XPost: alt.autos.toyota.camry, alt.autos.toyota, alt.autos.lexus   
   XPost: rec.autos.tech   
   From: "WheresMyCheck"@UncleSamLoves.Mee   
      
   C. E. White wrote:   
   >   
   > "David Z"  wrote in message   
   > news:7pnfu2F3t0fmiU1@mid.individual.net...   
   >> "john"  wrote in message   
   >> news:179178c8-b449-47ab-8f25-5ea097f3889c@u1g2000pre.googlegroups.com...   
   >>> Can Toyota and Lexus get any cheaper?   
   >>   
   >> John "The Ass" Dole, could you get any dumber?  I don't think so.   
   >>   
   >> The US car companies have been doing this to their suppliers for at   
   >> least 25 years.   
   >   
   > This is not a new thing for Toyota either. Back 10 or more years ago   
   > Sixty Minutes did a piece on how Toyota operates in Japan. One of the   
   > things that struck me was how tough Toyota was on its suppliers. A few   
   > years back Ford got so aggressive on demanding price reductions that   
   > some suppliers refused to do business with Ford. You can only press your   
   > supplier so far. They are not in business to give parts away.   
   >   
   > Most companies operate in the same way. I know where I work they press   
   > suppliers for cost reductions every year. Sometimes this is done without   
   > affecting quality, but sometimes I have seen some very bad results when   
   > suppliers are pushed too far (poor quality, supplier going out of   
   > business, reduced content, production moved to China, etc). I can't see   
   > anything wrong with working with suppliers to reduce costs, but I think   
   > there can be problems when a company attempts to mandate yearly cost   
   > reductions without the proper consideration. I find it hard to believe   
   > that many of Toyota's suppliers have such high profit margins that they   
   > can cost costs by 30 to 40% without making drastic changes. If they can,   
   > then the Toyota procurement team was doing a poor job. Most companies   
   > have cost estimators that are able to determine a fair price for a part   
   > within a few percent. In order to get cost reductions of 30%, I'd assume   
   > Toyota will be changing from Domestic (Japanese) and US suppliers to   
   > Chinese suppliers - or expecting their suppliers to make the switch.   
   >   
   > You can be sure of one thing - Toyota won't be reducing the selling   
   > price of cars and trucks by 30% to 40%.   
   >   
   > Ed   
     Maybe orange Fram oil filters will become original equipment parts.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)