Here Comes a Bankruptcy Boom

Working for Toyota and watching how American carmakers work is like the difference between night and day. Here is what I've seen from the beginning of the process to the end:

(1) Toyota implements cutting-edge technology as part of their manufacturing process. America's is archaic, usually relying on much more antiquated robotics or sometimes things are still done by hand. Good decisions are not implemented.

(2) Toyota trains, retrains, and triple-trains employees to ensure quality. American carmakers...

(3) Toyota will stop the ENTIRE plant process if even ONE car doesn't fit it's standards whereby cars both before and after that initial vehicle are checked again. American carmakers push the faulty made vehicle through, even when an assembly worker says, "Wait! That car had issues!"

(4) Toyota's idea of Kaizan, or constant improvement, has made their network of dealerships, parts inventory, warehouses, and financing the best the car market has to offer. In fact, my firt car got a reduced financing rate - and this was years before I actually began working with Toyota! American car dealerships have a horrible network, with an array of parts manufacturers who combat each other, wasting money, time, and resources as well as the customer's life. Sometimes they refuse to pay a vehicle owner's claim.

(5) Toyota will not allow anybody to own their dealerships. You have to meet an ethical standard as well as a financial standard since this runs hand-in-hand with Toyota's philosophy. American carmakers would give you a dealership if you had the money, regardless of how you treated the customer. To them, the possibility for profits outweighs the consumer's experience. To decipher a good dealership from a bad one, sit in the Service Lounge (not the sales lounge) and ask people about their vehicle experiences. Try to get as much information about their vehicle's age, frequencey of repairs (or maintenance since some people don't understand the difference), and how the dealership makes them feel whenever they come in. You are going to have a higher frequency of Toyota owners praise their cars or often refer to themselves as a "Toyota Family".

(6) Toyota spends a lot of time and money on every aspect of their business - from the products they produce, the services they provide, to the overall experience. It's because of this that a 50-year-old company beat the BIG 3 (whom are equal to or greater than 100 years old each), as well as listening to consumers complaints. American carmakers look at their wallet, which is why they lose. They don't see opportunity; to them it's either "PROFIT" or "EXPENSE".

American carmakers are ideal examples of how NOT to run a business. They were once the best in the World, but this hubris made them arrogant instead of self-effacing, stubborn rather than inquisitive, and blind. They are the victims of their own demise...

Inside the Whale. of CA 4:47PM June 29, 2009