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Strategies & Market Trends : JAPAN-Nikkei-Time to go back up? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: fut_trade who wrote (1354)	8/16/1998 10:32:00 PM
From: Step1	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3902

>Once were?< Same time zone it seems... here is my reply. >>> I think this year is the first year in many, many years that Toyota's domestic market shrank. Profit's per vehicle must be shrinking as well. IMO, the edge these companies had in the late 80's is disappearing. Yes, they are healthy companies, and will remain so -- but the market for Hondas or Toyotas is not expanding like it once was.<<< First on the market share. Domestic market share is shrinking but it is shrinking to domestic companies... I do not have the exact numbers but foreign car companies (aside from Mazda owned 36 % by Ford) are down overall also. Secondly, Toyota is not expanding as much as it once was, well, sure so is Microsoft if you look at the early years... >So what makes them less competitive, with a weaker yen and higher value added product, excellent quality and incredible brand recognition, they are as strong as ever. >>>Again, Toyota and Honda are gradually losing their domestic market. IMO this is significant.<<< See my comment above, not to foreign competition is my point. >Increasingly irrelevant now as most progressive companies are moving to open the field to any suppliers, part of keiretsu or not. >>> Whenever a Japanese company tries to improve suppliers in the US, they help their competitors as well. Honda and Toyota are not growing profits like they did in the past.<<< First point is somewhat a given. Especially for automobiles, (but aeronautics and computers as well) transferring technology and generally higher demands for parts standard is going to strengthen your competitors as well since they most likely sell to them. This is the global economy and the tendency to develop better and more efficient products which should in the long term increase wealth. The second argument has been answered above i think. >This is nothing new Peter >>>Japan took an early, aggressive stance in key high-tech industries and became a powerhouse. Now other countries have followed in her footsteps and created overcapacity of high-tech goods, which drives down profits. <<< Right . The imbalances will correct themselves over time. My bet is that Honda, Toyota, Sony and some of the other bluest of the bluest will still be around. >>>Because Japan has few natural resources, Japan is particularly vulnerable.<<< To a complete collapse of the world economies or economic system. If you believe that we are all going back to caves or that unprecedented upheavals on a global scale is impending than Japan, with relatively few resources is quite vulnerable. sg

To: fut_trade who wrote (1354)	8/16/1998 10:35:00 PM
From: fut_trade	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3902

More on Toyota... From an overview at Hoovers.com: Japan's largest car manufacturer, Toyota, has decided to take its business elsewhere. The Toyota City-based company is not abandoning its home country, but the world's third-largest carmaker (after GM and Ford) has shifted much of its production overseas. It has done so to reduce the effects of currency exchange fluctuations and to avoid the politically incorrect label "Japanese importer" and its connotations of economic imperialism. How does the weak yen help Toyota when it has shifted production overseas? In addition to autos (its Camry was the top-selling car in the US in 1997) and light trucks, Toyota is a major producer of forklifts and prefabricated homes, and it owns stakes in several telecommunications services. As auto sales top out in its largest markets (Japan, the US, and Western Europe), Toyota has increasingly emphasized this diversity. It is also building factories in new markets such as China, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and India. I suspect that profit/vehicle will drop dramatically. In Japan, cars are usually sold through home sales visits, but this is changing, and Toyota is concentrating more on showroom sales. In the US the company is seeking to redo its dealership strategies and turn around a reputation for poor customer service. It is streamlining global production operations to reduce administrative expenses and centralize purchasing, with the aim of doubling its operating profits in the next few years. Will they succeed?