More Toyota jobs, this time in Alabama

One thing that has always irked me especially ever since adorning the Toyota emblem across my chest is the whole buy American ideology.  It’s not that I’m against buying American even, but rather I dislike how it is sent towards Toyota vehicles, because the truth of the matter is that Toyota is and has been for a long while one of the most predominant American-made vehicles in the automotive industry.  In fact, this is a big part of why Handy Toyota of St. Albans, VT is so proud of every Toyota Camry we sell to our Burlington area customers, because the Toyota Camry is actually the Most American Car based on its production location, percentage of American made parts, and sheer quantity on our roads.  Take that so-called domestics.

In all seriousness I get it:  Toyota is “made” in Japan, therefore it is not a domestic.  But regardless of all the previous information, one thing is abundantly clear:  Toyota Motors USA cares about US jobs.  Literally thousands of people from across our great nation are employed by Toyota, and for that we at Handy Toyota of St. Albans, VT salute you big-T.  And today we are happy to report that Alabama has just had a new I4 engine facility opened as part of the $147 million Toyota has recently dumped into US jobs.

How many jobs, you ask?  Try a grand total of 240, which isn’t half bad.  Am I stating that Toyota’s engine plant in Alabama is going to cure the job woes of this country?  Of course not.  But between this plant and the few that opened previously, I once again tip my hat to Toyota for putting a dent in that seemingly unwavering unemployment number.

The new Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama plant is actually expanding in a sense, as the new I4 engine facility is an extension of a plant that’s been in operation for over 10 years.  This new I4 engine, used in such vehicles as the Toyota Rav4, will help the Canadian effort to push out Rav4s and the upcoming Rav4 EV, the all-electric variant that is soon to release.

Said Alabama Governor Robert Bentley:

“Now, ten years [after Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama's (TMMAL) opening, we have] made a major economic impact in this region.  TMMAL is an enduring, reliable and dedicated partner in building healthy communities in Alabama which can, in turn, strengthen our nation and our world.” -Toyota In The News, “Toyota Kicks Off I4 Engine Production In Alabama.”  toyotainthenews.com, October 13, 2011.

Finally, take a look at what these new 240 jobs will have a part in building.  Who knows… maybe they’ll be building your next engine.

• Toyota’s I4 or 4-cylinder engines produced at the TMMAL factory:

Toyota Camry

1. Toyota Camry
2. Toyota Highlander
3. Toyota Rav4
4. Toyota Sienna
5. Toyota Venza
• Toyota’s V6 and V8 engines produced at the TMMLA factory:
1. Toyota Tundra
2. Toyota Tacoma
3. Toyota Sequoia

Chris Dugan
Handy Toyota
St. Albans, VT  05478

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The Prius Reclaims Its Thrown

As some of you may know, the recent earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan caused a problem for many Toyota dealers in VT and indeed the world.  Although Toyota vehicles made in North America such as the Tundra, Tacoma, Camry, and Corolla have been fairly accessible, one vehicle in particular is darn near impossible to find and conversely highly demanded:  the Toyota Prius.  Luckily for Handy Toyota our sales managers stocked up on quite a few models to allow us some breathing room as Toyota dealers and keep our customers in the Toyota cars they desire, but again around the country Prii are hard to come by.

What’s my point, you ask?  Astonishingly the Toyota Prius is still the highest selling hybrid for the month of June 2011!  In April only 4,876 Prius hybrids were sold, making it perhaps one of the lowest selling months in the vehicle’s history, or at least its popular history (in other words not counting the early years before the craze took hold of the global populace).  In comparison this is a 40% decline of sales in March, a month that was considered a flop in its own right.

As I said, however, June was a stellar month for Toyota’s flagship hybrid vehicle, earning a whopping sales number of 19,429 units.  With the state of inventory these days, I seriously don’t know how this was possible, but it seems there are other Toyota dealers out there that made the same call as Handy’s and kept stocking Prii anyways in the dire months of March and April when the hybrids in question were not selling.

