Mississippi to Be Site of Toyota Assembly Plant March 3, 2007
Gov. Haley Barbour announced that a highly sought factory would be built 20 miles outside Tupelo. Toyota said today it would invest $1.3 billion to build its eighth North American assembly plant in Blue Springs, Miss., just outside Tupelo in northeastern Mississippi. The plant will build the Toyota Highlander, a crossover vehicle, and will employ 2,000 workers. Production is expected to begin in 2010, and reach 150,000 vehicles each year.The 1,700-acre site was promoted vigorously by the state, which wound up in a competition with Arkansas and Tennessee for the factory.The decision brings Toyota to an area best known for …
Low-Key Chief Asserts Himself as a Leader at Toyota November 30, 2006
Katsuaki Watanabe, the least-known Toyota president in years, has been raising his profile as head of a company that may soon supplant G.M. as the world’s biggest automaker. SAN ANTONIO - When Toyota named Katsuaki Watanabe as its new president last year, many assumed he would be a caretaker chief executive, steering the giant automaker with a steady hand and a minimum of surprises until Akio Toyoda, the 50-year-old great-grandson of the company’s founder, took charge. The low-key approach of Mr. Watanabe - who rose up through the ranks as a cost-cutting manager of suppliers - seemed the safest …
Toyota Gambles, Deep in the Heart of Texas November 17, 2006
Toyota will officially open its new $1.2 billion assembly plant in San Antonio that will make the biggest version yet of its Tundra pickup. SAN ANTONIO, Nov. 15 - Toyota’s approach to the pickup truck market has always been cautious, dipping a toe in the market with small trucks, then bringing out slightly bigger models that its own executives acknowledged were meek.Even when it built its first American truck plant last decade in Indiana, Toyota did not make a complete commitment, dividing the assembly line between pickups, minivans and sport utility vehicles.Now that caution is coming to an end.Toyota is …
Behind the Wheel: 2006 Toyota RAV4: That Precocious Child Star Grows Into a Bigger Role August 20, 2006
This bigger 2006 model may not look or feel quite as sporty as it did when it debuted back in 2001, but it is a lot more practical, with more room and more useful features. TEN years ago last January, the Toyota RAV4 walked onstage and took a bow, as perky and precocious as an automotive Shirley Temple in a sheet-metal pinafore. Who would have thought that this tiny sort of sport utility was the precursor of what would become, within a decade, the hottest part of the auto market? Back then, the RAV4 and a couple of similarly small …
The Nation: Toyota Drove to the Bank in a Ford August 6, 2006
If the Japanese want to sell cars here, they must build them here, America?s automakers insisted in the fuel-shocked 70?s. And build them they did. IF the Japanese want to sell cars here, they must build them here, America?s automakers insisted back in the fuel-shocked 70?s. And build them they did. Detroit?s brake, it turns out, was Japan?s accelerator. Last week, for the first time, Japanese auto companies said they were now selling more vehicles outside Japan than at home ? the bulk in the United States. What?s more, Japan?s biggest automaker, Toyota, upset Ford for second place in …
Automaker Reaches Settlement in Sexual Harassment Suit August 5, 2006
Toyota said it had reached a settlement in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against a former top executive by another employee. DETROIT, Aug. 4 ? Toyota said on Friday that it had reached a settlement in an embarrassing sexual harassment lawsuit filed against a former top executive by another employee. Both have since left the automaker.The suit was filed in May by Sayaka Kobayashi, who sought nearly $200 million in damages.Ms. Kobayashi had worked as an assistant to Hideaki Otaka, who served until May as president and chief executive of Toyota Motor North America, which oversees the company?s manufacturing …
Fuel-Efficient Cars Help Toyota to Strong Profits August 4, 2006
Toyota passed Ford Motor Company in July sales to rank as the second-biggest automaker behind General Motors. TOKYO, Aug. 4 ? Toyota Motor Company said its income jumped 39.2 percent to $3.2 billion during the second quarter, boosted by strong sales of fuel-efficient vehicles in the United States, where it passed Ford Motor Company in July sales to rank as the second-biggest automaker behind General Motors.Toyota, which already ranks as No. 2 in the world, appears on pace to pass G.M. as the world?s biggest auto company, perhaps as soon as this year.Toyota, which earned $2.3 billion in last year?s …
Toyota Dominates Vehicle Quality Ratings June 8, 2006
Toyota continued to dominate the initial quality rankings by J. D. Power & Associates, grabbing the top spot in 11 out of 19 segments in the 2006 survey. Toyota continued to dominate the initial quality rankings by J. D. Power & Associates, grabbing the top spot in 11 out of 19 segments in the 2006 survey, released yesterday. Porsche dominated the overall ranking of brands, averaging 91 problems per 100 vehicles. That compared with an industry average of 124 problems per 100 vehicles.The study, in its 20th year, was revamped to isolate consumers’ concerns about design flaws, as distinct from …
Toyota posts three-way FY record May 11, 2006
Bolstered by a successful marketing strategy and favorable exchange rates, Toyota Motor Corporation has reported 2006 as its strongest ever fiscal year. The Japanese auto giant said net revenues for the 12 months ended March 31, 2006, increased 13.4% year-on-year to Y21 trillion yen, while operating income reached Y1.87 trillion, an increase of 12.3% over the previous year. Net income for fiscal 2006 increased 17.2% to Y1.37 trillion, representing the third consecutive year in which profits exceeded Y1 trillion. All of the above figures marked record highs for the firm. Positive contributions to operating income included Y300 billion …
Toyota Official Is on Leave After Harassment Charge May 9, 2006
DETROIT, May 8 ? A Toyota executive accused of sexual harassment by his former assistant has left his position and will not take a new assignment until the situation is resolved, Toyota said Monday night. The executive, Hideaki Otaka, president and chief of Toyota Motor North America, which oversees the company’s manufacturing and financial operations, had planned to leave next month for a job in Japan. He has been in his current job for two years.But Toyota said on Monday that Mr. Otaka had stepped aside, and was on leave.Toyota said that Yuki Funo, the chief executive of Toyota Motor …
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