6th gen Speculation Thread

Probably true.

 

Maybe not with his buddy Elon whispering sweet nothings in his ear.

I'm curious if the prices of new Toyota's will go up with these tariff proposals. 10% tariff on all US imports meaning a 4Runner imported from Japan with an MSRP of $55k would have $5,500 added to the price tag. Imports from Mexico were suggested to have a 25% tariff meaning a $40k Tacoma would have $10k added to the price tag.

 

Elon is going to head up a new agency called D.O.G.E. Department of Gov Efficiency.

He going to be right there by Donny's side. Stocks pumping today including Tesla which is up 15%.

EVs will probably get a fresh push next year.

But I think Toyota still looking really good with their hybrid approach instead of trying to go full EV as Ford and others have tried. But tariff thing could mess everything up of course.

Still don't like look of 6th gen though.

 

Crazy.... those price increases if passed onto the customer would destroy sales. Maybe Toyota could consider moving production back to San Antonio plant.

 

They are planning on expanding the San Antonio plant but even with all their US manufacturing plants, it would be impossible to absorb all the vehicles they import........4runner, Land Cruiser, Tacoma, Corolla, Rav4 prime, Camry hybrid, Prius, multiple Lexus models, ect......

 

The point is not to just pass on the tariffs to the American consumer. The manufacturer will need to eat the costs or move production to the US.

 

Do you think that will realistically happen?

 

Yes. If they want to sell a lot of vehicles. Most people aren’t going to throw away thousands of dollars for nothing.

 

No way. If it costs them more to get a vehicle into the country, that cost gets passed along to the consumer. Corporations are not going to absorb those cost out of the goodness of their hearts. lol

This does the auto industry a yuuuuuge disservice......even the one's "built in America."

Think of how many parts are imported from Mexico or overseas for vehicles assembled in the USA.

Vehicle prices go up across the board.

 

Somebody gets it.

 

Overpaying hasn't stopped the general public from buying cars for the past few years, why would they stop then?

Hell, some people even feel bad for the companies when their expenses and customer prices go up. I'll never understand that one.

 

Since the new administration has the highest tariffs (200%) on imports from Mexico, this could actually end up forcing Toyota's hand to continue making the 4Runner in Japan, which would be a silver lining in all this tariff / higher price speculation.

 

That's what happens when you let bureaucrats without engineering degrees who are not answerable to voters in charge of engineering things like automotive rules.

 

Even people on that side of the fence are not expecting that to happen. the tariff threat on mexico is a negotiation tool to make them a partner in stemming the economic migrant flow from central americans and people who fly to central america from all over the world.

 

It's been a great couple of days for me.

 

Me too. God Bless America.

You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

 

I'll be more relieved when/if we can have the current mpg and emissions standards freeze in place for the time being. But I am sure California CARB and elements of the EPA bureaucracy will continue to fight tooth and nail to make ICE vehicles impossible to produce at all costs.

Note to people who haven't figured out why we can't have Hilux and Jimnys here, or why we can't have new production vehicles like the 5th gen 4runners anymore: it's CARB and EPA.

 

They can raise prices as high as they want. That doesn’t mean people will pay it. There’s only so many people willing to pay much more for a made in Japan 4Runner vs a made in the USA Passport or Pathfinder.

 

If I put myself in the shoes of a (yuck!) dealer and the 4Runner price goes up markedly, you can bet I’m going to try to get more for my Passports or Broncos on the lot.

That’s of course assuming parts for these hypothetical Passports and Broncos are not tariffed and MSRP didn’t go up. (Bronco base MSRP is up something like what, 25-30% since 21?)

 

Covid shortages are over. Dealers can’t get away with that nonsense anymore. It’s a buyers market again.

 

Also, how did this become a political thread? I thought that kind of thing wasn't allowed here.

 

Not if imported vehicles are suddenly out of reach of more buyers and they’ll be competing for non-tariffed options. I don’t know what the percentage is off the top of my head but that’ll effectively constrict supply. (of course depending on how broad the tariffs are applied)

I do agree with the sentiment but voters don’t see it that way and have other things on their mind, sure it’ll be a logical consequence but that’s probably a bit over the political line here but it’s definitely fuzzy.

Nailed it!

 

The majority of manufacturers have factories here. You don’t think they will increase production?

 

Production is constrained by available part supply, logistics, factory capacity, labor, etc. and none of those turn on a dime.

Today’s business landscape values efficiency at the expense of resilience and flexibility. (see: that one NC plant supplying an huge chunk of the country’s IV fluids that went down)

One man’s margin-for-error/extra capacity can be considered another man’s waste and that cushion likely won't be built-in when these plants, processes, deals, etc are designed years in advance.

If you want a plant that produces 12 cars a minute and that’s it, why plan and pay extra for the potential for 18 a minute that may never be relevant?

Not to mention, the headline automotive COVID-19 supply issue was difficulty in sourcing chips from Asian semiconductor foundries and those deals are done in advance (need to order in advance) and could also be subject to these tariffs and increase the cost of manufacturing vehicles assembled in America.

Also plants may need to be retooled heavily to build more than the vehicle’s it was equipped for, that’s not an easy process to do, assuming there’s even room for another shift on the schedule or a way to speed up the line.

Related, and a neat read:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Toyota_factories

It'll be safe to say that steep, broad tariffs on imported automobiles and components will be a huge shift with hard to predict results. Toyota has a variety of choices from raising prices, taking a wait-and-see approach as the effects are felt (maybe public pressure will push the administration to dial it back?), decide it's not worth selling the 4Runner or manufacturing it here, wait out the president and his administration's term, etc.

 

Yeah exactly. Gotta go back to the 19th century, no income tax, no regulations...

Hmm, how long would it take Toyota to move 4Runner production to the US? I thought the US plants were at or near capacity? Not only that, but, with the chicken tax, pickup truck prices didn't come down, they went up. I know I know, everyone hates facts.


- Whatever happened to the election being rigged? -

 

Was it a stressful day for you? Can't gather your thoughts?

Relax, you'll be fine.

 

You know what, I was actually getting this site confused with another, where people were aggressive / excited about regulations being loosened. Looking back, what everyone has said here is fairly neutral. I deleted my post to be on the safe side as well.

 

You guys are worried about one Japanese made SUV that Toyota hasn’t even starting production on. There are plenty of other vehicles out there currently sitting on dealer lots and constantly being pumped out of the factories. Don’t worry. Everything will be OK.

 

ha, too true. I’m not worried at all, mostly just enjoy speculating. Free entertainment.

 

Nothing about my post was 4Runner-specific until my hypothetical at the end but OK.