News brief in my inbox (from NSPE):
Toyota president acknowledges company problems.
The
AP (3/13, Kageyama) reported that Toyota's president Katsuaki Watanabe acknowledged on Thursday that "the company's rapid global growth was partly behind a surge in problems that has plagued the Japanese automaker in recent years." Watanabe said Toyota "has improved quality controls, and is sticking to its sales targets." He stressed that "the reasons behind the defects were varied, spanning development, design, production, suppliers and maintenance," adding that "at least some of the problems, including time pressures and shortage of experts, stemmed from the company's dramatic growth in recent years." Watanabe "comments highlight a sense of crisis at Toyota," while it "is trying to maintain its sterling reputation for quality as it seeks to expand globally, especially in emerging markets such as China, Russia and Brazil."
Toyota to cut U.S. production. The
Wall Street Journal (3/14, A13, Stoll, Valcourt) reports that, as "[a] new auto-sales forecast" and other development signal that "the moribund U.S. auto market may be getting worse," Japanese automaker "Toyota Motor Corp. said it would slash production of big pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles by undisclosed amounts at [U.S.] plants in San Antonio and Princeton, Ind., underscoring the impact of high gasoline prices and consumers' shift toward more fuel-efficient cars."
Bloomberg (3/14, Ohnsman) adds that Toyota "plans to trim production of full-size Tundra pickup trucks as U.S. vehicle sales slow."
Reuters (3/14, Kim) quotes Toyota spokeswoman Carri Chandler as saying, "We are basically adjusting to the current business condition." She noted, "We're keeping all our people. ... There will be no layoffs."
Watanabe: It will take years to make commercially viable fuel cell cars. The
AFP (3/14, Hasegawa) quoted Watanabe as saying, "Work is moving ahead to build a next-generation eco-friendly car running on fuel cells but it will take years to make it commercially viable." In 2007, Toyota "reported success in a test of a fuel-cell car," the FCHV vehicle, which "was driven about 350 miles on a single filling and finished with 30 percent of the hydrogen still in the tank." But, in addition to "the hefty price of the FCHV, Watanabe noted that motorists would need an infrastructure of hydrogen filling stations if they are to take fuel-cell cars on the road." Toyota also "was the pioneer of hybrid cars, whose engines switch between petrol and electricity." These "cars have been particularly popular in the U.S. at a time of soaring oil costs." Watanabe expressed the desire "to go further and 'make a car that can actually clean the air, so that the longer it runs the cleaner the air becomes."
Reuters (3/13, Hayashi) noted that "Toyota and other Japanese automakers face a stronger yen at the same time Korean counterparts such as Hyundai Motor Co. stand to potentially benefit from the won, which hit a fresh two-year low against the dollar on Thursday."
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