Toyota considers job cuts in North America

[DainBramaged]

Toyota is considering cutting full-time employees in North America and the United Kingdom, a company source familiar with the matter said.

Toyota is cutting production as the global financial crisis sends sales plummeting and puts the carmaker on course for its first ever operating loss in the year ending March 31. Its U.S. sales in December fell 37 percent.

The Japanese business daily Nikkei said Toyota was considering cutting up to 1,000 full-time jobs in North America and Britain, as shoppers stop buying cars and the pressure to cut fixed costs mounts.

Toyota is considering going beyond cutting temporary and contract staff to ease out regular employees in North America and the United Kingdom, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not been made public.

The decision on job reductions and possible pay cuts would likely be made as early as next week, the Nikkei said on its Web site, without citing any sources.

The cuts would be made through early retirement and other voluntary programs and the world's largest carmaker was not planning any involuntary cuts, the Reuters source said.

A Toyota spokesman said the carmaker was considering additional cost cutting in North America amid an unprecedented auto industry downturn.

"No decisions have been finalized," Toyota spokesman Mike Goss said in a statement. "However, current business conditions are not forcing us to make involuntary reductions of Toyota team members."

Throughout its history Toyota has for the most part avoided major reductions of regular staff, with the exception of an early retirement program in Japan in 1950 and cuts to staff in Thailand in 1997 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20090123/COPY01/301239940/1208 (subscription only)

[Romulox]

1. Ever notice that DU's "experts" on the auto industry won't touch these threads? nt

[TreasonousBastard]

2. That's because GM's problems are...

caused by inept management and lousy cars no one wants, while Toyota's are caused by...

(something else, I guess)

[Statistical]

6. What "problems" does Toyota Motors have?

The problem of now having largest market share?
The problem of making more profit per car?
The problem of having highest customer satisfaction?
The problem of generating value for its employees and shareholders?
The problem of having consistent and growing profits for last decade?

The auto market is shrinking and all companies have to react to that reality.

GM problems go far beyond the current economy. GM was bleeding cash during the "good years" the auto slowdown and general economic slowdown only magnifies their existing issues. GM artificially kept sales up by using 0% gimmicks longer than anyone else (even Ford) which costs them money in financial side of the house.

At least Ford saw the writing on the wall and worked to close underperforming plants, consolidate operations, pay down debt, and locked in lines of credit.

Now auto company will do well in 2009 and likely 2010 the question is how well will each company weather the storm?

[Romulox]

11. Er, they ran the company at a loss in 2008. That's a problem, don't you think?

"Now auto company will do well in 2009 and likely 2010 the question is how well will each company weather the storm?"

First rule of economic prognostication: if you didn't predict the "financial meltdown" of 2008, your powers of prediction are not of much use.

[TreasonousBastard]

12. Japan still has high hurdles for imports while...

companies such as Toyota are export driven but still have the luxury to domestically fine-tune their cars before selling overseas.

Toyota doesn't have such high legacy costs, and its US plants are newer for obvious reasons-- some of which are joint ventures with GM. (And it has that neat underground plant "manned" entirely by robots.)

Transaction and capital costs are less in Japan, thanks to MITI, other ministries closely allied with industry, and interlocking directorates with banks. Pretty much the same can be said for Korea.

GM has been closing plants as fast as possible, but labor contracts make it difficult. They have been accused of whipsawing plants to pressure the UAW into concessions, but plant closings are still problematic. (Ford didn't have as many plants to close.)

Then, there was that whole Delco mess and some ill-advised deals with Fiat and Daewoo that seemed like good ideas at the time.

GM isn't blameless, but US management in genweral is always under Wall Street pressure for quarterly profit numbers on top of the usual business pressures, leading to some strange decisions.

[Ikonoklast]

16. Toyota has some not insignificant quality problems

that have been dogging them for the last decade. It impacts buyers' decisions to buy another Toyota.

http://www.businessweek.com/autos/autobeat/archives/2007/10/toyotas_quality.html
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/toyota-falling-quality-is-job-one/
http://www.autobytel.com/content/shared/articles/templates/index.cfm/article_page_order_int/4/article_id_int/1481

Yes, Toyota has problems. Customer satisfaction has been declining for quite some time now.

[DainBramaged]

17. No one here believes it, even the Toyota owners who won't shop at Wally World

Sludge smudges Toyota

Jeff Meckstroth's dispute with Toyota Motor Corp. might have ended quietly on March 1, 2001, when an arbitration panel unanimously agreed that Toyota was liable for the damage to the engine of his 2-year-old $37,000 Lexus RX300 sport utility vehicle.

