Toyota offers buyouts to U.S. workers

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TOKYO/DETROIT (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) offered buyouts to some 18,000 U.S. workers and said it would cut pay for executives and blue-collar workers in North America, and an analyst warned it may soon cut working hours in Japan.

The world's No.1 automaker, struggling as the global credit crunch sends auto sales sliding, said it would shut down production for more days in April at plants in the United States, Canada and Mexico and would cut executive pay and bonuses.

"The global economy is in a once-in-a-century situation ... Nobody knows if these steps will be enough given the uncertain outlook," said Shotaro Noguchi, an analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

"Inventory levels are still high, and a recovery in demand is not in sight yet. Toyota may have to adopt work-sharing in Japan in line with production cuts, at the same time as reducing overtime work.
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neutral - 2/16/2009 12:41:09 AM

0 Boost

Toyota is in this mess because:

1) They make cars no one wants to drive
2) They make poor quality cars
3) They make gas guzzling SUVs that no one wants
4) They don't have a hybrid
5) They oppose regulation
6) Bullshit Bullshit Bullshit

Oh wait, looks like posting losses and headcount reductions aren't because of the bullshit the liberals & eco-zealots want you to believe... HA-- EAT IT MIKE MOORE & THE REST OF YOU ANTI-DETROIT WHINERS

XYZZ - 2/16/2009 10:24:37 PM

+1 Boost

(brain in) Neutral apparently has his wires crossed. what he attributes as toyota's problems more accurately describes chrysler. and to a lesser extent, gm.

i haven't seen any news of toyota execs gr0veling in tokyo for gov't bailouts.

neutral - 2/17/2009 1:04:55 AM

0 Boost

XYZZ,

Face it, you hate the Big3 no matter what. And as for Toyota, I'm being sarcastic. I really don't like Toyota but you will never find me saying they are a bad company that makes bad cars. They don't make cars that I think people should be buying the way Americans do, but still. You don't understand Sarcasm (see my bullet 6).

The point that Im trying to get across is the bullshit way the Detroit 3 were treated by the media and congress and how stupid the green-left's arguments against the Big3 are.

Please, my first car was a Nissan and Im the first person to point out Domestic faults of the past. Don't get me started... Americans are the only people on the earth who are so anti-american...

"i haven't seen any news of toyota execs gr0veling in tokyo for gov't bailouts." --- Can we say "CHEAP SHOT"? Give me a break, your high-school antics are a sad attempt at making a logical and thoughtful argument. The Japanese are in tough shape too, but unlike the US government (which is responsible for the financial & auto mess we're in), the Japanese government doesnt just sit around talking shit about their own companies, even the "not green" ones (Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru- ---- all this "green" stuff is absolute bullshit anyways, just more left-liberal propaganda).

Stop your finger pointing and be a part of the solution. people like you make this great country weak.

XYZZ - 2/17/2009 6:06:45 AM

+2 Boost

neutral, if you were 'trying to be sarcastic' it was not a good attempt; your bullets (#6 notwithstanding) were all VALID points for the woes of chrysler, and gm to a lesser extent.

i can appreciate their failure will have a drastic impact on the whole country, but REALISTICALLY i think Ford may well be the last domestic left standing.

AND, i think your anti-liberal stance would be shaken when you face the fact that a lot of CONSERVATIVES drive toyotas and hondas. at least the ones who know the value of thrift and smart purchases. so don't blame everything on liberals. or hypocrisy exposers like moore.

neutral - 2/17/2009 10:36:45 AM

0 Boost

HYPOCRACY EXPOSER!! Dear god, you must be joking. M. Moore, a degenerate, ignorant, finger pointing, anti-business, anti-wealth, illogical moron.... a person who consistently speaks out of his ass yet somehow manages to garner supporters like you....


You've lost any slight notion of credibility.

neutral - 2/17/2009 10:43:45 AM

+1 Boost

Oh by the way XYZZ, I know a large number of small business owners and other successful people who consider themselves conservatives, and the VAST majority drive Domestics or German. One such business owner bought a very nice E-class and a Cadillac (for the wife), but ended up preferring the Caddy (and forcing the wife to drive the Benz).

Ive had Japanese, American and German cars in my life, and contrary to pop culture, the most reliable and cost-effective were my Chrysler and Pontiac. My Merc is sexy but expensive, and my nissan was rickety and rust-prone (i loved that car though). So don't tell me about conservatives.

