Toyota focused on making cars people want, exec says

[rocky]

Toyota focused on making cars people want, exec says

Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Toyota is not trying to unseat any of the Detroit-based automakers, but is merely making cars and trucks that people want to buy, Toyota Motor Corp.'s North American chief, Jim Press, told reporters today.

He suggested some of the American car companies lost sight of that mission in recent years.

"We just continue to focus on how you can give better customer satisfaction, how you build better loyalty, how you can get better products to the customers," Press said during an informal gathering at the Detroit Athletic Club today. "If there are some other companies that haven't been able to focus as we have on products and customer satisfaction, they're going through the adjustments now so they can."

Press named General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. as two that fall into that camp, along with Germany's Volkswagen AG.

"It's a tough business," he said. "They're taking the right actions."

Toyota is not unconcerned about the impact problems at the traditional Big Three have on how it's perceived in the U.S. marketplace, or on Capitol Hill, Press said.

We're always mindful of the consequences of a couple companies not performing well," he said, but added that he does not expect a return to the protectionism of the past.

Toyota's sales soared nearly 13 percent last year, giving the Japanese manufacturer 15 percent of the domestic market and ousting DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group from the No. 3 slot in the United States.

You can reach Bryce Hoffman at (313) 222-2443 or bhoffman@detnews.com.

[tgrimes]

What a concept! This is the philosophy that has made Toyota and Honda the premier brands, leaving all the American automakers in the dust.

[wstromer]

GM still won't listen. They are now and will continue to be a company run by bean counters that build cars and SUVs by reskinning 1980's designs and then marketing the piss out of them.