Toyota could leave No. 1 GM in the dust

9.8 vehicles is a lot of vehicles... WOW.... :clap:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14924245/


TOKYO - Toyota announced an ambitious plan Wednesday to boost global sales to 9.8 million vehicles in 2008 — driving home a message of stellar success as its troubled U.S. rivals are closing plants and scaling back production.
Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. already surpassed Ford Motor Co. as the world’s No. 2 automaker in annual global vehicle sales in 2003.
And the latest plan shows Toyota is readying to overtake General Motors Corp. as No. 1. GM sold 9.2 million vehicles worldwide in 2005, the second-largest volume in the company’s history.

This is good news indeed! Just as long as Toyota doesn't sacrifice its reliability/quality for production costs, like we've already seen with the recalls, but I know they are working on it and they aren't overlooking it. GM is a prime example in what NOT to do. Anyway great post!:thumbup: :clap:

This is good news indeed! Just as long as Toyota doesn't sacrifice its reliability/quality for production costs, like we've already seen with the recalls, but I know they are working on it and they aren't overlooking it. GM is a prime example in what NOT to do. Anyway great post!:thumbup: :clap:

Long term reliability has not been affected at all with the new products which is what I personally care about.

Let's hope you're right. We've had 4 Toyotas since 1997 and the first two seemed more solid than the last two. Oddly, the first two Toyotas were cheaper lol.

Long term reliability has not been affected at all with the new products which is what I personally care about.

Just a question, no flaming please, but how is long term reliability measured on "new" products? Or are you referring to 2002+ vehicles?

Let's hope you're right. We've had 4 Toyotas since 1997 and the first two seemed more solid than the last two. Oddly, the first two Toyotas were cheaper lol. That is due to inflation. If the federal government would stop counterfitting money everytime people use credit cards, and instead require that banks spend their own money everytime people use credit cards, banks would have to sustain losses when people declare bankruptcy, eliminating inflation, as when x amount of gold backs y amount of money, and someone declares bankruptcy, x remains constant and y increases, depreciating the value of each unit of y and causing two things. The first being that you pay on average more for each product and service than you used to pay units of y. The second being that you will earn on average more units of y than you used to earn. These two effects cancel, but due to things like overhead, the cancellation of these two effects is not the ideal equality that you would have in theory, and thus in general, you will be poorer than you were prior to the government's counterfitting. This of course, assumes equal population and economic growth rates, so in reality, you are better off, but much less than year to year measurements of the GDP would have you believe, and not because of the government's counterfitting (which is inhibitory to rises in the standard of living).

That is why things become more expensive over time. It is immoral, it is unconstitutional and it is insane, but that is how things have been ever since Flanklin Delano Roosevelt came to power.

Just a question, no flaming please, but how is long term reliability measured on "new" products? Or are you referring to 2002+ vehicles?

It's based on previous models and if no previous model is available it's based on the companies overall reputation, or they will put "no data available." Perfect example is the Nissan Titan. It came out rated with with a "predicted reliability of good." After it was on market for a couple years it's actual reliability is now in the "below average reliablity" range. I think that's how it works.

It's based on previous models and if no previous model is available it's based on the companies overall reputation, or they will put "no data available." Perfect example is the Nissan Titan. It came out rated with with a "predicted reliability of good." After it was on market for a couple years it's actual reliability is now in the "below average reliablity" range. I think that's how it works.

Absolutely !
A recall is basically a part of a car that MAY cause problems or on a very rare instances, IS causing problems, and the MANUFACTURER is nice enough to admit it and fix it for you.

Long term reliability basically means that the cars AGE GRACEFULLY or not.

If I were Toyota, I would be recalling and fixing any potential problems, rather than having the car fall apart 10 years down the road...

I think its too soon to say if cars like the Gen6 Camry (or other new models) will age gracefully or not. It probably will, and the previous trends agree, however.

But, as always, past results do not guarantee the future.

That is due to inflation. If the federal government would stop counterfitting money everytime people use credit cards, and instead require that banks spend their own money everytime people use credit cards, banks would have to sustain losses when people declare bankruptcy, eliminating inflation, as when x amount of gold backs y amount of money, and someone declares bankruptcy, x remains constant and y increases, depreciating the value of each unit of y and causing two things. The first being that you pay on average more for each product and service than you used to pay units of y. The second being that you will earn on average more units of y than you used to earn. These two effects cancel, but due to things like overhead, the cancellation of these two effects is not the ideal equality that you would have in theory, and thus in general, you will be poorer than you were prior to the government's counterfitting. This of course, assumes equal population and economic growth rates, so in reality, you are better off, but much less than year to year measurements of the GDP would have you believe, and not because of the government's counterfitting (which is inhibitory to rises in the standard of living).

That is why things become more expensive over time. It is immoral, it is unconstitutional and it is insane, but that is how things have been ever since Flanklin Delano Roosevelt came to power.
Not quite. I was actually meaning that our first two Toyotas were Corollas which are cheaper than the current two Toyotas which are the Camry and Prius

I think its too soon to say if cars like the Gen6 Camry (or other new models) will age gracefully or not. It probably will, and the previous trends agree, however.

But, as always, past results do not guarantee the future.

I agree with that too. There is always that doubt and fear for some and hope for some... :lol:

Even if GM recovers, Toyota will reach #1 before GM can stop them.

I love it but lets hope toyota can hang its hat where it can reach it......

I love it but lets hope toyota can hang its hat where it can reach it......

I am positive it has enough money to fix immediate emergencies and get out of holes IF it gets stuck in any. :D