Toyota has indefinitely delayed the startup of a $300 million plant to build the Prius in Mississippi. The state of Mississippi "invested" $200 million in the plant and the local government "invested" $35 million.

This is an example of why it is a dumb move to invest U. S. tax dollars into a foreign-owned company. BTW, I don't want ANY tax dollars invested into U.S. owned companies either, however, I get real tired of hearing how these foreign-owned automobile companies are doing so much good for the U.S. The only good that these foreign-owned companies are doing is for themselves. They get tax breaks and significant investment from our tax dollars. We get the shaft.

 

Yeah, I agree 100%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Too bad, My brother owns a toyota/honda repair shop, he could use more toyotas to fix$$. He has told me stories about toyota "quality" that I doubt you would ever hear from any other source.

 

Keep in mind that these are STATE tax dollars, not federal.To say nothing of the future tax breaks and fees waved

And this is for the only US based plant to build the Prius. Toyota points to the down turn in over-all car sales AND the lowering of gas prices. This means they can continue to import the lil' buggers and keep the numbers low & price high.

But not to worry. Toyota says that it will keep all 100 current employees on payroll. And maybe, just maybe they'll finish in 2 years & start employing people & building cars.

 

Hopefully the state was smart enough to put Toyota on the hook.

Northwest Airlines had a deal for some $$ from Minnesota, but they didn't finish the deal. I believe that they had to cough up.

 

Toyota will be completing the construction of the physical plant itself. However they will not be installing the machinery used for the production of automobiles. The major reason for the decision is that the American public can not afford to purchase the autos that would be manufactured there. When the market forces change they will gear up for the latest models that the public wants. I believe that the inability of people to purchase vehicles due to problems in the credit industry is the basis of the decision. BTW any SBA loan is the investment of "tax dollars" in business. I also wonder if anyone in America has any Toyota stock in their portfolio? Old93 did your brother get a loan to open his shop?

 

Well, truth is, eveyone is hurting from the bad economy, it's not just the american companies this time, it actually is speading world wide. OPEC is meeting today about cutting oil production. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. With the economy the way it is, wouldn't be the time to start raising oil prices if they want to sell any. I know we have to have it, but reguardless, when your flat broke you can't buy anything. Demand is declining and will decline more if it starts going up.

 

How were these dollars "invested"? Was it an actual cash infusion, low rate loans, or tax deferrals? A lot of these businesses get tax deferrals to move in so the money was never going to be there if they weren't there.

Now like it or not, Toyota just like Ford, GM, Nissan, Honda, and Chysler are global corporations. I wouldn't call Toyota foreign owned so much as foreign based. With the exception of Chysler, these are publicly traded companies and they are "owned" by shareholders.

I say good for Toyota for keeping thier production in line with demand, keeping people employed, and keeping thier shareholders happy.

Mike

 

This is precisely what started the futures speculation in late winter this year & led to record prices for crude & finished product. Heating oil consumption was down due to a mild winter along with a reduction in gasoline useage.

It would seem prudent as well as far thinking to have a least a production line operative and full US examples in a showroom for the consumer when the next price spike hits. (And it will) Even if it cost you more right now to bring it on line.

 

Even if they do cut production, I doubt it will amount to anything. Demand is being destroyed worldwide. Thier last cut did squat and if they do cut today, it might spike 4-7 dollars per barrel temporarily.

Until economies really start to rebound, oil will be cheap. Then when it does, we need to be hard on them and thier $70-90 "fair price".

One great thing that few people realize is that OPEC has a much lower market share than ever before and thier largest producer (Saudi Arabia) is very pro low price.


Mike

 

No loan, started as a general foreign repair shop . It matured into a toyota/honda specialty shop because thats where the MONEY was. (read here LOTS of repair work).

 

I don't know how they defined "invested" so that's why I put it in quotes. The article wasn't specific.

Toyota doesn't provide shareholder data but Yahoo states that only 9% of outstanding shares are held either by institutions or mutual funds so I'm betting that more than 50% of the company is "foreign-owned". It doesn't really matter since we shouldn't be providing funding to private companies IMO.