..Toyota cars have fewer defects than any other make, and Toyota has several other advantages that make the company a compelling investment.
To start, rising gasoline prices are likely, and Toyota is a leader in hybrid technology. It opened its first U.S. hybrid car plant in Kentucky last year. And while Ford and GM are closing plants, Toyota plants here and abroad continue to operate at full capacity, points out a Citigroup research report. Toyota employs as many workers as GM, it just does so much more efficiently. In fact, the last time Toyota had a big layoff was the 1950s.
Toyota is a financial juggernaut. It has been the world's most profitable automaker for years. When earnings slip a bit, the headlines aren't about layoffs and restructuring, they're about the company sinking more yen into research and development or quality control... ========== GM vs Toyota vs Ford, 10-year chart:
"George Orwell" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@mixmaster.it...
GM's and Ford's earnings have not slipped a bit. They nose-dived.
I think the bottom line is that Toyota and Honda think a lot more about the long-term growth of the company compared to Ford, GM and Diamler Chrysler.
I do see more long-term thinking at the Michigan-3: I am impressed with the cars all three have introduced in the US in the last 2 years. And Chrysler is making great improvements to its minivan.
"George Orwell" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@mixmaster.it...
Not entirely accurate...
According to JD Powers the leader in initial quality is Porsche, followed by Lexus, Hyundai, and then Toyota.
For long term dependability JD Power ranked Toyota fourth behind Lexus, Mercury, Buick, and Cadillac.
In either case the difference between Toyota and "average" is trivial and probably not statistically meaningful (I can't see how 0.3 problems per car can be significant). One study recently concluded that Ford and Toyota quality were in statistical dead heat.See :
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If it employees as many workers as GM, yet, at least until now, sold fewer cars, how can they do "so much more efficiently?" The statement seems wrong, although the sentiment might be right.
And although Toyota might be doing well in the US and Europe, in its home market, it sales are down more than 10%. In contrast, outside of it's home market (the US), Ford is doing well, but it sales are down
13% in the US. So when the press talks about Ford, they always emphasize the US problems. Why is it when the press talks about Toyota they skip over it's home market problems and emphasize the US results?
So why then has Toyota had major quality problems in recent years? In
2005 Toyota recalled more cars than GM or Ford. Why does the US press rarely mention this?
Here are some other references regarding Toyota quality:
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For an example of how irrelevant this is, see
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Personally, I'd recommend against investing in any automobile company. But I suppose if I wanted to invest in the segment, I'd go for the undervalued company - and I can't see how that is Toyota. The long term trend has for Toyota to track lower than the major averages. With the recent run-up in the price, it has greatly out performed the averages. I would expect the price to drop back to the historical trends in the longer run, making an investment in Toyota risky. This has nothing to do with the quality of the cars, so no matter how good the cars are, I don't think the stick is a good bet. But that is just my opinion.
We had to come up against them in the specialty chemicals business, and they were formidable. Apparently the Japanese have (or had) strong support from the financial sector to allow them to spend time and money in development and market control. (I suspect the Japanese worker is the one who makes the sacrifices in terms of taxes,etc, and the industries stand to gain from this strong position)
Never think, however, that they are not innovators nor that their technical sector is not equal to ours. Our children seem to be suffering from laziness and underachievement, while theirs still work hard to learn and achieve.
This is not a short term challenge for the USA. We have a problem, and it is us.
Unfortunately, Wall Street is too often driven by next quarter's results. The results 5 years from now is more important.
It is very sad when you see American kids who gifts are wasted. I see it every day in NYC, where there is not nearly a strong enough culture of learning. This same culture is in every American city. Fortunately, there people who are able to give these kids a real chance, like those who sponsor I Have a Dream programs and Harlem RBI.
Sadly, some inner city youth are more likely to spend time in jail than they are to go to college. What a waste.
We also have a solution: It is us.
As they say, if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
Toyota - invest in a winner Group: alt.autos.gm Date: Mon, Apr 30, 2007, 7:45pm (EDT+6) From: Use-Author-Supplied-Address-Header@[127.1] (George=A0Orwell)
I guess we should, the Japanese government is heavily invested (through subsidies). But here's a question. If everyone in America invested only in foreign companies and bought only foreign goods, where would they get the money to live?
