thinking about ?

Make a line of sports cars 3 will do !!!!!

make sure the sports car comes with a talking computer hopefully a woman`s voice that sounds like Angelina Jolie

do not make anymore SUV`S

DITCH THE PRIUS

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Given Japan's record of spreading contamination, via the food, within their own nation to the Japanese population how could anyone possibly consider purchasing a Japanese car now? Who knows what level of contamination testing has been done to cars being exported. You know they will show less care for products being shipped abroad than locally. I am DONE with "Made in Japan" for the foreseeable future. It was previously something unimaginable to me but now a reality. Thank you for lies government of Japan and TEPCO.

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I believe that when Toyota set its corporate goal of being the world's largest automaker, it was a sign that it was losing focus. When's the last time a consumer purchased a car from an automaker just because it was the biggest? Scale and quality are unrelated. Scale and innovation are unrelated. Scale and safety are unrelated. Customers don't care about scale, so Toyota should not focus on that metric.

The voice of the customer continues to be related to innovation, quality, safety, and a positive driving experience. If Toyota can succeed in safety, quality, innovation, delivery, and offer a good value, then the company's market share change will reflect these successes.

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How about making something besies bland everyday drivers? Don't get me wrong, Toyota still makes good cars. But I remember driving around my old early 90s celeic and that thing had character, as did most of their cars back then. Now they're all just bland econo boxes that look and feel almost identical.

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spahnmatthew,

When's the last time a consumer purchased a car from an automaker just because it was the biggest?

In Japan? Probably 20 minutes ago.

I think Toyota should come out with a hybrid or all-electric Toyota AA (from 1936) or AB (the convertible). As for spahnmatthew's other comment about innovation and driving experience, yes, they should.

The Toyota AB:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1936_Toyota_Model_AB_Phaeton_01.jpg

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