All Entries Tagged With: "Toyota"
Five Links To Give You Better Perspective On The Great Detroit Pile Up
Foggy Times.
By Gunnar Heinrich
CLEAR perspective on Motown’s troubles is hard come by these days.
With that said, here are five articles that may help.
1. BBC: “Triple Whammy Hits US Carmakers” Leave it to the BBC to give us the big picture by highlighting a complex story’s simple foundations. World Service reporter Theo Leggett points to the three biggest problems facing Motown’s Big Three today: the economic slowdown, health care + legacy costs, and strategic mistakes, plus a bit of bad luck. Okay, that really makes four or five.
2. NYT: “Echoes of 1979 In The Detroit Bailout Debate” The Gray Lady remembers an eerily similar time back when Jimmy Carter was in the White House. Then Chrysler CEO Lee “safety doesn’t sell” Iacocca flew by private jet to Washington looking to borrow $1.5 Billion ($4.2 Billion in today’s greenbacks). Chrysler received the money in a loan agreement that ended up benefiting Uncle Sam, “The gamble seemed to pay off for the government. Chrysler settled its debt by 1983, years ahead of schedule, and the Treasury made a profit of more than $300 million on the loans.”
3. Globe & Mail: “Chrysler Canada Seeks $1-Billion [Loonies].” In the spirit of globalization, reps from Chrysler’s Canadian subsidiary are reported to be the first of Detroit’s Big Three to trek up Ottawa’s frosty Parliament Hill seeking a (Canadian) Federal loan. While Ottawa’s politicos are mulling the request over a Molson or two, they’re coming back with many of the same questions that are being asked in Washington – like how a Billion Loonies will help Chrysler recover when the company lost US$3 Billion (CAD$3.8 Billion) last quarter.
4. NPR: Retirees Watching Anxiously: Will GM Be Saved? NPR’s Dustin Dwyer goes for the microcosm approach and talks to Dave Anderson, one of the General’s former footsoldiers who’s worried about the future of his (sweet) pension in the hands of an obstreperous Congress. As a UAW carpenter, Mr. Anderson was paid more than $100,000 a year for at least seven of his 31 years constructing (and deconstructing) GM offices. But - sigh - that was then. Mr. Anderson’s severance this summer was $62,000 plus health benefits.
5. Asahi Shimbun: “Toyota Profits Plunge 74%” In a brisk reminder that the automotive market’s ills aren’t just Detroit’s to bare (or bear) alone, an archived article from November 7th in Japan’s leading paper kept it short ‘n sweet. “Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it expects a 73.6-percent drop year on year in group operating profits through March, citing the soaring yen and falling overseas sales. The full-year projection was downgraded to 600 billion yen, the lowest since Toyota adopted U.S. accounting standards in fiscal 1998.”
