In 1984, Toyota joined with General Motors in New United Motor Manufacturing Co. in Fremont, Calif., producing Toyota Corolla and Geo Prizm cars and Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks. In 1995, foreign car makers sold more U.S.-made automobiles in the United States than they imported. Car imports into the United States in 1995 fell to 1.7 million, compared with assembly of 1.9 million cars in foreign-car plants in the United States. The percentage of U.S. sales accounted for by Japanese imports has dropped from over 25 percent a few years ago to about 13 percent, the smallest market share in 20 years. Many explanations have been offered.
Management blames high labor costs in the United States, unions blame poor and greedy management.
The unions gained credibility when Japanese makers began assembling cars in the United States and managed to obtain high levels of quality with American workers. And German BMW and Mercedes-Benz came to the United States partly to cut its labor costs. American managers, they say, are more interested in their salaries and perquisites than in growth and investors are looking for the quick buck. Craftsmen who put their names on their products and took personal interest in them built the American auto industry. They wanted to make money, of course, but this was secondary to their dreams of automotive glory.