Absolutely, Jeff. I saw an interview with Bill Bradley this morning, and his attitude is so very positive. He said, basically, that we dont need 'leadership'. We need to organize ourselves strongly and TELL our elected servants what to do. We certainly cant expect much from them, historically.
The American people are good and strong. But we have to get our of our LazyBoy chairs and get our business in order.
If we cannot or WILL NOT enforce our borders and immigration rules, what sort of worthless people have we sent to Washington. We need a Million Gringo march, or something.
Yes, certainly. My great-great-grandparents came from Germany and Switzerland. When they came here, they came with a great work ethic. My great grandfather worked in the mines in Scranton. My grandfather that coal around on the back of a Ford Model A pickup truck in the winter and ice around in the summer.
We certainly should march all these Gringos. Strait to the schools and the libraries, with all the people in the US. What this country needs is brainpower. Our inner-city kids, our country kids, our suburban kids, whether they are citizens or not are our main resources. We need to work together to make this a better country.
I am excited to report my TM stock has increased 50% January 2005. I only wish I had bought more but I can't complain about my CVX stock that has increased the same amount since I bought it three days afterwards.
What do you actually get when you purchase Toyota Stock? I assume you are actually buying American Depositary Receipts for Toyota Motor Stock. What bank holds the actual shares? Do they keep a portion of the dividends or sales price to cover their expenses?
Personally I'd be nervous holding onto a stock trading at 2 to 2.5 times it historical average.
I buy my stuff through mu online securities dealer, Etrade. The only thing I have to show that I own any stock is my monthly statements and the sales form. You don't get actual certificates anymore unless you buy directly from the company.
In most cases you are right about overpriced stocks but the rules are changing and yield/dividend or PE ratio is not always the primary focus when purchasing stock. Besides, Toyota Motor Company certainly has the capital and long-term focus to back up its current price.
Look at IBM circa 1978....As soon as you see a graph going up at an 45% angle and hear executives talking about growing at that rate into the future - RUN AWAY! Toyota has a fair amount of room to grow - assuming they can take down at least one of the US big three , over come the Chinese distrust of Japanese companies, keep the Koreans at bay, hope that the Chinese don't take over the lower priced market, .......you get the picture. Again, RUN AWAY. Sometimes the Bulls win, sometimes the Bears win, the Pigs always get slaughtered.
About 6 years ago, I open an account with an internet bank, Lighthouse Bank. The bank was owned by Brookline Bank in MA. The bank was a part mutually owned and part owned by shareholders. As a depositer, I had the option to buy shares at $10 each. When I got my three hundred shares, I got an actual stock certificate. I had a retail account at Fidelity, so I took the stock certificate there. I later sold the shares and made like 60% on the deal. I just wish I had more money back then so I could have bought more shares.
That was the only actual stock certificates I actually owned.
You can buy stock certificates for companies like Disney and Hersheys. They are meant mostly as gifts for kids. It costs only $143. Most of that is for the frame, transfer fee and such. THe stock is worth $55.
On a recent episode of Sound Money, there was some rich guy who is barely out of the fortune 500. That rich guy has the weird had of getting actual stock certificates rather than trading electronically.
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I disagree. There are many things to look at like the business model, company leaders, history, and future trends in the industry as well as the numbers.
I see what you mean. Those big companies like SprawlMart, ExxonMobil and CocaCola never do well. ;-)
Actually, Toyota is making a ton of money in North America, and is growing in countries like India and China. Hey, even Ford is able to make money overseas. As more and more areas are being industrialized, more and more people want to buy cars. Toyota has a lot of room to grow.
Of course you do some research before buying any stock. You will find that Toyota is one of the best forklift truck manufacturers in the world too. I wanted to buy a "made in the USA" forklift so I've since bought four from Toyota.
You didn't say that. You said that dividends and P/E is not are not the primary focus. You talked about the postive non-numerical things, but you did not say that shoudl be part of a decision.
== IBM looks good to me again. They had the largest number of patents issued last year, sold their PC division, have bulked up on profitable acquisitions, are reasonably priced, and their margins are good.
I am not sure selling their PC division was a good idea.
But, overall, I think IBM is a good buy, for the reasons you cite, but the fact that they still make a bunch of money from mainframes and they do a ton of consulting for iCommerce (the 'i', in this case, stands for "IBM", not "internet").
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