Word: plantes
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Picture a Toyota engineer in a Stetson, munching on a corn dog, and you'll get a sense of how the company sees its future. Toyota is constructing its sixth North American assembly plant, in the heart of truck country just outside San Antonio, Texas, aiming to build the next generation of its full-size Tundra pickup there and--if all goes as planned--finally conquer the U.S. truck market. Achieving that feat would mark a milestone for Toyota in its quest to become the great American car company and would follow its conquest of virtually every other market segment...
...world, Toyota has had to abandon its distinctive one-on-one training methods, prompting questions about whether the company can maintain its vaunted production standards. In the old days, Japanese manufacturing gurus schooled in the legendary Toyota production system would move overseas and practically live in a new plant for a few years. Classroom training is now the rule. And for the first time, Toyota's U.S. plants--not factories in Japan--are acting as the "mother ships" for new factories. A Georgetown, Ky., plant shepherded a new truck plant in Mexico, and one in Indiana is taking charge...
Piece it together, and you'll get an idea of why Toyota is moving to Texas. The state anted up $133 million to lure the new state-of-the-art plant, which when it lights up late next year will feature a highly flexible system for producing eight different models on a single line. Toyota aims to produce 150,000 Tundras annually there, and analysts expect a second line eventually for other models. Says Rob Hinchliffe of UBS: "They're very methodical...
...more disciplined Toyota seems to become. Since the Camry started slipping in the quality scores, managers have drilled into the consumer surveys, reading customer comments to fix peeves as minute as the sound of the trunk latch. As for eliminating waste, says Gary Convis, president of the Georgetown plant, "we're never satisfied." Convis says Toyota has cut the delivery time for custom models from 10 weeks to 10 days, and that his facility has reduced some manufacturing costs by as much as 70%. A group of assembly workers from the plant went to Wal-Mart last year hunting...
...sport-utility vehicle, the Tucson, and later this year, the company will launch a new high-end sedan for the U.S. market, the Azera. Down the road Hyundai plans to roll out a larger SUV and its first hybrid gas-electric vehicle. In addition, the company is opening manufacturing plants around the world that should help it penetrate key markets. Hyundai is investing $600 million in a factory in the southern Indian city of Madras; due to open in 2007, the plant will be Hyundai's second in the country. And in April, Hyundai opened its first U.S. factory...