Toyota Warns US Factory Workers They Can Make More Profit On The Camry If It Was Made In Japan

Toyota Motor Corp. issued an unsettling warning to Kentucky workers building its top-selling Camry sedan: Cut costs now or face an uncertain future.

The automaker can build a Camry in Japan, ship it all the way to Kentucky and make more money selling that car than from one built at Toyota's factory in the state, the plant's president told employees in a 2 1/2 minute-long internal video obtained by Bloomberg News.

"I'm not sharing this to scare you, but to heighten your awareness of the current risk we now have," Wil James, who has managed the plant for more than seven years, said in the video dated this month. He said Toyota isn't planning to close the factory and continues to invest in it for the next 30 years. "But all of this is on the assumption that we can make as much progress in cost reduction and efficiency as we've made in quality and safety."

MDarringer - 11/21/2017 11:41:27 AM

0 Boost

Posturing and nothing more.

hangtime010 - 11/21/2017 11:56:03 AM

-4 Boost

President Dumpy Trump will step in and add more tariffs on Toyota's imports to tip the scale so Wil James' statement won't be true much longer.
So everyone buying their precious Corolla's and Camry's will be pissed b/c they'll have to pay more in the near future.

MDarringer - 11/21/2017 8:05:06 PM

+4 Boost

We should place the same tariffs on good coming in as American goods have on them in other markets.

CANADIANCOMMENTS - 11/21/2017 7:44:01 PM

+1 Boost

Clearly, the car transport ships that criss-cross the Pacific are not charging enough for their services. They are very, very big boats.

hangtime010 - 11/22/2017 8:52:18 AM

-2 Boost

Shows how many people actually read the posts.
I know it's not Trump. I know the unions are the downfall for A LOT of companies.
I said Trump will step in and make it more expensive for Toyota to import cars into the U.S. which will make Wil James' comment irrelevant.