Instead, it escalated. As the two Toyota representatives packed up their papers, they referred casually to other, similar cases they were handling. "Then we had our suspicions up that this isn't an unusual case, that Lexus knows about the problem, and has formed a response -- just deny, deny, deny," said Meckstroth, a 47-year-old New Orleans stockbroker. "We decided to sue."

His case mushroomed into a class-action suit representing prior and current owners of nearly 4 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles that may have suffered engine damage due to thickening oil, or sludge. It can accumulate and deprive the engine of necessary lubrication.

Toyota agreed last fall to settle the case but maintains that its engines were not defective. It said the settlement terms mirror a program to reimburse customers for sludge-related engine damage or repairs that it put in place in 2002. A Louisiana state court is expected to approve the settlement this week after a hearing today.

With engine replacements costing as much as $10,000, the final tab could run into the billions. But the damage to Toyota's reputation might be even more costly for the Japanese automaker.

Toyota is not the only automaker that has received complaints from consumers whose engines are damaged by sludge -- and the source of the problem and who bears responsibility are disputed issues.

But the high-profile case is the latest in a series of recalls and other signs suggesting that the Japanese automaker's quality controls aren't foolproof.

"It would be accurate to say that there have been enough issues with Toyota in the past couple of years that they don't have the spotless image they had a couple of years ago," said Karl Brauer, editor in chief of Edmunds.com, an automotive research Web site.

But he adds that problems at Toyota attract a disproportionate amount of attention because of the automaker's sterling reputation for quality. "Most companies wouldn't get noticed for these problems."

Further complicating matters, sludge issues aren't clear-cut. Excessive heat, sediment, poor oil condition or a combination of those factors may thicken the oil. In engines with very narrow passages, small amounts of sludge may get stuck, causing damage.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070207/AUTO01/702070349/1148

[DainBramaged]

5. All hale ToyHonNis, god of gas millage.

[Statistical]

3. Generally speaking job cuts in a falling market is a good idea.

To produce vehicles people are not buying, then cut the price so you are selling them for a loss, and face build up of unsold inventory which needs to be further written down is not a smart idea.

Worse is when the economy recovers. Consumers get use to the "reduced price" and now that is expected making it hard to raise margins again.

There is a reason why GM is worth: - $70 Billion (that's right NEGATIVE).
Toyota is worth: $132 Billion

GM inability to cut costs in lean times resulting in an inability to maximize profits even when sales were up. GM had to contiually borrow to ensure it stayed afloat. Now GM debt $180 Billion is worth more than all its assets, inventory, and account receivable $110 Billion.

[madrchsod]

4. i guess my daughter will be looking at another 13 weeks after her 26...

it really sucks to explain to my daughter about all this shit. good thing my dad was a democrat that lived through the 30`s...at least i have something to pass on to her generation.

[DainBramaged]

23. Sorry, but notice the Toyota apologists avoided this thread like the plague

[skeewee08]

7. So what will they do in the Southern States?

[Romulox]

9. The only answer: CUT WAGES! nt

[Stinky The Clown]

8. Richard Shelby was seen shitting his shortz

[DainBramaged]

15. The legions of ToyHonNis god supporters sort of disappeared didn't they

next thing ya know, they'll be asking for a bailout.

[boomerbust]

10. May I suggest

All non union auto workers in South Carolina and Alabama take massive wage and benefit cuts to save their employer. Would that be a reasonable solution, Mr. Shelby?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

13. Bbbbbbut Someone Just Yesterday Was Touting Them As Heroes Compared To Microsoft, Since They Don't

layoff workers!

Guess that person must feel like an ignorant jackass now...

[DainBramaged]

14. Blubber blubber balw balw boooie

The sound of the Transplant autoworker blubbering when he sees his unemployment check, and the notice he got with his layoff he has to compete for his job with new applicants when business picks up since in right to work states, they have no rights.

[SmileyRose]

18. Hey, at least he didn't have to join a stinking union.

(do I really need the sarcasm thingy)

[Telly Savalas]

19. Will any members of UAW Local 2244 get impacted by this?

They build Corollas, you know.

Of course you probably don't give a fuck, because you side with management and not the workers. So long as management and ownership is American that's all that matters. Give the Big 3 money so they can force union concessions in the U.S. and build factories overseas -- that's the idea isn't it?

[DainBramaged]

20. Excuse me? I side with management? I don't give a fuck?

2244 is impacted by Toyota's downturn in sales, not by anything I can say or do, but of course, you want to make yourself look good here. Nice try. BTW, do you own a Domestic? Shop at Wal*Mart? Own any American made clothes?


(10:24) still looking through your closets?
(10:31) I guess those Wal*Mart recipts are pretty damning

[JVS]

21. LOL!

:thumbsup:

[DainBramaged]

22. Keeping it real for the jobs that could have been Union strong