Toyota set to post its second yearly loss ever
Autoblog reported today that it’s expecting Toyota to post a losing year this coming March when its fiscal year ends. This will be only the second time in its 71 year history that Toyota has reported a loss. The first time was after its first year of operation in 1937/38. Yeah, back before World War II.
So it appears that all the fuss about the Big Three always being losers isn’t quite validated this year. Granted, the Big Three automakers are still losers, but at least they just won billions of dollars in bailout money!
Who knows, maybe people will go buy up a slew of Toyotas before March to help them make their numbers and we can leave them out of the loser list for 2008/09. Do you have plans to buy a car in the next 3 months? What kind are you leaning towards right now?
I’m going to buy another GM vehicle. Sounds like you’re fully in the tank for the big three to die. Not very clever dude.
I’ve driven GM all my life and I love them. Can’t say the same for Toyota or Honda.
@Jerry, actually I’m not at all in the tank for the big three to die. I wouldn’t wish failure on any company, especially ones so big with so many employees. But there are both positives and negatives to letting an automaker go bankrupt, such as allowing them to avoid UAW contracts, dealer contracts, etc. that will let them improve their business model much more quickly.
I’m not a Toyota vehicle fan, but I am impressed with their efficient business and manufacturing model. I have an Operations degree and we studied their models pretty thoroughly during my undergrad. I’m interested in seeing how this all turns out, and just glad I’m not directly impacted by it (although as a taxpayer I’m very directly impacted by it I guess)
It is interesting to see the different attitudes towards government help in the US and Japan. The Japanese government has been very protectionist for new industries when they were first coming together — the US has decided to get more seriously involved in the auto industry now that it’s falling apart.
I just bought a 2009 Toyota Corolla. I love it. Big & roomy!
I don’t plan on buying a vehicle for myself for at least 2 years. I will be getting a new company vehicle though in the next few weeks…a brand new shiny Ford Escape.
I’m must say I am surprised that Toyota will be posting a loss. My foreign company of choice is Nissan.
While I dont plan on buying a vehicle in the next few years, I did go test drive some vehicles a couple of months ago. I test drove the Toyota RAV4 and HATED it! It wasnt worth the more than $20,000 they were asking. And a used one was $18,000+. To me, it felt like a cheaply designed little SUV with lots of road noise. I also test drove a Scion xD and a VW Tiguan. Both were better designed and quieter and the Tiguan had all the power I wanted and more and they were both less expensive than the Toyota. When it is time to replace my current VW (which I have had for 9 years), I will most likely go with another VW but that wont be for a while as I am driving this one until it dies.