What is Digg?145 Comments
- StupotAce, on 07/10/2008, -1/+53Good. Americans could use the jobs.
- Number23, on 07/11/2008, -4/+36Remember all you digg-tards bleating about the weaker dollar? Well this is one of the benefits. Ford is looking to move production of euro models to America and Airbus(t) and VW are expected to build plants here. Exports are at all time high too.
It also makes outsourcing more expensive, so that’s good for me. - magicjohnson, on 07/10/2008, -3/+32Toyota is an extremely smart company, which is why I'm surprised they didn't do this ages ago.
- jbmcb, on 07/11/2008, -1/+20Not surprised at all. Here's the trick to "imports":
1. The parent company makes all the parts in Japan, off-shore, or wherever
2. The parent company SELLS the parts to the holding company that owns the assembly plant in the US (Toyota Motor North America)
3. The holding company puts the parts together and sells them to dealers/channels/whatever
4. The parent company (Toyota Japan) tweaks the cost of the parts to the holding so that the holding company just breaks even
5. The parent company doesn't have to pay import tariffs on cars (which are much higher than car parts) , OR any corporate profit tax in the US (since the holding company is just breaking even)
They're selling more and more Priuses (Priuii?) which makes it more profitable for them to build them in the US and get around the import tariffs. - ez12a, on 07/11/2008, -3/+19after they were caught with their pants down and Honda pulled ahead in terms of sales in the past few months. Honda's factories are flexible enough to build different cars from the same assembly line, not to mention their Ohio factory employs thousands of US citizens.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/07/02/ap517933 ... - mywhitenoise, on 07/11/2008, -1/+17Dude, I get 45 MPG, and I don't drive any differently than when I was getting 20/25 MPG in my Corolla.
You'd have be the worst driver in the world not to get improved mileage from a hybrid. - curtisag, on 07/11/2008, -5/+20You can thank California for the reason we don't have fuel efficient diesel technology in this country like Europe does. Their air quality laws on diesel engine cars are the most restrictive in the world, which is why nobody sells the cars in the US.
- FamousAnus, on 07/11/2008, -1/+15I imagine that GM would probably like to have plants in the US...but then they would have to deal with the U.A.W. Toyota is non-union...actually every Japanese-owned plant in the US that I am familiar with is non-union. Amazingly, the workers seem to make their living, and the cars are obviously not poorly constructed...the U.A.W. would have you believe that it's all impossible though.
- xieodeluxed, on 07/11/2008, -5/+18just get an EV-1
o wait.. - diggydougie, on 07/11/2008, -0/+12This is the product of a weak dollar. Look for more of the same in the future. We will go back to being a manufacturing and exporting nation. Then we will cry that other nations are exploiting our resources. Slowly the cycle will repeat.
- unpolloloco, on 07/11/2008, -3/+14Now if only GM could manage moving over some of their production to the US from Mexico......
Maybe if they didn't manage to lose $38000000000 a year due to bad management, they might be able to - NewClassic, on 07/11/2008, -1/+12While it is true you can stretch your miles out very well if you drive correctly, the same applies for hybrids as well. People have successfully modded Priuses to get 100+ MPG in-city. The one things most people don't notice is the awful highway mileage hybrids get.
As someone who goes home from out-of-town college on occasional weekends and for the holidays, I couldn't afford to get 25-30 on highway, even if I get a stellar 40-45 in city.
Hybrids are cool, but they're for in-city drivers. If you want to talk the nitty-gritty of fantastic mileage, get a motorcycle. - subhuman, on 07/11/2008, -14/+25Also - america is the only country that thinks a hybrid is still more efficient then just driving carefully or buying a diesel ->
http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_styl ...
For the power that the prius actually has (very little) its mpg is poor. a VW golf 1.9 TDI could easily exceed it in both performance and fuel economy and its less money AND the whole cost/pollution of the batteries... - CrackyJSquirrel, on 07/11/2008, -0/+10Another of GMs problems right now is for some reason they have long term goals for big trucks and SUVs.. Which they can hardly give away these days.
- dragon76, on 07/11/2008, -0/+10BMW also announced that they are moving their plants to the US from Germany because of the strong Euro.
