The US Chamber of Commerce has been lobbying against current attempts at reducing carbon output and other clean energy programs. The group disputes claims that greenhouse gasses are the cause of global warming and further claims that attempts to restrict businesses will be detrimental to the US economy.

In protest of this stance, several major companies have ended their membership with the Chamber, including Apple, Exelon and Levi Strauss & Co. Nike has removed itself from the Chamber Board of Directors and several companies have issued statements opposing the Chamber’s actions while retaining their memberships. These companies include Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, Alcoa, Duke, Entergy and Microsoft. GE issued the following statement, “The Chamber does not speak for us on climate legislation, but we are still a member.”

Toyota remains a member and some feel that in light of its “green” reputation, it hasn’t done enough to distance itself from the Chamber. Toyota did issue the following statement in response to criticisms over its continued affiliation.

“Toyota is a member of a wide array of groups and organizations. Our association with these groups does not signify that we agree with all of their policies. It means we are there to have a dialogue and engage in making good policy.”

Toyota further stated, “Toyota has long been mindful of and accepts the broad scientific consensus that climate change is occurring and will continue unless there are significant and coordinated global efforts to slow the growth of manmade greenhouse gas emissions. (Toyota) has not waited for government regulation to address the challenges of greenhouse gas emissions.”

Several environmental groups have been highly critical of what they perceive to be Toyota’s two-faced approach to the environment. While Toyota maintains an excellent track record and advertises its commitment to environmental causes, it continues to support the Chamber and its lobbying efforts financially as a member. MoveOn.org has been vocal in insisting that Toyota rescind its membership, launching a nationwide campaign to pressure Toyota into resigning.

Recently, the US Chamber of Commerce quietly dropped Toyota from its list of Board Members. According to a Toyota spokesperson, Toyota’s Board membership concluded when the former president of Toyota Motor North America returned to Japan for a new assignment.

Production of the Highlander sport utility vehicle, Toyota’s 12th North American-built model, has begun at the company’s plant in Princeton, Indiana. The $450 million investment is part of the adjustments Toyota began last year in order to streamline in light of the weakened economy.

Production of the Tundra pickup, originally in Indiana, was shifted last fall to the Tundra plant in Texas. Since then Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana (TMMI), which also builds the Sienna and Sequoia, has been preparing for the Highlander.

“Highlander production gives us better use of our capacity and demonstrates our continued commitment to the U.S. and the state of Indiana,” said Wil James, TMMI senior vice president.

TMMI reacted to several months of slow production by retaining all of its 4,200 team members, who were further trained and improved manufacturing processes.

“The result is long-term sustainability of this factory, which is important to our customers, team members, suppliers and the local community,” James said.

TMMI now represents a $3.7 billion investment. The addition of Highlander boosts production at other Toyota plants such as West Virginia, where the 6-cylinder engine is made, and at nearly 250 of Toyota’s North American suppliers.

In Indiana alone, Highlander parts and components including items such as steel, brake parts and interior component assemblies will be provided by about 30 Tier 1 suppliers.

The Toyota Highlander Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle – Advanced (FCHV-adv) achieved an estimated range of 431 miles on a single full tank of compressed hydrogen gas, and an average fuel economy of 68.3 miles/kg (approximate mpg equivalent) during a day-long trip down the southern California coast.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Savannah River National Laboratory (SNRL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), approached Toyota to participate in a collaborative evaluation of the real world driving range of the FCHV-adv. On Tuesday, June 30, two fuel cell vehicles, two Toyota Technical Center engineers, an SRNL engineer and a NREL engineer completed a 331.5 mile extended round trip drive between Torrance, California and San Diego.

“This evaluation of the FCHV-adv demonstrates not only the rapid advances in fuel cell technology, but also the viability of this technology for the future,” said Jared Farnsworth, Toyota Technical Center advanced powertrain engineer.

The route encompassed a variety of drive cycles, including high speed highway driving, moderate highway driving and stop and go traffic on surface streets, in an effort to capture a typical commute. Each vehicle was outfitted with a data collection system that captured vehicle speed, distance traveled, hydrogen consumed, hydrogen tank pressure, temperature and internal tank volume.

