David Olive, writing in the Toronto Star on Aug 28th, tells us the “truth” of Toyota’s secret of success, in an article about Ford’s difficulties:

“Ford Motor Co., revealed last week to be in even worse shape than its ailing crosstown rival, General Motors Corp., really should think about dumping everything but its truck business. Almost everything else at the world’s third-largest automaker is a costly distraction — conspicuously its crowded stable of car brands, including Volvo, Mazda, Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin. …

“What we do know is that Ford’s core North American operation has bled $3.8 billion (U.S.) in red ink over the past year and a half. That its U.S. business has been losing market share for 11 consecutive years. And that its credit rating has been downgraded ever deeper into junk territory, sapping profits at its Ford Motor Credit division — one of Ford’s few reliable cash cows. …

“Even a cursory glance at Ford, with its revolving-door senior management woes and periodic crises dating from the 1940s, tells you it’s simply not a natural car maker, in the way that Toyota, Honda and BMW just naturally are. …”

Now, 50-odd years after starting the odyssey in which it invented its production system, we discover that Toyota is a born natural. God and destiny determined that they would succeed, and, sadly, that Ford would fail.

© Copyright 2006, Chauncey Bell and BABDI, LLC. All rights reserved worldwide.