- ontain, on 07/11/2008, -0/+9But I like fuel efficiency and clean air to breath :P
- BinaryFragger, on 07/11/2008, -0/+9Um, many 'imported' cars are built in America and Canada.
Honda, Toyota, Nissan, BMW and Subaru all have plants in North America.
The Accord, Camry and Corolla, 3 of the highest-rated cars, are built in North America. - inactive, on 07/11/2008, -2/+10I love you toyota....FYI i got a civic...sorry.
- askantik, on 07/11/2008, -0/+8The Toyota plant is about 15 minutes from my house :)
It will be interesting/strange to have the Prius built here in place of the Highlander due to the higher concentration of uber-conservative SUV-driving soccer moms, and etc. that are around here. - AgentX640, on 07/11/2008, -0/+7Yes... because we all know that the guys assembling the cars are the ones who engineered them as well.
/SARCASM - codemonkey2841, on 07/11/2008, -19/+26The Prius is such an overrated car!
- DanPlainview, on 07/11/2008, -0/+7The car is available here, it just wasn't made here until now. Good job reading the article ;-)
- blacktriangle, on 07/11/2008, -0/+6You know there is no demand for the EV-1...
/sarcasm - groo68, on 07/11/2008, -0/+6no, there building another factory to meet demands, they wont lower the price, they will just profit more off the old price.
- StevesJobs, on 07/11/2008, -1/+7If their management was bad did they really *manage* to lose $3800000000000
Think about it... - shagmin, on 07/11/2008, -2/+7The UAW hurts the big three too much. There is a webpage I have bookmarked at home that explains how much more workers are paid and get more benefits working for the American companies. But then Japanese companies have plants in America mainly placed in economically depressed areas for a reason.
- Labyrinth336, on 07/11/2008, -2/+7well the people at the company make up the brand... so yes, the brand can be referred to as smart.
- LeeSoong, on 07/11/2008, -1/+6GM: Godless Management - still building 20 mpg gas guzzlers. Forget them.
- cadmiumpaint, on 07/11/2008, -0/+5Toyota has no choice. With the plummeting dollar, its getting harder and harder to import cars to the U.S. and make the profit they want. Makes more sense to build them here.
VW delayed importing of their new Tiguan SUV for that very reason...last i heard they were shopping for facilities in the U.S. to build vehicles in. - sodade, on 07/11/2008, -0/+4I've got an Idea for you Toyota, why not just remake the small trucks you were making in the 80s? I recently went to buy a truck and realized that every ***** "small" truck on the market is a ***** monster truck.
- j0se, on 07/11/2008, -1/+5Its because Germany is getting most of the Prius. For every 10 Prius Germany gets the US gets 2-3. Because the Germans are paying out more. And also the Prius are being sold $6000 over base price at most Toyota dealerships at the moment.
- bphicke, on 07/11/2008, -0/+4Good luck with that.
- JBrown99, on 07/11/2008, -1/+5Well it also has to do with rising fuel costs. The money saved by not shipping a product will offset any increase in wages they have to pay.
- cadmiumpaint, on 07/11/2008, -0/+4Toyota already builds some of their stuff in America...i think most of their trucks are built in the states.
- DanPlainview, on 07/11/2008, -1/+5How do I get dugg down? That is a good concern to have. If they really are concerned about emissions they would figure some way out to cut down on the emissions that they make when they produce and ship the batteries. It is a concern.
- wiggles, on 07/11/2008, -0/+4This is why diesel cars don't sell in the US: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_Diesel_V6_ ...
Basically, GM royally screwed up their engine designs in the 70's and 80's. The failure rate of the engines were way too high, and as a result, nobody will buy a diesel engine for anything but a truck.
That, and we only just started to get the low sulphur diesel fuel you euros have had for some time -- diesel has a nasty reputation of being dirty, sooty, and smelly. - gweedo767, on 07/11/2008, -0/+4You do realize that Toyota already assembles most of their vehicles state now right? It is a lot cheaper.
- blacktriangle, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3Japanese companies should start importing the 'kei cars'.
