Edwards Statement on Toyota Outselling General Motors

Edwards Statement on Toyota Outselling General Motors
John Edwards for President
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
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Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Senator John Edwards today released the following statement on the news that Toyota has outsold General Motors to become the worldwide leader in auto sales for the first time in history.

"The news that Toyota has passed GM as the world's top automaker while President Bush stubbornly pursues a one-sided trade deal with South Korea vividly demonstrates the stakes of the next election for American workers. For decades, American automakers and auto workers haven't just built automobiles, they've built the American middle class that's now been decimated by the failure and neglect of our national economic policies. A dangerous combination of bad trade policies and inattention to economic crises like out-of-control health care and energy costs is squeezing the life out of our manufacturing economy. This pattern will continue until we have an administration that focuses first on the needs of ordinary Americans instead of catering to those on top.

"The President should abandon his dogged pursuit of a trade deal that kicks American automakers when they're down. We already buy more than 100 times more South Korean cars than they buy from us. Any trade deal should start with South Korea fully and fairly opening their market to American autos. For over 50 years, South Korea has been one of our most valuable allies in Asia, but even friends should bargain fairly and, unfortunately, we know from previous experience that South Korea has not lived up to its agreements on autos."

http://johnedwards.com/news/press-releases/200700424-toyota/

It's like trying to sell Soviet tractors in the US.

There are some decent cars being made by US companies. I've been shopping for a car lately and there are some very nice US cars.

I will not buy a foreign car, I will support our hard working men and women in organized labor.

Julie

We could do like in WWII, bomb their infrastructure into the stone age to force them to buy from us.


I do support US Workers. I will buy a 'made in the USA' Toyota or Honda as my next vehicle, unless you can prove to me that Ford or GM's products are better for the money.

than Toyotas or Hondas. That's the myth about the resale value of Japanese cars - there isn't any real value. You pay MUCH more for them on the front end, so you get more out of them on the back end.

For the record, my old Mustang never had problems until it hit 11 years old. My ex husband's Nissan was nothing but a money pit - mostly electrical.

I worked with an engineer that had done some time with GM. He told me how every part is made as cheaply as possible within the constraints of the MTBF of the vehicle. Don't use a screw when a rivet will do. Don't use a rivet when a crimp saves a penny. Components are made so they are difficult or impossible to repair without special tools or equipment, not to be mean, but to save money and encourage the owner to seek factory maintenance.

Why do you think the Taliban use Japanese pickups in Afghanistan? They last a lot longer without maintenance and can be easily repaired.

My Prius costs nothing and I've had it for four and a half years and have put 62K miles on it.

Dealing with Ford was nothing but abuse, lies, deception and massive expenses. When selling it, I was candid with the buyers and virtually gave it away.

My Peugeots were great. Although badly assembled, they were brilliantly engineered and were fun to drive and very dependable. I wish they still sold them here.

The Taurus was a nightmare, and my family's Fords when growing up were trouble too. My brother in law bought a Ford about the same time as I did the Prius and he's experienced numerous failures of the window motors, the starter and other problems. Craftsmanship and assembly are the keys to a satisfactory car, and Detroit simply doesn't get that. It's a great big macho "fuck you" cloaked in patriotic bullshit. The products are shoddy.

Let's not even talk about our Saab; it's been a disaster and continues to be one. I wonder if they were better when not made by GM.

Toyotas and Hondas are EXTREMELY dependable and cheap to run; the arrogance of Detroit is just beyond belief, especially after the comeuppances of the 70s.

love your Toyota or Honda or Prius because you may have to live in it someday and it'll be a good thing you like it so much.

Get real. All you rice buying people are just eroding our country. I already posted on another thread about the car makers and how they have helped to build this country.

And the other poster is correct - all the 'profits' go to a foreign country - if we ever had to go to war with one of them, where do you think their allegiance would lie? Do ya think for one moment all those neat and tidy Honda and Toyota plants would convert to build planes? As much as I hate war, we need to take care of America first.

Even Henry Ford knew that. He paid his workers more so they could afford to buy his cars.


And I am not going to get in a pissin' match with someone who doesn't understand how the middle class (what's left of it) was formed and what it needs to survive.

Case in point and then I am done for tonight - there is a well known company in Racine WI called Johnson Wax - family owned. They pay their workers above the wages in the area - why? Because Kenosha/Racine (well it used to be) was a strong middle class with American Motors paying top dollar for good workers along with great bennies. Johnson knew in order to compete for those workers, they had to pay more and guess what all you smart people out there - EVERYONE benefitted from it in the area, small merchants, large merchants, community services...all.

And why? One of those damned car companies. Guess what, do your homework and you will see that is not an isolated incident. All those car companies you are loving to diss, they have a ton of suppliers who make all those 'cheap' parts you are whining about, from steel and plastic to nuts and bolts and grease.... and guess what...they pay taxes as well as you and I. Again, EVERYONE benefits. Like it or not, that's just the way it is.

It doesn't have to be where all of us have to work 2 and sometimes 3 jobs to make ends meet and provide a good life for our families, but you go right ahead and promote 'foreign' car companies who pay their workers HALF of what the big 3 make and then come to the DU and cry about how crappy things are in the USA.

Oh, and better yet I love the term "rice buyers".

Sorry, but US automakers have mostly themselves to blame for the shitty situation they're in. While, most surveys show some improvements in quality, they still have quite a few problems - and that too, they eroded the confidence of millions of buyers with the junk they were selling before.

Instead, Ford continues to greatly reward their CEOs for constantly fucking up or doing nothing (how do you possibly lose over 10 billion fucking dollars?).

and guess where the money gets sent? Japan.