But alas, fear not, as July was the first date Toyota has stated production of all vehicles will hit 90% with an anticipated return to full production levels by September.  For more on the availability of the Toyota Prius, check out our inventory by clicking here or simply fill out an online contact form.  You can also call our Internet Sales Consultants at 888-352-5749 extension 35 for details.

Chris Dugan
Handy Toyota
cdugan@handycars.com

There Can Be Only One

As many of you are probably aware, the go-to name in safety ratings is generally the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an organization you’re most likely more familiar with by the IIHS.  What you mightn’t know however is that for the 2011 model year the IIHS changed the way it ranks vehicles, particularly in the rollover crash test.  The rollover crash test is usually a pretty safe pass for a lot of passenger cars like the Corolla, Camry, or Matrix, as these vehicles not only do well in the test itself but due to their design have a low center of gravity and thus less chance of rolling over than, for example, a more rounded vehicle like a minivan (meaning the Sienna, which gets crazy high scores in its own right).

Another vehicle that by its very nature does not have the low center of gravity of a sedan or small hatchback is a full sized truck, i.e. the Tundra.  Similar to when we speak about fuel economy, the Tundra isn’t meant to fit in this bracket; because it’s a full sized truck, made for working, hauling, etc., there’s no way it could be the size of a Matrix–that much is obvious to anyone.  But what isn’t obvious is the rollover crash test scores that the 2011 Toyota Tundra earned for this year, and that is a remarkable statistic.

In short, the IIHS only named one full sized truck a Top Safety Pick:  the Toyota Tundra.  Even with raised qualifications, the Toyota Tundra passed the bar and looked back with a smirk as the competition sat in its dust, weeping.  I’ll repeat myself here:  no other truck got a Top Safety Pick as per the IIHS.

So where does that leave us?  Best in class power, best in class towing and hauling capabilities, best in class durability, best in class safety, and best in class resale value.  I’d say it’s hands down the “best in class,” wouldn’t you?  To those of us who drive a Tundra every day–be it you as an owner or me as a Toyota car peddler–we know that the Tundra’s best in class; heck, the handling and ride alone could rival some of the sedans in today’s marketplace! 

If you don’t get to drive a Tundra often or at all, you’re in luck, because Handy Toyota has a huge quantity of Tundra trucks of all different models from the 4.6-liter V8 if you don’t need the total power package and want to save a bit of fuel or the 5.7L V8 Tundra Platinum with more options than a luxury sedan and everything in between.  We also have two customized Toyota Tundra trucks sitting on our lot at this very moment:  the 2011 Toyota Tundra custom TRD Off-Road package and the 2011 Tundra custom Texas Ranger Edition, either one of which would make a surefire statement that you rule the road (not to mention the lovely little fact that nobody has the same truck as you!).

 

Whichever Tundra trim and model you pick you’re sure to enjoy, and you’ll really enjoy the available 0% APR financing for up to 60 months or up to $2,500 Toyota Customer CashHandy’s is offering right now as well (through July 5, 2011).  So come on in and see us quickly, because even though we have a ton of different configurations available most of the time, this great finance or cash incentive won’t stick around much longer.  Click here to send us an email now, call us at 888-352-5749, come and see us at 39 South Main Street in St. Albans, VT, or click here to view our Tundra inventory.

Chris Dugan
Handy Toyota
cdugan@handycars.com

A Summer Time Blog

The trip to Staten Island in New York City went better than I expected this past week, and even the flight gave us nothing to complain about.  Not being a flier by desire and seeing a prop jet at our gate waiting to be boarded could have been a sour note, but alas the flight was great; some minor turbulence on the trip to the New Jersey airport was a downside, but coming home went very well.

Staying with longtime friends and formally meeting and spending time with their families was a great time.  Our Saturday trip to Monmouth Race Track in New Jersey was a good time as well.  We hit every race and the Pic 4 and Pic 5, and as an added benefit the food at all these venues was delicious.

