So, somehow, Toyota’s recent departure from Fremont’s NUMMI auto plant is connected with:
1. Our nation’s ridiculous Cash for Clunkers federal bailout, and/or
2. Nissan pulling financing from a car dealership in Oakland.
That’s the conclusion you’d reach if you gave Chronicle editorial “Thanks a lot, Toyota“ a gander. Hey Chronicle: WTF?
A typical San Francisco car crash scene, in this case on Hayes Street. Note the make of the vehicles making up the bread part of this sandwich – “Thanks a lot, Toyota!”
Soooo…..
Toyota’s U.S. market share has something to do with the Cash for Clunkers program? Really?
Isn’t C4C a federal program, and isn’t Toyota moving production to other North American plants, so isn’t it pretty much a wash anyway?
Didn’t Toyota lose a boatload of money on NUMMI the past quarter century?
So, in fact, hasn’t Toyota done the bay area huge favor by operating the plant and paying those high-salary (no, not BART-driver six-figure money but close enough) union jobs?
So you all want Toyota to continue to lose money on NUMMI indefinitely on into the future making products people don’t seem to want to buy?
Does it make sense to build cars in California these days?
Don’t all Enterprise Zones generally suck anyway?
Has Toyota ever before pulled out of a production plant anywhere in the world in its history? So why would they single out poor little California in 2009?
Perhaps Oakland and Northern California already have too many car dealerships anyway?
(Do I want undercoat(!) on my new car for $600, or chrome on the wheels for $1800 and how much added dealer markup would I like to pay? Well gee, give me ten minutes* to think about it, and why don’t you make out with my girlfriend right here in the showroom while I’m deciding.)
Perhaps we don’t need evil car dealerships at all anyway?
Oops, of course the San Francisco Chronicle needs car dealerships, but what about everybody else in the bay area?
People can buy expensive things, like MacBooks Air**, online, so why can’t we buy a Yaris Hybrid or something online?
Oh, that’s right, it’s illegal or something. Well why’s that?
[Sarcasm Mode= ON]
Thanks a lot, San Francisco Chronicle!
[Sarcasm Mode= OFF]
*En realidad, I’ve purchased one new vehicle in my life, and that deal took 7 minutes to complete, a hefty, hefty, hefty discount off of MSRP, no test drive - car dealerships are evil, and let me tell you, the sole curriculum at so-called Toyota University seems to be how to extract as much money as possible for routine service.
**The plural form of MacBook Air.