Driving range data from each vehicle was calculated by SRNL and NREL engineers. The results were averaged for an estimated range of 431 miles, with an average fuel economy of 68.3 miles/kg.

For comparison, the 2009 Toyota Highland Hybrid achieves an EPA-estimated rating of 26 mpg combined fuel economy and has a full-tank range of approximately 450 miles. With premium grade gasoline currently priced at about $3.25, the gasoline-powered V6 Highlander hybrid is estimated to travel approximately 26 miles at a cost of about $3.25. Currently, hydrogen gas pricing is not fixed, but DOE targets future pricing at $2 to $3 per kilogram. Therefore, the FCHV-adv is estimated to travel approximately 68 miles at a projected cost of about $2.50 – more than double the range of the Highlander Hybrid, at equal or lesser cost, while producing zero emissions.

SRNL and NREL analyzed all data gathered during the evaluation and prepared a formal report to DOE verifying range results and miles per kilogram achieved. This report will assist regulators and government research programs to accurately assess the status of the fuel cell industry and viability of the current technology.

“Toyota’s hydrogen fuel cell technology has advanced rapidly over the last two years,” said Irv Miller, TMS group vice president, environmental and public affairs. “In 2015, our plan is to bring to market a reliable and durable fuel cell vehicle with exceptional fuel economy and zero emissions, at an affordable price.”

NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc.) is a joint venture between Toyota and GM that was established in Fremont, California in 1984. It was the first automotive joint venture plant in the US. It also represents Toyota’s first American production facility. NUMMI currently employs roughly 5,500 people with 60% of its production for Toyota. It currently produces the Corolla, the Tacoma and the Pontiac Vibe (which is based on the Toyota Matrix).

GM has announced that it will discontinue its partnership with Toyota. Ongoing negotiations between the two companies ended with GMs decision, as part of its bankruptcy, to withdraw from the 25-year-old venture. Neither company has disclosed the financial terms of GM’s decision to turn the plant over to Toyota.

Effective this August, GM will discontinue production of the Pontiac Vibe as it abandons the Pontiac nameplate. With that, the joint venture between GM and Toyota will come to a close. The fate of the production facility is very unsettled at this point. Toyota had hoped to reach an agreement with GM and has declined to comment about any plans that it has for NUMMI.

Toyota has a rich history at the NUMMI facility, and it ranks with other Toyota plants as among the most productive automotive facilities in North America. It is a massive plant, spanning the same size as nearly 90 football fields. There had been talks until recently of a joint venture whereby a version of the Toyota Prius would be manufactured there as a GM product. Workers at NUMMI hope that Toyota will amend those plans to build the Prius at the plant.

It is, however, the only unionized Toyota plant in North America. It is also twice the average age of other Toyota facilities. Given the current economic situation- which has already strained Toyota’s bottom line- it is a difficult choice for Toyota.

As yet, there has been no public discussion of a third party entering into a joint venture at NUMMI, picking up where GM left off. Perhaps another company would like to manufacture a version of the Prius under their name. Only time will tell. In the meantime, nearly 5,500 employees will continue to work with an uncertain future.

Toyota has reported its sales figures for March- still far below last year’s figures but a slight improvement over February. Toyota reported sales of 132,802 vehicles for March- a decrease of 36.6% compared with March, 2008. However, February’s sales were 109,583 vehicles, which represents a 37.3% decrease from February, 2008. So, although sales are still sluggish, there are signs of a slow turnaround for Toyota.

The Toyota Division posted March sales of 118,563 units, a decrease of 36.0 percent from the same period last year. The Lexus Division reported March sales of 14,239 units, a decrease of 40.6 percent from the year-ago month.

The positive spin Toyota would like to put on this is that sales in March were up 16.3% over sales in February. However, that can be misleading since sales are expected to increase from February to March. In fact, all of the major auto makers reported increased sales from February to March- GM reported a sales increase of 23% for that period while reporting a 45% decrease compared with March 2008.

