Minivan Market
I can understand why The Times syndicate gave Lee Iacocca a column several years ago, but it may be time to reconsider the deal.
When you signed him up, he was the hero who saved Chrysler. Many considered him a spokesman for the best qualities of American business--hard work, fairness and a scrappy “we-can-beat-the-best” attitude. Over the past few years, that’s changed. Chrysler failed to plow its big profits back into enough new plants and products to remain competitive and the company is in trouble again except, of course, in the minivan market Chrysler is doing very well indeed.
However, as Chrysler’s troubles have mounted, its chairman has become increasingly shrill in blaming Japanese competitors. Let’s take his June 14 tirade as an example (“Two Ships Pass in the Night and America Is the Loser,” Commentary).
He charged that Toyota is allowed to “dump” minivans in the U.S. while Chrysler’s Jeep Cherokee has its price driven so high by Japanese “non-tariff barriers” that it doesn’t sell well in Japan. He carefully neglects to report that the Cherokee he exports to Japan was designed a decade ago and has its steering wheel on the left for a right-hand-drive market.
It’s also absurd that he charges Toyota with dumping minivans here. Toyota and Volkswagen actually entered the U.S. minivan market before Chrysler and at one time--in 1984--held a 25% share. But the Big Three now have a dominant 88% share of the minivan segment. You can buy a V-6 Dodge Caravan with air-conditioning and an automatic transmission for less than you’d pay for a four-cylinder Toyota Previa without air and with a manual transmission. Furthermore, the Japanese-market version of Toyota’s minivan is priced lower than a comparably equipped Previa here in the U.S. By contrast, the Big Three dumping charge is nothing but harassment against import auto makers to stifle competition.
Toyota minivans are classified exactly the same as Chrysler minivans and meet the same regulations except for one. We pay 2.5% customs duty on the vans we import from Japan while those Chrysler imports from Canada come in duty-free.
GEORGE E. BORST, Vice President
Strategic and Product Planning
Toyota Motor Sales, Torrance
