Last week, I talked about the Toyota recall and how it has been affecting this economy. This week I've decided to talk more about that and the opinions of what should happen after this crisis.
The Japan Times reports that some economists think that this crisis with the Toyota recall was actually a good thing, because it may drive the economy away from manufacturing and more toward services. However, in my opinion, that would be a bad idea. The United States loves to get things that are manufactured in Japan, China, and Taiwan. It would change the nation. However, Japan Times reports that Toyota's amazing reputation for good vehicles is crushed. They think that since Toyota's reputation was destroyed with recalls, what will people think of the other manufacturers?
However, The Japan Times reports that it's "not the time to junk the factories". Meaning that Japan gets its money through exports and manufacturing. Like I said, the United States is a huge consumer in Japanese manufacturing. It is reported that since 1990, Japan manufacturing has decreased from 28 to 22 percent of the gross domestic product. But, in order to switch to services, Japan just can't do it. Japan "lacks the flexibility, imagination, and openness" to switch to services. Besides, Japan's population is regressing. Their population is aging with people that don't know what they want to do in the world. If they switched out of manufacturing, they wouldn't be a world power anymore.
My opinion is that they should just keep the manufacturing. After reading this, it looks as if manufacturing is what some of these Japanese do best. Japanese culture allow the people to practice precision and control. They want everything to be perfect. That's why this whole Toyota crisis is so blown out of proportion. Manufacturing creates jobs for people that don't necessarily have a skill. They just do whatever they have to do to watch the machines going and operating them. Manufacturing will keep the money flowing and keep people with jobs.
Source: Rafferty, K. (2010). Not the time to junk the factories. The Japan Times: Online. Accessed on February 20, 2010 from http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20100221a1.html
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What do you think of the president of Toyota coming over to check up on the US operations? I think this looks bad for the brands presence in America, I think they may try to shift more production back to Japan to maintain standards. Blaming the Americans may not be a bad plan, works for most of the world actually. Interesting posts and well written blog,by the way would you drive a Toyota?
ReplyDeleteIm glad you talked more about this Toyota recall. i dont think its going to matter drastically, i still think that millions of people will purchase Toyotas and that they will remain near the top in production. i personally drive a 2006 cadillac cts, so i like to support American auto industry, so im not too sad about this whole thing anyway! I do think its an honest mistake that easily could have happened to Ford or GM.
ReplyDeleteThere was also some concerns about the good the recall will do. It was said that toyota was going to replace floor-mats and sticky pedals. I do not believe that was the problem so the recall may all be in vane. I do agree that the american consumers will suffer due to this recall, and americans will gain nothing when getting the cars back. The problems will continue and there will be another recall in the near future. Japan will not suffer too bad because the size of Toyota could not compare to the plethra of other prominant companies that will earn all the money lost back.
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