If the gov’t-subsidized research makes Toyota tech cheaper, giving the U.S. auto makers a competitive disadvantage, then the real question is: what will the U.S. government do to help? Critics have long said that the U.S. gov’t needs to step in to help right the trade wrongs.

One person cited the Nissan example re CAFE. I’m not familiar with Nissan’s demands or the U.S. concessions, but the U.S. could have said, you know what, Nissan? Comply with CAFE or not. Go ahead and pull your U.S. production, drive up the cost of your vehicles, and see if American’s won’t buy more Fusions and Malibus.

And, if you ask me, as a director on Toyota’s Board, I’m sure he had access to what he needed to to make such a claim. Maybe he doesn’t have the whole story, but he’s not pulling it out of his butt either.

So what if they funded the Toyota hybrid program? Here’s my ’so what’: Toyota has been branded as this ‘green’ company because of the Hybrid, even though they make vehicles that get worse fuel economy than the Hummer.

Let me ask you this: Jim Press leaving Toyota was a huge shock to them. He wasn’t fired, and he was very high on the executive totem pole. He was in a position to know. So why would he lie? I give him more credibility than Toyota’s management, or the Japanese government in general.

So the real question is, why is the Japanese government denying it?

If US did this we’d be gloating, and being proud of our govt. this act isnt evil, it just makes us jealous, thats all. dont start being ‘threatened’ by Asia, but if you are its our own govt to blame, not Asia. ****, if anything the US govt is against our own US automakers (cafe standards, alternative fuel..**** i remember Bush pushed aside a meeting with the Big 3 recentley) you guys sound paranoid.

like johhnnycanuck said, if anyone should be pissed it should be nissan and honda..you paranoid ****s.

But I’ve pointed out before if the Government said, “Hey! We need hybrids now! Whoever builds a machine that wins, by meeting our criteria, will get all the funding and resources they need to get this vehicle and/or technology on the market for ten years (Yes you get part of the $18B subside for oil companies!)”, then you’d have every serious engineers and designers, and every crackpot coming out of the woodwork.

So much crap would be shaken out in a heartbeat, but so much good stuff would finally see the light of day. Because this Government version of the “X-prize” would be aimed at a specific end, if a large automaker like FORD or GM won they would have to spend the money on that and only that product or technology. Just as some garage engineer could end up sitting on top of a brand new major automaker, courtesy of the US Government, but would have to spend the money tax-free only on the company, though any profits would be his/hers/theirs to do with as they chose (taxes not withstanding).

No projects bankrolled and thusly owned by big energy, sponsorship is a bit different but can be a sticky problem depending on how that sponsorship is secured, would be allowed on conflict-of-interest concerns. Other exceptions would apply, such as proof of concept. If the concept clearly does not work, then it would be a non-starter.

After all, if the Government can get new fighter planes developed by promising rewards for the winning design, then why not the automotive technologies that we, the driving, car-buying, public need.

Though unlike those military projects, this could be a contest on public review. While the public may not get a say as to what machine will ultimately win, it is possible to sway designers and engineers through public discussion online and maybe running commentary in auto magazines and websites.

A subsidy is a subsidy, whether it be a loan subisdy or a project subsidy. Same thing. If there are no records of this with Toyota it is more likely a rider where Toyota performed other services for the government at a set (higher than market) price but agreed to pursue this project on the side. That crap happens all day everywhere.

These loans were to keep the company from going bust and from all of its employees from losing their jobs. And it almost didn’t happen at all due to public and congressional outcry.

It’s a FAR different issue for the Japanese government to totally fund Toyota’s hybrid program. Toyota wasn’t in danger of going under. There would no reason to fund Toyota other than to give Toyota an advantage in the market.

It’s not unfair if they didn’t play by the rules, however. There aren’t really any rules. If Japan wants to subsidize their largest automaker, and it isn’t illegal, why wouldn’t they?

It may not seem fair to us, but our industry and our government play by different rules. And I defy anyone to prove that the US government has been giving kickbacks to Detroit.

Whatever the US gov’t has been giving the Big Three, state and local governments have been giving MORE to foreign companies so they’ll build factories in their areas. And non-union factories to boot.

And the US government gave concessions like crazy to Nissan a couple of years ago for their noncompliance to CAFE. Nissan threatened to pull all US production if the US government didn’t back off and call the Mexican-made Sentra an American product, thus letting them offset all that truck production with their car production and helping them skate under CAFE.

That said have to agree with jjt: who cares? I’d rather see a government fund something like this than give it away to able bodied people who are just too lazy to work. Just one example, of course.

Hell, like this is news. Our crappy government supports minority, female, and immigrant business ownership as well as attaches strings to half the BS it does and gives tax breaks to “fund” pet projects and ramrods pork spending into the areas and businesses and special interests everywhere. Only issue I would have about this is why weren’t Honda and Nissan invited into the free-ride funding party since they’re part of the home-team and don’t need to pay taxes to subsidize domestic competition, but to claim the Big 3 were left out is a joke: they could have gone begging to Congress for financing for a Hybrid Powertrain Development Consortium to ween us off paying terrorists thru oil to kill us but they didn’t, so T.S.

I’m sorry, but he did not know all the details—there is no way. He only knew what he was privy to, and what they told him. You have to work with the Japanese at high levels to understand this.

“However, since no one has ever heard or made these claims before, it seems a little hard to believe that Toyota would have received such funding — which would have been worth at least tens of millions of dollars — without anyone else knowing.”

He was the highest non Japanese in the company, I am sure he knows the truth. He left on his terms and was not fired, so it is not sour grapes.