Covering the auto industry
I got a call from a reader last week complaining that we’re not balanced in covering the auto industry.
It was her perception that we put bad news about Ford, GM and Chrysler on Page 1, and bury any good news inside the paper. She thought we put good news about Toyota and Honda on Page 1, and hide any bad news on the back pages.
While I disagree with her basic premise, I understand the frustration.
News about Ford, GM and Chrysler is critically important to our readers. Many of them work for the former Big Three or their suppliers, or have friends or relatives who depend on the auto industry.
That’s also the case with many of our employees, who have spouses, children, parents, relatives and friends with ties to the auto industry. We want the Big Three to rebound, too.
In recent years there has been plenty of bad news about Ford, GM and Chrysler on Page 1. We put it there when we think it belongs there - such as today when there’s a story about the future of Chrysler on the front page.
When there is good new about any of the U.S. auto companies or their suppliers, I have a feeliing it will be on Page 1, too - simply because it will be unusual.
Here’s hoping for a day sometime in the future when good news about the auto industry is routine and won’t be considered for the front page.
February 20th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Having worked in Toyota R&D from 1995 till 1999, it always rubs me the wrong way when folks separate the company out as “foreign” and in distinct competition with “the big three”. There’s more association between at least a couple of these automakers than people care to admit or even want to know.
For the past 20 years, GM and Toyota have built a number of vehicles together at the NUMMI plant in California. (http://www.nummi.com/vehicles.php) From 1995 - 2000 a large number of Chevy Cavaliers were renamed as Toyota Cavaliers, shipped to Japan and sold there. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Cavalier#Toyota_Cavalier) And for a number of years, the two companies have collaborated on fuel cell research. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11654151/)
Yesterday, the BBC took a look at how GM has left the Flint and Detroit areas, and how the Camry/Avalon/Sienna plant in Georgetown, KY (which opened in 1990) has become a great place to work.
Toyota is also local to some extent. The Toyota Technical Center recently celebrated 25 years, and is located in Ann Arbor. (http://www.toyota.com/about/operations/manufacturing/ttc/index.html) There are certainly people from Monroe County who work at this facility, which is larger than anyone would probably guess.
For anyone to dismiss Toyota as being “non-local” or “foreign” or even “anti-American” or “anti-Big Three” simply indicates they don’t know all the facts. Toyota isn’t taking jobs from Americans. For decades, they’ve been creating jobs, including jobs for GM workers. And that’s really a good thing.