Actually, the February to March comparison may prove to be less rosy than Toyota would hope. By that measure, Ford improved more dramatically, reporting a 30% gain. So, although the gains are predominantly seasonal and don’t necessarily indicate a real upturn in sales, Ford’s performance shows the nationalistic nature of sales. Namely, Ford is showing a better ability to capitalize on the collapse of GM and Chrysler than Toyota. In a nutshell, the “Buy American” attitude means that buyers who are moving away from GM and Chrysler are much more likely to move toward Ford than Toyota.

This is to be expected- and Toyota can look at the figures and say that it fared well compared to the bulk of its competition. While Toyota’s year-on-year sales are down 36.6%, other companies had bigger losses. GM decreased by 45%; Chrysler fell by 39.3%; and even sales at Ford are down by 40.9%. Honda suffered slightly less than Toyota, with year-on-year sales off by 33.7%.

Toyota Division
Toyota Division passenger cars recorded March sales of 73,385 units, down 33.6% from the same period last year. Camry and Camry Hybrid remained Toyota’s volume leader in March, posting combined monthly sales of 25,783 units. Corolla recorded sales of 22,257 units. Yaris reported sales of 5,888 units for the month; The Prius posted sales of 8,924 units.

Toyota Division light trucks posted March sales of 45,178 units, down 39.7% from the year-ago month. Light truck sales were led by the RAV4 compact SUV with sales of 11,899 units. The Tacoma mid-size pickup reported sales of 9,444 units for the month; the Tundra full-size pickup recorded March sales of 5,547 units. Highlander and Highlander Hybrid posted combined sales of 5,404 units.

Scion posted March sales of 4,663 units. The xB urban utility vehicle led the way with sales of 2,090 units. The tC sports coupe recorded sales of 1,545 units. The xD reported sales of 1,027 units for the month.

Lexus Division
Lexus passenger cars reported March sales of 7,212 units, a decrease of 49.6% from March 2008. Passenger car sales were led by the ES entry luxury sedan with March sales of 3,225 units. The IS entry luxury sport sedan posted combined sales of 2,432 units. The LS flagship luxury sedan recorded combined sales of 852 units. The GS luxury sport sedan reported combined March sales of 625 units.

Lexus Division light trucks recorded March sales of 7,027 units, down 27.3% from the year-ago month. Lexus sales were led by the RX luxury utility vehicle, which posted combined March sales of 6,177 units. The RX 400h hybrid luxury utility vehicle reported sales of 1,165 units for the month.

TMS Hybrids
TMS posted March sales of 13,747 hybrid vehicles. Toyota Division recorded sales of 12,515 hybrids for the month. Lexus Division reported March sales of 1,232 hybrids.

Toyota Inventory
Recent efforts to cut production in order to reduce inventory have shown progress, with total TMS inventory down 26.6 percent in the first quarter.

There were 25 selling days this month, compared to 26 selling days last March.

Toyota is implementing additional measures at its North American manufacturing plants designed to further reduce production in the midst of the worst automotive slump in decades. The new actions are consistent with the company’s philosophy of making every effort to protect jobs during the sales downturn.

“We’ve taken responsible, step-by-step actions to address this issue in recent months, and we hope the new measures will help us adjust while protecting jobs,”
said Jim Wiseman, vice president of external affairs for Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America (TEMA). “This philosophy of shared sacrifice is the best approach for us, and hopefully will make us a stronger company in the long term.”

TEMA had previously scheduled periodic non-production days, while providing training and plant improvement activities to protect jobs;
established a hiring freeze; eliminated overtime; and suspended capital spending.

Additional steps include additional non-production days in April, varying from plant to plant; strong possibility of work and pay cuts, known as “work sharing,” at some plants. Production team members at affected plants would work and be paid 72 hours instead of 80 during the two-week pay period; executive and salaried bonuses eliminated; executive pay cuts; production team member bonuses reduced; voluntary exit program for team members who wish to pursue other opportunities; and no wage increases for the foreseeable future.