Toyota Motors has begun the arduous process of getting back into the normal swing of things after the disaster in Japan, and this month we received a better than expected amount of new Toyota vehicles.  The new Toyota specials, which you can view by clicking here, are very competitive to say the least.  In other words if you’ve been thinking about buying a new Toyota car, truck, SUV, or minivan, now is a very good time.  Some of the best deals from our point of view on the 2010 Toyota Matrix and from a corporate point of view the 2011 Toyota Highlanders and 2011 Toyota Tundras also have some amazing deals available.  The Toyota Camry has returned to available 0% financing for qualified buyers for up to 60 months, and best of all Handy’s has a good supply on most Toyota vehicles with financing specials or lease specials (click here to view all of our special incentives).

The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are setting the stage for yet another classic September battle in the Major League Baseball 2011 season, and both teams have a couple of rough spots in their respective lineups.  I am sure a couple of well placed dollars can buy a cure.

Though baseball always hails summer’s arrival, the bad news is that in just 19 short days the hours of daylight will begin to shorten, so enjoy summer while it is here.  I had my first corn on the cob on Sunday, and boy was it was good.

I will be back in a week.

Tom “the Blogmeister” Young
Handy Toyota
tyoung@handycars.com

I Reiterate: Toyota = American

For something like twelve months I’ve been desperately trying to convey this one simple fact: the stigma that Toyota is an “import” is wrong. I’m not discrediting the fact that Toyota Motors and their excellent Toyota cars, trucks, and SUVs are Japanese in origin, but the time when Toyota equals un-American is over. The biggest inclination of this of course would be CNN’s “Most American Cars” list, which you can see by clicking here, an article in which CNN described a list of ten vehicles that are “most American” by its makeup of parts, literal composition as in putting the vehicle together, and sheer volume in the United States. A I’ve said many a time, the Toyota Camry was number one, the Toyota Tundra truck was number eight, and the Swagger Wagon, the Toyota Sienna, was number ten. And though the Toyota Tacoma didn’t make the cut, I suspect it wasn’t far behind the number ten spot: 80% of the parts are put together in the newly designated Toyota Truck-land, San Antonio, Texas. Come on folks: it doesn’t get much more “American” than San Antonio, TX!

Well Toyota’s Americanism has reached another milestone in yet another breadbasket of our great country, this time in the land of country how-do-ya-do’s, Kentucky. The year was 1976, and America was in the middle of an arms race with Russia, the economy was in full swing in the pre-Reagan but well past World War II boom, and things were looking good. The college town of Georgetown, KY, already doing well one would suppose because of the school, decided it was ready to take a step forward and open an automotive powerhouse. Who do you suppose they chose? (Well of course you know as this is Handy Toyota’s blog, but suspend your disbelief for a moment or just skip to paragraph three.) Ford? No. Chrysler? Nah. Peugeot? Yeah, right. No my friends, they chose Toyota, and in came the as of now most American car company there is.

Today, Kentucky is the number three automotive giant in the United States thanks in part to the Toyota plant in question, closely following Ohio and Michigan, the latter of course being the Mecca of the U.S. automotive industry. “I don’t think any of us realized the impact on communities all over the state,” said Larry Hayes, Kentucky’s economic development secretary of the countless jobs the Toyota plant has allowed for, including over 100 automotive part suppliers in the state. Rick Hesterberg, a spokesman for Toyota, followed this up by saying “we consider suppliers to be our business partners, because they are so integral to the quality of our vehicles and the satisfaction of our customers.”*

So I’ll say it for the tenth or perhaps twentieth time, although certainly not the last: when you think Toyota, you must remove that negative, non-American connection, because the truth of the matter is that Toyota Motors, Toyota vehicles, Toyota parts, and Toyota service keep a pretty hefty chunk of our nation working. And as far as this lowly writer’s concerned, having a good, well-paying job is what it means to be American and the definitive property of the American dream.

Chris Dugan
Handy Toyota
cdugan@handycars.com

*Quotes Source: Toyota In The News, “Toyota Celebrates 25 Years In Kentucky.” toyotainthenews.com, May 5, 2011.