Toyota Chief Quells Fears Of Closing Japanese Factories

How quickly the tide turns. Several decades ago, in the 1960s and 1970s, the phrase "Made In Japan" was synonymous with poor quality at a low price. By the 1980s and the early 1990s, relatively cheap Japanese labor combined with an increase in quality brought us much desired Asian products with brand recognition in consumer electronics and motorized vehicles. "Made In Japan" meant good quality at a reasonable price.

In recent years, with the strengthening Yen, "Made In Japan" has come to mean good quality, but not cheap. Japan is now in an era where the game they got to be so good at, is increasingly more difficult to play, just because their labor costs have risen so much due to increases in the standard of living, and the rise of the Yen. Even Japan, like America, must outsource to countries where labor is still cheap. You want a nice Denon audio-visual receiver for your home theater? The higher-end models are made in Japan, while the lower end and mid-line products are manufactured in China, where lower labor costs help to keep product costs down.

Japan, like America, is feeling the gradual shift away from manufactured goods to knowledge-based industries and professions. Birth, change, and death is the way of nature. Adapt or die is the natural order of existance on planet Earth.


PS: For the time being, South Korea is climbing the quality curve and still enjoying the benefits from relatively low currency and labor costs. For a time, they will be a viable manufacturing country until they become more like Japan. Watch out for China, soon to be the world leader in manufacturing.

That's what happens when you're someone's colony. S Korea is following Japan, but it won't be long before China surpass them.

Wow He can do that? I wonder if GM would be in a slightly better shape if they had the power to do the same thing.

Think about it for a second GM is number two in America Toyota is number one in Japan. Workers, friends, patriotic buyers, and family members of the workers buy cars from GM/Toyota if either just moderately pulled work out their home market they will lose the brunt of their repeat buyers this is why GM, Ford, Chrysler maintain such a large work force in the US and now Toyota will only stop making small cars in Japan.

who is gm second to in America? The CYTD as of September for GM in the USA was 1,638,544. Ford is lagging behind at 1,439,213 and then finally Toyota at 1,311,316