Mainichi Daily News & Associated Press

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/busine...bu016000c.html

Toyota plans to produce 9.06 million vehicles next year

NAGOYA -- Toyota, which is threatening to overtake U.S. rival General Motors as the world's biggest automaker, is planning to produce 9.06 million vehicles in 2006, the Japanese automaker said Tuesday.

Although General Motors does not give full year production targets, that will put it neck-and-neck against the U.S. rival and possibly allow Toyota to take the lead.

But when not including its subsidiary automakers Hino and Daihatsu, Toyota plans to produce 8.11 million vehicles, up 10 percent from 7.37 million vehicles.

Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's top automaker, has been growing at a time when General Motors Corp. has been stumbling, losing US$1.6 billion in the third quarter and seeing its market share in North America chipped away by Asian automakers, including Toyota.

Toyota's production target, announced by President Katsuaki Watanabe at a news conference in Nagoya, central Japan, marks a 10 percent increase from the 8.25 million vehicles Toyota expects to produce this year.

General Motors does not give full-year production targets but it produced 6.7 million vehicles during the first three quarters of this year and expects to produce about 9 million vehicles this year.

Toyota said it expects to sell 8.85 million vehicles worldwide next year, up 9 percent from 8.09 million estimated for this year.

Watanabe played down Toyota's apparently imminent No. 1 status in the world auto industry.

"We try to prepare our production and sales to respond to customer needs in every region," he told reporters. "I am not thinking much about whether we will become No. 1 in the world as a result of that."

Detroit-based General Motors has announced drastic cost cuts, including trimming 30,000 jobs, or 27 percent of its North American manufacturing jobs, and close 12 facilities by 2008.

GM's U.S. market share fell to 26.2 percent in the first 10 months of this year compared with 33 percent a decade ago, the result of increasing competition from Asian rivals. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered GM's debt to "junk" status earlier this year.

GM isn't the only U.S. automaker cutting costs.

Ford Motor Co., which reported a third-quarter loss of US$284 million, has said it plans to eliminate about 4,000 white-collar jobs in North America early next year as part of a restructuring plan.

Ford Chairman and CEO Bill Ford has said he plans to announce U.S. plant closings and layoffs in January.

"It is almost certain that global competition will intensify," Watanabe said, adding that the automaker plans to work toward solid growth for the coming year. (AP)

 

Looks like the Guys that run Ford are also the same guys that own the Detroit Lions. BAD MANAGEMENT=BAD RECORD

 

No wonder!