XYZZ - 2/18/2009 7:01:58 AM

0 Boost

"HYPOCRACY EXPOSER!! Dear god, you must be joking. M. Moore, a degenerate, ignorant, finger pointing, anti-business, anti-wealth, illogical moron...."


so this means you are SYMPATHETIC to roger smith (Roger and me), the merchants of Death in the 'defense' industry who neglect their kids (Bowling for Columbine) and the greed heads who run our "health" industry which for all its cost is inferior to Cuba's (Sicko)?

yeah, i guess you must be a true conservative.

XYZZ - 2/18/2009 7:52:35 AM

+1 Boost

so you were happy with your chrysler and pontiac neutral, but likely not as happy as i've been with my toyotas. repeating from the "buy again?" thread:

"i totally agree with you about price having NO CORRELATION to reliability and overall expenses. of two toyotas, one nissan and one ford (focus) bought NEW, plus two more toyotas bought used, these are the TOTAL (not annual) costs to me for parts/repairs other than for normal wear and tear, over the YEARS of ownership (ranging from 4 to 15):

1971 toyota, less than $25
1986 nissan, less than $60
1993 toyota, $0
1994 toyota (bought used in '97; and still owned), $0
2000 ford, $0 (but several parts replacements under warranty)
2003 toyota (bought used in '05 and still owned), $0

i've also owned a number of other used vehicles, including a buick and two cadillacs; NONE have been so inexpensive to keep and maintain.

i mite also mention that if the fixes on the 2000 ford were not covered by the warranty, they would've cost me over $200. or, more than TWICE as much as ALL the toyotas and the nissan put together! over a period more than FIVE TIMES LONGER than i owned the ford!

drive a ford lately? yeah. but not again! (and i know fords ARE better built than gm and chrysler products.)

DieselRules - 2/16/2009 10:19:01 AM

+2 Boost

a Buyout is much nicer than a Layoff.

"Toyota said the buyout program would not be offered at two plants where its workers are unionized.

Those are the joint venture manufacturing operation it has in California with General Motors Corp (GM.N) and a truck assembly plant in Tijuana, Mexico."

So, with truck sales decimated, they can't cut staff at the truck plant?
DOH!

XYZZ - 2/16/2009 10:37:37 PM

+4 Boost

likely they'll simply JUST FIRE workers there, rather than offer buyouts. thanks, UAW!

neutral - 2/17/2009 1:07:19 AM

+2 Boost

Oh god, as a professional, non-union engineer, all I can say is stop whining about the UAW. If anything, they are a bigger help to the Big3 (nowadays) than they are a drag. Like it matters to you anyways, what domestic do you drive?

XYZZ - 2/17/2009 6:18:49 AM

-1 Boost

unions WERE a great social good in the distant past, when needed to counter the abuses of big biz. but big unions eventually became ANOTHER burden on society. i used to be a Teamster myself. and discovered they cared more about stuffing the union's coffers than looking out for the ordinary joes in the lower ranks.

the uaw today may be TRYING to help. but the LEGACY of their greed while detroit was fat and had full teats (seemingly so long ago now), is a significant cause of today's problems. with the teats now shriveled up, they seem more willing to DIE WITH detroit rather than give up significant concessions.

vwrules - 2/17/2009 10:22:10 PM

0 Boost

Maybe you enjoy getting shaken down by the local PDs but im not down with that. How about lesss gov spending run your town like a buisness and you will have money to use cops in a more constructive way or like oh say busting your local drug dealer preventing a rape stuff like that.(libs will never get it)

XYZZ - 2/18/2009 7:27:34 AM

+1 Boost

"...to use cops in a more constructive way or like oh say busting your local drug dealer preventing a rape stuff like that.(libs will never get it)"


LOL! actually, the people who don't get it are the conservative IDEALOGUES who have fanciful theories about right and wrong but are totally BLIND to REALITY and Big Pictures.

example 1: anti-abortionists just don't get that OVERPOPUPLATION is one of the basic causes of today's plethora of social ills. the criminals you are so down on, would be out on the streets IN FAR GREATER NUMBERS were it not for Roe vs Wade, which allowed the abortion of thousands of UNwanted babies, who tend to grow up criminally inclined. see section in the book "Freakonomics" for a detailed analysis of this phenomenon.

example 2: a huge COST to the justice system and burden on police and correctional departments can be so easily turned into a PROFIT center by simply decriminalizing and TAXing recreational drugs. but dim witted social conservatives seem more interested in 'moral crusades' than actually SOLVING social and fiscal problems.

XYZZ - 2/18/2009 7:34:14 AM

+1 Boost

btw uaw1, what was your intent in posting this article? just showing that toyota is no different than gm in offering buyouts?