Comments on: Toyota Is World's No. 1 Automaker

First Quarter Sales Bypassed GM For The First Time Ever

[incog-nito]

Not to worry. When GM finally goes under it will be the American taxpayer who will bail it out, as they have done for Chrysler, Harley-Davidson, etc. in the past. Big business loves to talk about the gospel of the free market, that is until they get in trouble. Then suddenly they love socialism in the form of corporate welfare.

[screamingbm]

Nice Job Toyota! Your cars are great! Too bad we can't say that about the "Big 3". They got too fat and happy and don't start to innovate until it's forced to by quality and efficency driven japanese automakers. Thanks especially to Ford that convinced me never to buy american after 13 recalls and many other expensive premature failures on my '98 Explorer (Quality is job 1, right? ya right). Yeah, go ahead and crank out Excursions and Hummers and Hemis to provide a steady stream of money to terrorist middle east nations to fill these hogs up while you wrap them in American flag decals. Suckers.

[screamingbm]

Nice Job Toyota! Your cars are great! Too bad we can't say that about the "Big 3". They got too fat and happy and don't start to innovate until it's forced to by quality and efficency driven japanese automakers. Thanks especially to Ford that convinced me never to buy american after 13 recalls and many other expensive premature failures on my '98 Explorer (Quality is job 1, right? ya right). Yeah, go ahead and crank out Excursions and Hummers and Hemis to provide a steady stream of money to terrorist middle east nations to fill these hogs up while you wrap them in American flag decals. Suckers.

[ov442]

.D. Power and Associates Reports: MEXICO Automotive Plants Outperform U.S. Assembly Plants
In Initial Vehicle Quality

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 8, 2003
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.%u2014The initial quality level of vehicles produced at plants in Mexico and exported to the United States has surpassed that of vehicles manufactured at U.S. plants, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2003 Initial Quality StudySM (IQS) released this week.
~~~
J.D. Power and Associates Reports: TOYOTA Motor Sales Captures Top Corporate Ranking in Vehicle Dependability
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 29, 2004
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.%u2014With 7 models topping their vehicle segments & Lexus ranking highest among nameplates, Toyota Motor Sales, USA. captures the top corporate ranking in the J.D. Power and Associates 2004 Vehicle Dependability StudySM.

[ov442]

heres for late 90s used vehicles
J.D. Power and Associates Reports:
Lexus Ranks Highest in Vehicle Dependability
For Sixth Consecutive Year
Certified Used Vehicles Outperform Other Used Vehicles In Vehicle Dependability Study
The 2000 study includes responses from 28,415 original owners and owners who purchased used 1996 model-year vehicles.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 2, 2000

AGOURA HILLS, Calif.%u2014Lexus ranks highest in long-term dependability for the 6th consecutive year, with less than half the vehicle problems than average - according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2000 Vehicle Dependability Study. Following Lexus in the ranking is sports car manufacturer Porsche, with Infiniti, Toyota & Acura, respectively, rounding out the top 5. Only 3 non-luxury makes are in the top 10 Toyota, Honda and Buick.
Cadillac finished 11th, Olds finished 13th, Saturn 16th, and Ford, 21st.
*Finishing below industry Average in Alphebetical order are: Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Eagle, GMC, Hyundai, Isuzu, Jeep, Kia, Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Plymouth, Pontiac, Saab, Suzuki, Volvo, and Volkswagon.

[ov442]

June 2006 JD powers Initial Quality Survey -

2006 IQS Ranking Highlights

Lexus and Toyota models continue to dominate initial quality rankings, capturing 11 out of 19 segment awards in 2006. Lexus models rank highest in every segment in which they compete. In addition, the LS 430 ties the Porsche Cayman for having the fewest quality problems in the industry. Other top-ranking Lexus models include: IS 250/IS 350, ES 330, SC 430, GX 470 and LX 470.

Toyota remains a quality benchmark, capturing five model-level awards%u2014for the Corolla, Solara, Camry, Highlander and Sequoia%u2014more than any other non-luxury brand.

Porsche and Lexus lead the luxury brands, while Hyundai, Toyota and Honda set the pace among non-luxury brands.

[ov442]

for vmcneal2 -
read into it as you will...

2005 J.D. Powers survey ranks cars by overall owner satisfaction=

Top vehicles by category
Compact car: MINI Cooper
Entry midsize car: Pontiac G6
Premium midsize car: Kia Amanti
Full-size car: Toyota Avalon
Entry Luxury car: Lexus IS300/IS300 SportCross/Mercedes-Benz C-class
Mid luxury car: Lexus GS300/GS430 (2006)
Premium luxury car: Lexus LS430
Sporty car: Ford Mustang
Premium sports car: Chevrolet Corvette
Midsize pick-up: Honda Ridgeline (2006)
Light-duty full-size pick-up: Cadillac Escalade EXT
Heavy-duty full-size pick-up: GMC Sierra HD
Entry SUV: Kia Sportage
Mid-size SUV: Nissan Murano
Full-size SUV: Nissan Armada
Entry luxury SUV: Lexus RX400h (2006)
Premium luxury SUV: Land Rover Range Rover
Midsize van: Honda Odyssey
Full-size van: Chevrolet Express

[vmcneal2]

Most people who think GM still makes junk have not driven a GM product in 20 years. Just look a JD powers reliability/sales satifaction surveys and see which companies have the most cars in the top ten. I'll give you a hint it's not Toyota or Honda. GM just seems to be the company people love to hate.

[screamingbm]

Nice Job Toyota! Your cars are great! Too bad we can't say that about the "Big 3". They got too fat and happy and don't start to innovate until it's forced to by quality and efficency driven japanese automakers. Thanks especially to Ford that convinced me never to buy american after 13 recalls and many other expensive premature failures on my '98 Explorer (Quality is job 1, right? ya right). Yeah, go ahead and crank out Excursions and Hummers and Hemis to provide a steady stream of money to terrorist middle east nations to fill these hogs up while you wrap them in American flag decals. Suckers.

[themightyhoe]

Rodger Smith was a terrible CEO. I didn't like Rick Wagner at first either. But now I think he's doing a hell of a job. I think he's in it for the long run. And you can thank the unions for keeping his pay so low.

Toyota came over here in the 80's(thanks Rodger) and we showed them how to do everything! About 7 years ago we went over there copied what they were doing. Toyota is going to surpass GM as the #1 automaker. They are a very effective company. But given time they are gonna run into the same legacy problems that GM is facing. And hopefully they will run into a few bad CEO's also.
But in the mean time we're kicking thier *** with our new products. Time will tell.