Topic: VW to beat Toyota???????

[Erik]

Bad days for Toyota.
After briefly beating GM to become number 1, looks like their plummteing sales may knock Toyota into the number 2 position!
Strange days indeed. Sucks to be Toyota right now.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/17/autos/Toyota_VW.reut/

(saw that this was in the VW thread too, but this is too big a story to hide there.)

[Erik]

More bad news for Toyota. $5 Billion in loss predicted for the new fiscal year. Sure, it ain't a GM level of loss, but it looks pretty ugly now. Unless the market recovers, it likely will turn even uglier.

http://www.motorauthority.com/report-toyota-may-lose-up-to-5-billion-in-2010.html

May have to change the title of this thread to "Bad News for Toyota".

[Erik]

Plant cancellations in the US. No big surprise. They were betting on huge growth.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090327.RTOYOTA27ART1944/TPStory/Business

[barrie1]

Just goes to show how much the Gov and some of the Company Heads are lieing about this whole finacial mess they created and not the working man on the street at all. They want him to pay for their fackups which have cost how many Billion already. The conditions they are attempting to impose on the working people who only ask for a small loan of a minor percentage of what the Crooked Bankers and Financiars got with virtually NO restrictions on them as well. Even GM has stated wages are NOT the problem at all so really what is the real problem other then the Gov and their nonsence with their rich frineds who they keep letting get away with paying less taxs then we do most years as well. Wake up folks and the Smell the Roses and cover your backside as it may be next they go after for your rights and money as well.  The auto workers are only the 1st in the lineup to be shafted, are you next?

[johngenx]

Toyota has mimicked GM in trying to be all things to all consumers.  Their product line is too large.  RAV4, Highlander, Venza, 4Runner, Sequoia?  Each of those models has a ton of range within them as well.  I like many of their products, but just in SUV's and trucks, they have way too many choices.  The investment in product development and production is huge. 

[Honda Owner]

Toyota has mimicked GM in trying to be all things to all consumers.

Good point. Honda did not get into this trap. They have a limited product line from a very limited number of platforms, only three in North America. They remain profitable, too, because when you buy a Civic, you know exactly what you are getting.

[mmret]

Agree with the 4Runner/Sequoia thing. Not sure why they need those. Don't even know the difference.

Why can't they just bring the Land Cruiser and call it pat, then the lineup sits like:

Yaris / Hatch
Corolla / Matrix
Camry
Avalon
Venza
RAV4
Highlander
Land Cruiser
Prius
Tacoma
Tundra

And to replace the 4Runner/Sequoia they should give us a Supra and Celica AllTrac

[Mitlov]

Agree with the 4Runner/Sequoia thing. Not sure why they need those. Don't even know the difference.

4Runner's built on the Tacoma platform, Sequoia's built on the Tundra platform.  Though the modern 4Runners are pretty much full-sized; they're available with a V8 and a decent third row.

Why can't they just bring the Land Cruiser and call it pat, then the lineup sits like:

Yaris / Hatch
Corolla / Matrix
Camry
Avalon
Venza
RAV4
Highlander
Land Cruiser
Prius
Tacoma
Tundra

And to replace the 4Runner/Sequoia they should give us a Supra and Celica AllTrac

Maybe they they should axe the Avalon and make the Lexus ES the size of the Avalon?

And I'd love to see an IS-F, minus the back doors and the luxury interior, sold as a Toyota Supra.

[initial_D]

Looks like Toyota beat themselves up pretty good, no need any help from Toyota.

From the Fortune 100 numbers for fiscal year 2008, GM lost over 30Billion, and Ford about 14Billion, and Citigroup lost about 27 Billion. For Toyota, losing large chunks of market shares in key markets hurts them more so the $5 billion.

[Thinking Out Loud]

Agree with the 4Runner/Sequoia thing. Not sure why they need those. Don't even know the difference.

Why can't they just bring the Land Cruiser and call it pat, then the lineup sits like:

Yaris / Hatch
Corolla / Matrix
Camry
Avalon
Venza
RAV4
Highlander
Land Cruiser
Prius
Tacoma
Tundra

And to replace the 4Runner/Sequoia they should give us a Supra and Celica AllTrac

My choice

CARS

Yaris / Hatch
Corolla / Matrix
Prius
Camry (and bring back a Camry Coupe version - not a separate Solara deal)
Avalon cause Buick is still around 

OTHER (future)

Venza
RAV4 and a 'RAV8' (RAV8 would be more powerful RAV4 to replace-ish the 4Runner)
Highlander cause Venza's here now
Land Cruiser
Tacoma
Tundra

There you would have it IMHO:  four cars, five trucks...back to basics!

[inco]

Missing from the Toyota list is the FJ.

[Thinking Out Loud]

In another thread articsteve (I believe) had mentioned that the FJ has already had the plug pulled for 2010 or 2011.

[TopGun]

Volkswagen, meanwhile, is benefiting from government stimulus plans for the car industry that have boosted sales in Germany, China and Brazil, which together accounted for 44% of group sales last year,

http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/17/autos/Toyota_VW.reut/

Why those no good...oh...VW benefiting from stimulus plans...interesting.

Interesting to see them do so well in China.

[Squishy]

Last time I was in Beijing, we stayed at the air force base in the city.  I would say the majority of non-combat military vehicles were VW Jettas and Santanas.  Many of them were taxis as well, although the taxis also had a good share of domestic (to China) nameplates.  Could account for why they are doing so well.

[Honda Owner]

I would say the majority of non-combat military vehicles were VW Jettas and Santanas

VW was the first auto maker to set up shop in China. For a long time, they were the ONLY one. The general scuttlebutt in the industry at the time was that they were crazy for doing it.

[onearmed]

It's funny how here in north america Audi and VW are basically niche market sellers.  Small volume, perceptions of a small company when actually they are quite big in the worldwide scheme of things. 

[locutusx]

There's nothing in the current Toyota lineup I'd consider except maybe the Prius, but I don't drive nearly enough for that to be worth it so it would be more to show off my "green factor".

Hell, I don't think I'd even consider anything in the Scion lineup as they still seem too Toyota-ish! I might consider a Lexus or two but even their cheapest ones are out of my price range - even used! (unless I go waaay back to like a 2001/2002 IS 300)

VW models I'd consider:
Golf/Rabbit
Jetta with 2.0T or TDI
GTI
GLI

I might consider another Toyota to replace my mum's car. In that case I'd seriously look at one of the RAV4's or a Highlander since she has a craving for SUV. But I have no interest in any SUV's for myself.

(if you see my list above, I'm interested in either a sports sedan or a hot hatch. Toy has nothing which really fits into those 2 categories)

[blur911]

It's funny how here in north america Audi and VW are basically niche market sellers.  Small volume, perceptions of a small company when actually they are quite big in the worldwide scheme of things. 

Yes, Porsche does quite well with it's other car companies. 

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/06/porsche-raises-stake-in-vw-to-50?icid=sphere_blogsmith_inpage_autoblog

A Porsche spokesman told Automotive News that, pending market conditions, the company intends to own a 75% stake by the end of 2009.