http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...ta.aspx?page=1

Three page article that sums up something like this:

Toyota may provide for comfortable livelihoods all across America. It may even be your own car or truck of choice. It might have even provided you with a scholarship to go to school. But after all is said and done, there is one simple reason why Toyota never has been and never will be an "American" car company.

Well, 13.2 billion reasons, actually. Toyota earned a $13.2 billion profit in 2006. And where, exactly, did those profits go? It seems there's one very big thing that isn't American about Toyota, and that is where those profits go at the end of the day. To me, that makes Toyota a Japanese company, plain and simple. A company that is now inexorably woven into the fabric of this country, but a Japanese company nonetheless.


08FEH

 

I would rather see a fair handed company that makes solid reliable products invest in US production and export the profits than a US company move production to an oppressive wage depressed country and return inferior products to sell back to hard working Americans.

Bottom line, I like seeing good companies succeed. Toyota seems to be doing well for now.

The big 3 keep shifting over seas, and they consistently fail to present vehicles that can counter the offerings by Toyota, Honda or Nissan.

When you take a hard honest look at vehicle purchases. I mean a real analytical look. I don't think you could come up with many scenarios where it makes any sense at all to buy "American". I would love to support one of the big 3, but the fact is that they don't make anything desirable and they are more detrimental to the US than the Japanese's or Korean car manufacturers.

US companies have gutted our ability to actually manufacture in this country. If industry was called on as they were in WWII to ramp up production to protect this nation we would be in serious trouble as all the manufacturing capacity has shifted to the low wage flavor of the day.

Toyota's profits going back to Japan are a very very minuscule part of the real issue. What about Royal Dutch Shell profits or British Petroleum. The numbers from those companies dwarf those of Toyota.

 

twuelfing I like your post !!....JOE

 

This is a huge issue no one wants to see. Cheap products from cheap labor means "not in the USA." Many manufacturing plants have been shuttered over the past 25 years, especially over the past 10. This is bad for our economy, and super-bad for our security.

 

Makes you wonder though, if Royal Dutch Shell, or British Petroleum profits were ever considered "a very very miniscule part of the real issue".

Who just took over the number one automobile sales slot??

Someone is growing (the company) and with our US support, they too could "dwarf" even American built products... oh wait... they already are!

Just food for thought..
Take just a moment, put your pride aside regardless of what you have or haven't purchased, and think about it (supporting your country). Someday it might be a more important issue to those that don't at least try to.

08FEH

 

If you are concerned that Toyota isn't playing on a level field, that may be valid since they don't have the same worker benefits or union contracts as the US companies. However, the concerns about "where the profits go" are misplaced today.

Toyota is a publicly owned company, just like GM and Ford. There is no evil monster in Tokyo eating American dollars, anymore than there is one in Detroit. The profits go to the stockholders. Toyota is listed on the Tokyo, New York and London stock exchanges. If you think it's making too much money, you can just buy the stock and get on the gravy train, just like you can buy Royal Dutch Shell or Exxon.

 

Don't confuse "market cap" with equity and reserves. Market Cap is a measure of what a company is worth and is arrived at by multiplying it's share price(s) by the number of shares outstanding.

Equity, as is the case with your home is the amount that you (or Toyota or GM) own outright, net of liabilities. Outstanding stocks and bond issues are liabilities. Companies tend to own a significant amount of their own stock. None of the benefit of these stocks flow back to public shareholders. Also, corporations can choose how much and whe they "share" with their shareholders by the way they structure dividends. Some companies never give dividends. Others commit to giving dividends no matter how tough times are for the company.

Lastly, you have to look at cash on hand and other operating funds and how they are soent when they are spent. In Toyota's case, most of their spending is with other Japan based corporations. GM / Ford / Chrysler tend to do more local sourcing in the communities where they have operations, although all are gradually changing that practice in order to achieve lower cost sourcing of components and services.

Peace,

Martin

 

Actually, if you look at the manufacturing footprints of GM, Ford, Toyota, and Volkswagen you will see striking similarities in terms of where (countries) they build vehicles and powertrains relative to where they sell. The biggest difference will be that you will not see a significant presence of any foreign automakers in Japan. The government is VERY protective of their domestic industry.

Peace,

Martin

 

are you saying that by purchasing a toyota or honda I am not supporting my country, but if i buy a GM or Ford I am?

this is preposterous. Compare the domestic parts count in the vehicles, compare the job security of the workers at the various factories, compare the capital investment in US production recently of these companies.

if you werent saying that I apologize as I have misunderstood you.

 

Unfortunately, this is not a binary issue, but one that is many levels deep. Defining this by domestic parts count doesn't get to the level of impact that any company has in the US or any other country for that matter. Parts count gets to the material cost of a particular product. IT doesn't get into the engineering talent, management talent, advertising support and all the other things required to design, develop, test, market, produce, and support a product.

For example, in the state of Michigan, 181,000 jobs are directly tied to the auto industry. There is probably a multiplying factor for jobs / businesses that have a secondary dependence on the industry (suppliers, accountants, attorneys) or even further down the line reliance (the deli three blocks from the plant that supplies cutting tools to the factory that's across state).

There are companies that have manufacturing facilities in China to support GM and Chrysler manufacturing plants in China that require Chinese domestic content. The profits for those operations support the local Chinese economy, but to a greater extent they support the growth of the US based company and its employees who are still stateside. That supports the local economy and the businesses that sustain the local economy. Same model works in reverse for Japanese companies, headquartered in Japan with operations in the US. Most of the profits of the parent companies go back to the regions / countries that the parent company is located in.

GM operations in China are very profitable. Some of the things my group does here in Michigan support those operations. The profits of those operations go to the GM bottom line, and since GM is a global company based in the US, those of us in the US who support the operations in China, or South Africa or Dubai or wherever GM operates share in those profits. That helps the US economy.

Peace,

Martin