Michigan works to win Toyota's favor

Living in the past is sad. Dealing with reality is the hope of the future. GM is still huge and will be for some time. However, they are poorly managed. There could well come a time when Toyota and GM could merge to the benefit of both. As the Chinese move forward there will be many new alliances. Michigan is probably not an attractive spot for a new Toyota engine plant because of the economy and lack of state support. And you are right about Toyota trying to soften the blow of their progress relative to the American companies. I like the way they offered to RAISE their prices to help us when our companies had to discount prices to move products.

We better start looking at these moves and work harder and smarter or we won't be able to afford new cars. I keep thinking that Edward Deming is rolling over in his grave saying, "I told you so." He told Henry Ford one day, "You just don't get it." Our companies still don't get it. They have ISO certifications that turn out to mean little more than eyewash. The targets keep moving and we're still only a little bit behind.

Sorry for ranting.

The article's author clearly wasn't concerned about the truth Bob. You're giving far too much credibility to an un-named author. The author is clearly speculating shamefully by using the following 5 phrases in this short, six sentence article:

1. "The rumor mill has it "

1. "Blue-collar workers must be thinking the same way"

2. "which explains why"

1. "Both were presumably doing some subtle scouting "

2. "we think "

Bob, I wouldn't lend any credibilty whatsoever to an unsigned article containing so much supposition. IMHO, the author said a great deal of nothing.

I heard a Toyota manager say they could sell at a lower price, but it wouldn't be nice to struggling GM.

They sure want to avoid the backlash of the 70's when UAW workers and others thought it was cool to demolish a Japanese vehicle for the news cameras. I suspect the climate is far different these days when there are so many foreign manufacturer's plants here employing Americans. There's a cultural difference too. The Japanese don't like to embarrass their competitors or reject people's thoughts directly. My Japanese friend never likes to say "No" when I ask him something. He will say, "It would be very difficult." I am aware that this is as close to "No" as he will get. The Chinese would probably be able to beat everybody's prices too one of these days. They will just do enough discounting to get some market share to begin with.