Julie

"US" cars are made elsewhere, and many "foreign cars" such as some Toyotas are made here in the US.

The problem is partly with the management of our auto companies. They just don't "get" what they have to do to compete either here or in the rest of the world.

and making sure their stock option package is maxed-out.

MPG standards.

Lobbyists, the cutout to the politicians' pocket. Just another way to launder a bribe.

ability to make crap. Specifically, I'm thinking of CAFTA. But generally, I think that these manufacturers have gotten the government to legislate so that they can sell cars to the public that are most profitable for the mnfgs to make and sell, while Toyota and Honda have built and designed cars that they think the consumers want, which is what happened in the '70s when Honda and Toyota got the tremendous foothold that has enabled them to gain on the big three.

If your goal is really to support American workers, you can look at many Japanese cars and should avoid many American models.

and where it was assembled by the way....

Just a friendly piece of advise

(Amerian cars made and assembled in Mexico, while Toyota makes many of hte parts and assembles in Kentuky... don't have anything against Mexicaon Workers, just a nice symbol of... a truly globalized ecnomy where American Made can mean made in the Marianas under slave labor conditions)

who doesn't know squat about content laws. Please people, educate yourselves before you post.

It is true many of the car parts on US cars are made in Mexico right next to the line that makes your precious Toyota and Honda and Prius parts.

The ONLY smart country in this entire mess is Canada who has a content law. A percentage of that car MUST be made in Canada or it don't get sold there hence the many Canadian parts plants.

Nice try, but no cookie for you.

And these American plants hire American workers.

They are the Wal-Mart of the auto industry. On average, their employees get less pay and less benefits than GM, Ford, Chrysler workers. Also, their employees aren't that well treated as well. I've heard horror stories from the Toyota plant in Kentucky. The managers know they can fire workers anytime they want and they abuse this authority to the fullest from what I hear.

So if we are so quick to criticize Wal-Mart, then Japanese auto makers shouldn't be immune either.

Let's not forget all the nice little chicken little uniforms and the exercises everyone is forced to do every morning...of course all in the interest of avoiding injuries.

I can see a lot of you tonight have no clue as to what really is going on in the industry and are just parroting M$M. I have been, and still am, an automotive industry worker now for almost 35 years so I think that from all the travelling I do to auto plants and their suppliers (over 100K miles last year) makes somewhat 'qualified' to speak.

Oh, and btw, I visit your 'foreign' plants and I would LOVE to have you accompany me someday. You would be 'amazed' at how wonderfully your 'baby' goes together - sometimes with a 2x4 and a rubber mallet to 'help' it. And they say robots can do everything.................newsflash!!!!! Your parts are made in many cases on the same line (it's called shared for line speed demo purposes) as our cheap American car parts and they use the same plastics with the very same (oh my!!!) tools and materials and processes. Woe is me....woe is me....our parts are cheap.

gawd you people who sit in your offices everyday and drive your rice burners really ought to investigate what the hell you are saying.

I drive a 17 year old Chevy, it's had problems but the car is 17 years old! I would put my car up against any toyota or honda of the same age on reliability, there is nothing Superior about either of those brands.

I was recently in the new car market and the sedans from GM, Daimler-Chrysler, and Ford in the $15-$20k range are generally not great values. Cobalt, Malibu, Sebring, Avenger, Ion, Focus... Ugh! What are they thinking?!? Though I'm not saying that everything coming from Toyota or Honda is a great deal, either. I just can't put nationalism very high on the list when selecting a car...

don't think much of nationalism either.

I come from a long line of family with strong ties to the UAW and Teamsters Unions. I would never drive a foreign car if you gave it to me for free and paid the insurance. Never in a million years. These two unions have provided a wonderful living for Americans who are blue collar workers and would not otherwise have had the opportunity. All Americans should be allied with the unions. Bush and Company are doing their best to eliminate the unions. Don't people understand that they are just trying to lower the wages of the American worker. If the unions fail, all average Americans will suffer lower wages. Just my opinion.

I saw one BMW and one Mercedes. Everything else was a Korean car.....and Seoul is a very big city with an enormous number of cars.

I doubt that anything has changed since then. John Edwards is right. South Korea should open their domestic market to our cars. (And, US manufacturers need to work on improving quality to be successful IN that market.)

It's time for politicians as well as US automakers to realize that you have to properly target goods at their respective markets.

I was reading about how US automakers frequently make stupid mistakes when selling cars abroad - trying to sell vehicles that are too big and not practical for their roads and cultures. Sometimes, it's as dumb as not having the steering wheel on the same side as most other cars in the targeted country (in the article's case, it was Japan).

As you know better than I would (I've never been to S Korea), Seoul is pretty damn crowded. Now, I'm sure S. Korea has had protective trade policies, but I can't imagine Ford, GM, or Chrysler having any luck selling most of the vehicles made here in most Asian countries.

the famous example from my youth....

the Ford Nova.. great name in English, in Spanish means does not go... No va... and they were scratching their heads as to why they were not selling in Latin America

That said, it also has to do with what the market wantrs. Our next car will BE a hybrid... sorry folks, but I want the latest tech, and that is not commong from Detroit

They did the same shit in the 1970s (management that is) and you'd think they would have learned

on cutting quality to make a buck. Corporations need to be taken PRIVATE, so that stockholders aren't dictating cost-cutting measures that turn American's hard work into cheaply made, disposable trash. China is making things the American way now, but not providing us with jobs! It's all trash, and some of it is KILLING OUR PETS, and now may be poisoning our citizens as well.

But the almighty buck rules!

:kick::kick::kick: