Ironically, GM has lost just about exactly what Toyota has gained. In North America, it's very much a situation right now where Toyota is moving forward while GM is really managing its decline and trying to figure out how to manage such a big company with such a big market share decline.
As people live with them and maybe do some math, and if prices stay at the premium stage, you're just going to see sales slow.
People complain about gas prices, but they don't change their buying habits. We've been saying that gas prices have to hit $3 a gallon and stay there for six months to see a change in behavior.
I still don't think we're going to see a significant difference in what people buy unless that $3 stays for six months or more.
Sometimes you say a new year can bring a clean slate and refreshment, but that's not the case for 2006. 2005 was a tough year, and 2006 will be another tough year. In the U.S. market, I don't see a let-up of the pressure on GM and Ford from the Asian car makers.
They're building products that consumers want, and they're also well-managed, so they don't have any turmoil or anything like that. From a business standpoint, there really isn't much stopping Toyota at this point.
North America continues to grow in importance for Toyota on a global basis. Putting something like a production support center in the U.S. only makes sense as they continue to add plants.
Ford is clearly on the path of closing at least a car plant if not a truck plant. They're losing market share, and they have too much capacity.
Given that's a new model, that's a big decline.
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