While Chrysler is busy berating its suppliers to cut costs by setting-up shop overseas, Toyota is about to export U.S.-made vehicles to foreign climes. Asahi Shimbun [via Reuters UK] informs us that "Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, will begin shipping the Sequoia large sport utility vehicle to the Middle East some time this year, and the Sienna minivan as early as 2010 to China and other markets… A Toyota spokesman said the automaker was always looking for ways to best supply vehicles on a global basis but declined to comment on the report." The report is good news for workers at ToMoCo's Indiana plant. And there is precedent here. Last year, Toyota sent some 7k American-made Avalon sedans to the Middle East. With the current slowdown (as in collapse) of the U.S. truck market, how long before Texas-built Tundras (same platform as the Sequoia) apply for a passport? Why we could see a whole new generation of African warlords driving modiified American-made Japanese pickups.
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Not Europe then…Well maybe the Sienna.
I think it’s kind of strange Toyota keeps offering the Landcruiser in Europe and not the Sequoia. I think about 2 people in the entire European region buy a Landcruiser per year.
The landcruiser looks like a early 90s 4*4 with a crappy interior and operates in the Range Rover price range, yet it doesn’t have the snob appeal to show for it. At a significantly lesser cost your X5 will give you more of the all important street credibility and (what’s really more important) better driving dynamics.
And if you are going to take it offroad, which I’m sure it does very well, there are still other vehicles out there that offer the same offroad prowess for half the price. The Landcruiser just doesn’t do both well enough to justify its price.
I bet the Sequoia could do better, because at least it would have some selling points. However, although I might not understand their reasoning personally I’m not sorry they don’t bring it here.
JJ:
Not Europe then…Well maybe the Sienna.
I think it’s kind of strange Toyota keeps offering the Landcruiser in Europe and not the Sequoia. I think about 2 people in the entire European region buy a Landcruiser per year.
The landcruiser looks like a early 90s 4*4 with a crappy interior and operates in the Range Rover price range, yet it doesn’t have the snob appeal to show for it. At a significantly lesser cost your X5 will give you more of the all important street credibility and (what’s really more important) better driving dynamics.
And if you are going to take it offroad, which I’m sure it does very well, there are still other vehicles out there that offer the same offroad prowess for half the price. The Landcruiser just doesn’t do both well enough to justify its price.
I bet the Sequoia could do better, because at least it would have some selling points. However, although I might not understand their reasoning personally I’m not sorry they don’t bring it here.
Sounds like you’re ill-informed of what the Land Cruiser is actually capable of.
Toyota sells over 200,000 Land Cruisers annually, and those sales come predominantly from outside Japan and North America.
Middle east and cheap price gasoline countires will enjoy them.
The problem is, that in third world countries, cars are never sold at the prices USA gets… so they will be f@#$%&ing expensive when they get there.
Bad, cause they could have sold them in boatloads.
GM should do the same by the way.
Sounds like you’re ill-informed of what the Land Cruiser is actually capable of.
Wouldn’t that be about the same as a Defender…
Anyway, although it’s revised this year it’s basically the same car it was in 98. And back then it wasn’t really ground breaking in the first place.
Sure, it’s more than capable of road, but so are other cars that either cost less or offer more…
This is just smart business. Given how low the $ has gone, and how excellent the economic climate is for businesses, exporting from the US only makes sense.
What is puzzling to me about Ford and the debate over why the US never got the Euro-Focus (as well as other models) is the fact that the Euro-Focus should be manufactured in the US. In fact, any Ford sold in Europe, and not requiring fast delivery should be manufactured in the US. The European unions won’t like hearing that, but it would reduce Ford’s costs enough to make them very solidly profitable.
Duh!
GM has been exporting US-engineered and assembled vehicles to the Middle East for a very very long time.
I was in Kuwait for most of 2004. It’s the only foreign country I’ve ever been to where most of the vehicles on the road were American. Full size trucks and SUVs are as common as weeds there, as are full-size cars like the Chevy Caprice Classic. The vast majority of these were GM products.
I’m assuming the cheap fuel (something like $0.50/gallon) has a lot to do with this. In Kuwait having a good air conditioner is better than getting good MPG.
So US-built full-size trucks and SUVs make sense, especially since Toyota has a very good reputation in the Middle East.
If your oil is cheap, there’s nothng to beat the inches whether the length or cubc inches.
US cars all have damn cold A/Cs.
Just high oil price killed them.
My old 73 Eldorado was a dream to drive, but sucking gas is an understatement.
Other than close the factory, what else is Toyota to do? With the new Texas factory online Toyota has far too much capacity for the big Tundra/Sequoia family of vehicles. Might as well send them to the Middle East where the cash is plentiful and fuel is cheap.