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News, Analysis and EditorialToyota
Plans to Expand Its Michigan Development and Engineering Activities: Bad News for the North American Consumer?
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Auto on Info August 2004 Toyota Plans to Expand Its Michigan Development and Engineering Activities: Bad News for the North American Consumer? Toyota has submitted a bid for a 690-acre site owned by the State of Michigan. Bruce Brownlee, a manager at Toyota's current Michigan technical center, was quoted by Detroit News as saying that the new site "would allow us to continue to expand our North American development activities." David Cole, president of an enterprise that rather fancies itself a center for automotive research, was quoted as saying that "[w]ithout a doubt, southeast Michigan is the world's intellectual center for the auto industry." However, the article reports that Toyota's existing Michigan facility was responsible for developing the Camry sedan, the Solara coupe, the Avalon sedan, and the Sienna minivan. With regard to the Camry, the Wall Street Journal, in an August 4, 2004, front page article, reported that the model fell from first place in its 2001 segment to eighth place in its 2004 segment, in the J.D. Power initial quality survey results. Furthermore, the average of the 1995-1999 Reliability Percentrank averages for these four models is .78, while the same average for the remainder of the Toyota line is .90. These survey statistics rather suggest that southeast Michigan may be the world's intellectual center for dubious engineering and comparatively low quality models. Consequently, if this project goes ahead, Toyota's vaulted reputation for quality may be in for a turn and some North American consumers may be in for some disappointing experiences. On the other hand, for so long as made-in-Japan Toyota or Lexus alternatives are available to North American consumers, those consumers who have refined their selection process to encompass only made-in-Japan Toyota products should, in the main, continue to enjoy satisfying experiences. Source for Toyota's technical center expansion plans: "Toyota Expansion Plans Boost Michigan as Tech Hub," Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com/2004/autosinsider/0408/17/a01-244676.htm Source for J.D. Power results for the Camry: "As Toyota Closes In on GM, Quality Concerns Grow," Wall Street Journal, August 4, 2004, pages A1, A2 Source for Reliability Percentrank averages: Table I-MVRP Addendum: 23 September 2004
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