Toyota touts impact on U.S. in billboards

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Article

I think it's great that Toyota is investing in the U.S. and creating jobs here. That's obviously a huge plus for the economy and I don't blame that expansion for GM and Ford's failures. Imagine how bleak the manufacturing landscape would be if GM and Ford were closing plants and Toyota was importing all of their vehicles from Japan or elsewhere?

The UAW folks don't agree:

“We're not real happy about it,” said Tony Currington, vice president of United Auto Workers Local 696, with members facing possible closure of a Dayton brake plant by Delphi Corp., largest auto parts supplier for GM, its former parent.

“As a result of us losing market share to the foreign imports, we're losing American jobs. It just hurts our economy here,” Currington said, adding that the UAW has been weakened by
Toyota's mostly nonunion operations.

But a voice of common sense from the Univ. of Mich:

“It's not the Japanese who are causing the market share decline,” said Bruce Belzowski, an auto analyst at the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute. “It's Americans buying the Japanese vehicles.”

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Mark Graban

Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker who has worked in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. He is author of the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, as well as The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. His most recent book is the anthology Practicing Lean that benefits the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation, where Mark is a board member. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus. His latest book has been released as an "in-progress" book, titled Measures of Success.