Toyota plans ultra-inexpensive car

[Mind_your_head]

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to build a low-cost car undercutting Renault's emerging-market Logan through a "radical" rethink in design and production, the president of the fast-growing Japanese automaker said.

"The focus is on low-cost technology," Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe told Britain's Financial Times newspaper in an interview published Monday.

He declined to set a price for a low-cost car but said it would be "at least" less than the Logan.

Renault has started production of the Logan, which will cost from 5,000 euros (6,200 dollars) on up, touted as a budget model for consumers in emerging economies such as China and Russia that conforms to European standards.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/01/22/070122074327.pbtqfqv6.html

[YOY]

1. Once again. They foresaw a need and beat us to the punch

good for them, bad for us.

[Rosemary2205]

3. Yet somehow it be all leather and have all the bells and whistles!!

Don't kid yourself on Toyota. They are playing games with their money supply and thier pricing on certain vehicles so they can dominate the market. These are blatant unfair trade practices. Everyone knows they do it. No one can quite prove it.

[madrchsod]

7. oh yes i forgot about the currency fixing

they have very little overhead in the usa,no pensions,retire health care costs,and generous tax breaks at the expense of the communities they have their plants in.

[5X]

8. We must have taught them well. n/t

[Taxloss]

2. Oh, fuck, what terrible news for the environment.

Tens of millions of new motorists. And China has some of the world's most polluted cities already.

[file83]

4. Imagine that...a cheap car. All I can say is...

...why now? This isn't a new idea, it's just never been put into effective action (at least here in the USA).

Could it have something to do oil prices and the total cost of ownership of a vehicle? Me thinks so.

[madrchsod]

5. mini cars are not very practical

in the majority of driving situations in this country. a better focus would be public transportation,better urban planning,and electric/alternate fuel cars and multi purpose vehicles.

[wakeme2008]

6. Not only cheap but PROBABLY will get 35+ mpg

:shrug:

[AlCzervik]

9. Toyota is smart, they are preparing for the onslaught of chinese vehicles

that will be making their way over here next year.

[whosinpower]

10. Now if they REALLY want to dominate the market

They would announce a low-cost car that is electric. It is what I would try to do if I was in his place......course.....it would probably mean the death of me, my family, my relatives, their dogs, cats and animals........

And I would include in the price--a type of stationary home solar/wind generator that you would plug the car into at the end of the day to recharge the batteries. :-)

I know--I'm an idiot.....but hey, it doesn't hurt to dream does it?

[jmowreader]

11. This is the car they're chasing

The Logan, which is made in Romania by the Dacia plant, is a four-passenger car meant, as the OP stated, to be sold in places like Russia and China.

I figure that every Logan sold means an old Lada or Zhiguli can go to the recyclers.

[itsmesgd]

12. holy shit, would that make my 06 Corolla a luxury automobile?

The Yaris is a small, inexpensive car and costs double of what the Logan does. I am scared to see how small the new car will be.

BTW. I love my Corolla and the gas cost savings.

[jmowreader]

13. This is the car they're chasing

The Logan, which is made in Romania by the Dacia plant, is a four-passenger car meant, as the OP stated, to be sold in places like Russia and China.

I figure that every Logan sold means an old Lada or Zhiguli can go to the recyclers.

[jmowreader]

14. This is the car they're chasing

The Logan, which is made in Romania by the Dacia plant, is a four-passenger car meant, as the OP stated, to be sold in places like Russia and China.

I figure that every Logan sold means an old Lada or Zhiguli can go to the recyclers.

[Blackhatjack]

15. There is a ready market for 'light users' of automobiles....

.... Where people drive less than 50-100 miles per week to and from work, they do not spend that much time inside their vehicle and are focused on getting from A to B. The do not need all the bells and whistles, the higher payments and insurance costs. And they sure do not define their self-image by the car they drive.

I think Toyota is one of the most forward thinking companies you can find.

They recognize the market, the need, and the coming energy squeeze. Once again they may not have invented a process, but they are most likely to be the first to fully implement it in a broad way.