Toyota Looks To Increase Influence Amid Backlash Fears
Toyota fears that its success will cause a backlash among American politicians.
And the world's second largest automaker seems to be right. Recently, lawmakers in Congress from states that have U.S. car manufacturers' facilities have accused the Japanese government of keeping the yen artificially low and giving an advantage to Japanese automakers. They are also complaining that just under a half of the cars Toyota sells in the United States are imported.
On the other hand, American consumers don’t seem to have a problem with Toyota. However, as Toyota inches ever closer to surpassing General Motors as the world's number one vehicle manufacturer, Toyota fears that such consumers may join the backlash. In order to stem this possibility, Toyota plans to add foreigners to its board of directors and to increase foreign ownership in the company.
Our take? Toyota is playing it smart. While many within the enthusiast community poo-poo the idea, the growing conservative within the country, plus economic turmoil that could spread nationwide if one, or even more, of the Detroit 3 collapsed, could solidify American pride which could focus attention to the many discrepencies between Japan and the U.S.
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