- burningmanstan, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3More diesels are on the way. However the situation is a little different in the the US. Many states have adopted super strict emissions requirements for diesel cars. Any diesel sold will need new emissions reducing technology which adds to the cost of the vehicle. Also diesel isn't subsidized in the US and it costs a lot more per gallon. Also we have a lot of truckers who want all the diesel. Even with all these issue i think diesels could become more popular if people found out how durable and fuel efficient they were. Biodiesel from algae would be the long term solution to many of these problems. An increased interest in diesel cars combined with the airline industry interest in algae may encourage more people to invest in algae farming.
- humbled, on 07/11/2008, -1/+4That was a pretty flawed study. It's actually a pretty "duh" result as well. The Prius saves energy in *city* driving. As you say, driving carefully is part of it - and the only thing that study shows is that cars are built for different situations. What's the city mileage on the BMW? I'm sure it doesn't approach 45, which is about what the Prius gets. And you need to compare the total cost/pollution of production of the two vehicles, not just one single component.
That being said, we need to do something about the diesel situation in the USA. That is, we need to switch to it. Gasoline -> diesel -> biofuel (biodiesel) -> 100% electric, or perhaps hydrogen. That would provide a smooth ramp of change. My understanding is that diesel engines rival or exceed the efficiency of hybrids. Someone told me (unverified) that the Prius is far from the most efficient car in Europe. I want my 70mpg diesel car! - humbled, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3My understanding is that diesel puts out less CO2 than gasoline, although it has higher particulate density. That sounds exactly what we need... keep the global dimming effect while we take a bite out of CO2. Particulates tend to take care of themselves quickly (compared to CO2) through rainfall. Point is, diesel may look dirtier than gasoline but I believe it's actually cleaner.
- askjeffro, on 07/11/2008, -3/+6I recently had to fly to Indiana for a wedding and rented a Ford Focus and drove it over 500 miles. I was shocked when I did the math to confirm what the car was telling me, I got 40mpg over my entire trip.
The reason I mention this is that I think you simple statement is correct, I never thought this before. When you consider the energy requirements for building a hybrid compared to a car like the Focus (Which I felt was comparable to the various model Priuses I've driven) its a wonder that America is so fascinated with hybrids when a simple ICE setup gives you nearly the same return. (My Prius experience has returned 44mpg on average). - LeeSoong, on 07/11/2008, -1/+4As long as it is the new Toyota Prius+ Solar:
200 mpg,
can plug into the wall outlet to recharge,
and has a self recharging solar panel on top of the car to recharge itself when it is parked.
THAT is the car the USA needs - fuel prices are becoming out of reach of the average American, especially when gas hits a price of $8 ~ $12 dollars within the next two years. - katorga, on 07/11/2008, -1/+4Toyota is re-purposing the new plant in Mississippi from Highlanders to Prii. This will delay opening up to 1 year. Toyota is not "that" smart. It takes them 1 year to convert an assembly line to a new model. Honda takes 10 days! Toyota sales dropped 18% and Honda's went up 4% because they could instantly switch production to Civics and Fits to meet demand. FYI, it takes GM or Ford a new plant to switch production to a new model line! Talk about poor efficiency.
- trisweb, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3Yes, because all corporations are evil, even the ones trying to improve fuel efficiency.
Who cares if it's mostly or purely market driven? That's the way it should be; it works and it's a win for everybody. - hdhock3y, on 07/11/2008, -0/+2Wouldn't any little bit of power help?
- cougar3429, on 07/11/2008, -1/+3To be fair, the article was in English not.....Canadian, eh?
- Zanzabar33, on 07/11/2008, -1/+3Damn, Labyrinth336... you just served StevesJobs balls to his mother... you earn my digg, kudos*
- stk198323, on 07/11/2008, -3/+5@cadmiumpaint:
Wow such a retarded comment! The prius has shortcomming too: 4000$ batteries you need to replace hum... at 8 - 9 years interval?
And Toyota offers a whopping 8 year warranty for your battery... coincidence? (They too will need to be replaced directly after the warranty end's!)
And beside instead of paying 26 000$ for a Prius, if you pay 14 000$ for a focus you can still put almost as much as the car value in reparation and pay pretty much the same amount... And that's if the prius NEVER breaks... -
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