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OK, so i re-read the article. it sounds to me like jalopnik (intentionally or not) is twisting the facts to make this sound more evil than it is.
first, Toyota is not mandating this across all vendors. the article states it's for all of 200 parts. that's nothing.
second, cost engineering is nothing new. if you don't think so, ask yourself how that flatscreen TV in your house costs less than a grand vs what its price would have been 5 years ago.
third, as the article states, Toyota does not just leave their vendors high and dry when it comes to figuring out HOW to get the cost down. like my company does with their vendors and our customers do with us, there's probably a lot of 'suggestions' being made to 'help' the vendor. translation: Toyota knows how to run a manufacturing company and is tired of paying vendors for waste they know should not be there. now, is 30-40% aggressive? maybe. it IS over 3 years, so that translates to a more reasonable 10%/yr. and it may not be a mandate so much as it is a goal.
in all, it sounds like business-as-usual to me. it seems that Jalopnik may just be out to Toyota-bash since the 'in-thing' right now.
Mike
PS - for reference, i'm not a Yota fan boy nor a hater. i drive a Scion now, but i've driven mostly domestics prior and see Toyota as no better/worse than anything i have experience with.
Last edited by whiteboyslo; 12-29-2009 at 02:19 PM..
I think Toyota is probably the greatest car company in the world. Their cars are nearly bulletproof, and customer satisfaction is tops, however THIS gives me pause. This is one of the many things that made the Detroit 3 the chaff of the car industry. Nissan was once as well built and reliable as Toyota, but when they got in bed with Renault, their quality went down. I am afraid Toyota may be heading down the road to ruin like Detroit, and Nissan.
If this downward spiral continues, I guess my next car will be a Hyundai or Honda.
I agree about GM and include Mopar as well. But Ford has one of the highest quality ratings in the world now. Ford did not get a bail out either.
I can't speak for Mopar but AC-Delco makes premium parts. Also, most of their stuff is actually made in USA, the important things at least... I notice small parts like hardware kits, cheap sensors and a few other small things are generally made in Mexico.
The management team decided they were paying too much for the plug-in power supplies obtained from a supplier in Taiwan and demanded the costs be dropped by 10%... the supplier said OK, you are the boss.
Later the parts had to recalled because they would catch fire so they confronted the supplier... I remember the Chinese man who just shrugged his shoulders and explained they simply did what the customer requested... cut 10% from the cost.
As others have said, we can't jump to conclusions just yet. Cutting the cost of a part does not automatically lead to a bad product. There are many places where costs can be cut that are unseen by passengers or by simply using other means of manufacture to produce the same part. Cutting cost is smart, cutting cost to the detriment of the product is dumb.
Major manufacturers have been squeezing suppliers ever since there was such a thing as major manufacturers, and this has produced enormous gains in market efficiencies over the years. So I can't say I share your alarm or concern.
So in addition to boring slushmobiles with a propensity to make you fall asleep at the wheel they'll also be cheaply made?
I ain't ever going back to Toyota.
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