Toyota 2009 “More haste,less speed”

Posted by Yuka as Japan

Toyota is in hot pursuit of the title of the world’s biggest automaker in global vehicle sales.

The latest number is coming out of Tokyo this morning with Toyota’s president giving a press conference outlining the goal. And take a look at where the sales are for Toyota and General Motors. Last year, this year. Now this year, it’s an estimate halfway through the year, they are probably gonna end up tied. Toyota might be slightly ahead but next year Toyota is expected to pull ahead at 9.8 million vehicles. And then look at 2009, they are projected to build 10.4 million vehicles which would be the greatest number of vehicles built by an automaker ever in one year.

The President of Toyota Katsuaki Watanabe said that the company will take on all risks that are out there and all markets.

Compared to where GM is exposed, Toyota has already mentioned things like sub-prime here in the US, as some headwinds they are gonna face.

Toyota is still putting the full-court press on Lexus, new full-size pickups, new Camry. They have a Corolla coming out next year. It’s relentless, they’re, they are not gonna stop.

They are very exposed to those growth markets.

They have the best breadth of any company on earth when it comes to the automotive industry.

The key for General Motors is going to be to leverage that international exposure and those international assembly factories to do even more in those developing markets. many focus so much on GM, Ford and Chrysler here in the United States. Yes, it’s the largest market in the world and they have problems here. But the future really is going to depend on what they can do globally.

Tip：One about the snail that was invited to the wedding. It set out and got there in time for the christening. And just outside the house it fell from the top of a fence, and said to itself: ‘More haste, less speed.’