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Toyota donating $1m to Donald Trump’s inauguration

Old_JoeOld_Joe
in Off-Topic
Excerpts from a current report in The Guardian-
Toyota [is] donating $1m to Donald Trump’s inauguration. Ford and GM also said they would give $1m each. The donations follow similar $1m contributions by Amazon and Meta as large companies look to cozy up to Trump in return for favorable treatment after he is in office. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also said he would make a personal donation of $1m.

Trump’s proposed tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada would affect many automakers and could deliver supply chain shocks across the auto industry.
This is what the protection racket looks like at the industrial scale.

Comments

  • CrashCrash
    edited December 2024
    Oligarchy, plutocracy. Exhibit A. I'm just out of vomitus. I'm dry-heaving, by now. Someone, please wake me from this nightmare. Deplorables have won the day. "Drink up all the Kool-Aid, we'll just make more." Reminds me of Soylent Green, too.
    "This is what the protection racket looks like at the industrial scale." Indeed.
  • AnnaAnna
    Threat of becoming a tarrif can influence who are your biggest buddies. Actually $1M is cheap if you duck the t-bullet.
  • Derf
    FWIW to you.

    Toyota VINs starting with "1", "4", or "5" represent vehicles assembled in the United States, VINs beginning with "2" indicate vehicles assembled in Canada, and vehicles with VINs beginning with "3" were assembled in Mexico. Vehicles with VINs that start with "J" were produced in Japan.
  • hank
    edited December 2024
    Mine was assembled in Kentucky. But it isn’t that simple because some of the parts were manufactured in Japan or other nations and shipped to U.S. for final assembly. Those parts will be tariffed and raise the vehicle price. Also, Ford & GM assemble cars in other countries, including Canada and Mexico. So unless Trump makes those countries part of the U.S., buyers will pay tariffs on them.
  • Derf
    @hank You bring up an interesting point. Still I'd rather pay the piper for a Toy build in the USA, than one coming from overseas!
    Happy Holidays, Derf
  • hank
    edited December 2024
    Derf said:

    @hank You bring up an interesting point. Still I'd rather pay the piper for a Toy build in the USA, than one coming from overseas

    Not that simple. Some of us think today’s big square boxes on wheels lack class, sophistication, sex appeal …. or whatever. We still think of the “car” as something that looks like what mom and pop drove up until around year 2000 - a stylish, agile, reasonably fuel-efficient lower profile sedan - with a trunk in the back where you toss your stuff. And room to walk around the SOB in your attached garage. Next time you’re at an auto show, compare the number of sedan models with the number of SUVs on display. Which has greater eye appeal?

    Now, if you like sedans you need to look at foreign makes. Other then TESLA, I’m not aware of any U.S. domiciled “automaker” who builds sedans - at least in scale. The Taurus, Impala, Chrysler 300 / Charger were beautiful sedans. All were the last of a dying breed - discontinued over the past decade,

    I think a pickup (preferably an older one) makes a fine second vehicle. And, to a degree, what we used to call a panel truck (today’s SUV) also may serve that secondary purpose. There are things you can’t fit into a sedan, even with spacious trunks. For the few who tow heavy trailers, trucks make sense. I keep an old 2005 model for those rare occasions. But it seems ludicrous to drive something getting 15 MPG ten or twenty miles to the grocery for a few items or to a friend’s home. Factor in the higher insurance cost and 5-passenger sedans make even more sense. If you’re financing, think of the added interest on the loan you’re paying for all that empty cargo space & vacant 3rd or 4th row of seats.

    For what purpose I ask? Safety? It’s a hell of a lot easier to stop or steer around a pending collision with a lower riding, low center-of-gravity, more maneuverable sedan compared to the high ride monsters that now dominate. If you think “safety” means walking away from the heap of smoldering wreckage after the head-on has already occurred, you’ve missed the most essential point about safety.
  • BenWPBenWP
    @hank: I have no real evidence or medical facts to back up the following opinion. However, here goes. The American sedan has fallen out of favor in recent years because most of the potential (and past) buyers are in such poor physical health that getting into and out of an Accord or a Camry presents true challenges. The American pick up truck, and the SUV built on the same platform, offer a driver’s seat which is approximately the same height as our brethren’s large butts. Mounting an SUV involves sliding the right thigh across the seat. The knees do not have to bend, nor do the quads or glutes have to do much. When the center of gravity shifts to the right side, as it follows the right buttock, getting the rest of the body into the vehicle is almost as easy as falling into the seat. Exiting one of these vehicles does not require much flexibility or lower body strength, either. As getting in is pretty close to falling, so is getting out.

    For some reason the Ford Motor Company has never asked me to endorse the F150, America’s most popular vehicle. I do think such substitutes for real cars contribute to our obesity epidemic just as much as Fritos and Domino’s Pizza. Think of how much good you’re doing your body by entering and exiting your new Camry!
  • CrashCrash
    Donations to the inauguration. PRECISELY what's wrong with our election system. Get the effing money OUT.
  • Derf
    @BenWP I concur with your thoughts, " I do think such substitutes for real cars contribute to our obesity epidemic just as much as Fritos and Domino’s Pizza.

    Let me add, recliners & PC's , at least for me. Also note I drive a Forester Subie as seat seems to be a tad higher off the ground.

    Have a good day, Derf
  • hank
    edited December 2024
    @BenWP nailed it. I’ll lead off by saying that the Accord was easier to exit then the XSE. Seemed to have wider front door. But being sportier, I tend to lower the driver’s seat (powered) more in the Camry and lean back a bit with legs stretched out in front to get the sport car feel. Since at 78 I routinely sit on floors and have no trouble getting back up, exiting isn’t a challenge. Just noticeably more awkward. Raising the adjustable steering wheel really helps. I drive with it as low as it goes. Haven’t even bothered to power the seat back for exit / entering, but that’s one additional option. It feels as if the Camry has at least an inch less ground clearance then the Accord.

    I’m the last of a dying breed in my desire to drive a sedan, preferably something with great handling which this model has. The trade off is a somewhat firmer ride. But I found Camrys I’ve rented in the past to feel a bit “mushy” so am grateful for a firmer suspension. Overall, a better ride than the Accord.

    Great turn in the discussion thanks to @BenWP. I clocked in at near 300 pounds 20 years ago and then began a strict diet that I adhere to to this day. Exercise daily. Weight has remained steady at just under 180 lbs (5’8) for over a dozen years. So I understand the difficulty of losing weight. And it’s even harder to keep it off once you have lost it. 2200 calories per-day is about even-kneel for me. I was saddened to visit some friends over the holidays and see how their adorable children had “chunked-up” weight-wise since they were slim kids. But I know better then most what beer, pizza, cheese-laden pasta dishes & ice cream layered with chocolate on a regular basis can do to your weight and health.
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