Sign of More SE USA Impending Economic Problems?

Toyota delays launch of Mississippi plant

The Wall Street Journal reports that Toyota Motor Corp. has announced it will “delay the launch of its sport-utility vehicle plant in Mississippi by about half a year and ramp up production more slowly than it had planned.” The decision reflects larger problems facing automakers according to the Journal, as they currently “have capacity to produce 17.4 million vehicles a year in North America,” but they “expect to build only about 14 million cars in North America this year,” due to a “sales slump.”
        The AP notes that Toyota Motor Corp. Executive Vice President Mitsuo Kinoshita said that the “vehicle assembly plant being built in Blue Springs, near Tupelo, Miss., was initially to be up and running by late 2009 or early 2010.” The date “has now been pushed back to mid-2010 after Toyota reviewed plans and considered the signs of a slowdown in the U.S. market following the subprime mortgage crisis.” The AFP and Reuters also cover the story.

B’Man: This story is pretty big. US manufacturing is falling apart and the only real saving grace is the onslaught of import products, especially Japanese automotive. For the SE USA, this has been the thing keeping automation houses and manufacturing plants viable (other than the military contractors, which are still growing and making record profits). As US automakers are downsizing and/or leaving the US (even the SE USA, for even down here the costs are too high: which is strange because we stole much of it from the rust belt to begin with for that very reason).

My work has been calling on these companies and I have been lucky thus far to receive a couple of very small orders from Toyota for this new plant (less than $100K in business). Obviously, these have been put on a delayed hold.

The bad news may get worse, for I predict that the economy is headed into much worse conditions and if gas pricing continues to rise, Toyota (or any other importer) will have to make major changes or forget their foray into the USA.

Volkswagen has been considering building here (among others), but if things don’t change, my bet is that the new plant will be called off.

I don’t see any end in sight, so I have little expectations that these endeavors will ever come into existence.

We’re screwed people. We must stand up to the Corporatocracy if we are going to make it as a nation.