xfdfx YOUR-WORLD-WITH-NEIL-04
<Show: YOUR WORLD WITH NEIL CAVUTO>
<Date: March 10, 2010>
<Time: 16:00:00>
<Tran: 031004cb.140>
<Type: INTERVIEW>
<Head: Toyota National Dealers' Advisory Council - Chairman
Interview>
<Sect: News; Domestic>
<Byline: Neil Cavuto>
<Guest: Paul Atkinson>
<Spec: Business; Business Associations; Toyota National Dealers'
Advisory Council; SIC: 8611>
<Time: 16:26:00>
NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: My next guest says that General Motors is indeed using taxpayer money to prey on Toyota, a company that employs thousands of Americans.Paul Atkinson the chairman of the Toyota National Dealers Council.
We just did get a statement from General Motors. I do want to bring that up to speed for you, Paul, so you will know what we're talking about. The company is saying that...
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: This is GM: Conquest offers are fairly common in this business, so it should come as no surprise that we and other automakers offer incentives aimed at potential customers who are in the market for new vehicles. Such incentives -- continuing GM's statement here -- have been part of the automotive industry for decades. In this case, we are responding to the concerns of many Toyota owners who have asked our dealers for help.
So, you guys are just being babies. What do you say?
PAUL ATKINSON, CHAIRMAN, TOYOTA NATIONAL DEALERS' ADVISORY COUNCIL: Well, you know, General Motors is a company that is majority-owned by the government. And we have had incentives for years.
And, as an industry, we would like to get out of those incentives eventually. That being said, this is the first time that American tax dollars have been spent to help a particular company whose primary purpose is to negatively affect another company.
And, so, it's like, myself, as an American citizen, my tax dollars are being given to my fellow American citizen to not do business with me. That's what makes this so unique.
CAVUTO: It's a -- it is a good argument. The bottom line is, you would do it in a heartbeat if the roles were reversed, wouldn't you?
ATKINSON: You know, I don't think that is right, Neil. I think, a year ago...
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: Come on, Paul. Come on. come on. You've got a competitor. It's stumbling, having bad P.R., getting cars recalled...
ATKINSON: No.
CAVUTO: ... people sliding off highways. It doesn't look good. You would want to put a nail in that company's coffin.
ATKINSON: Let me help you with that, Neil. A year ago, when General Motors and Chrysler -- a year ago, when General Motors and Chrysler were going into bankruptcy, Toyota took the total opposite approach as to what General Motors has here.
So, it is a -- it's totally different. Toyota has already proven that they will take the high road. And, you know, we believe, as dealers, that using American dollars towards our incentives towards us is not the right approach. Their incentives, if you look them up online, specifically call out Toyota and Lexus owners. That's unprecedented in our industry.
CAVUTO: You have never in the past, let's say, if your competitor was stumbling, and you are worried about, let's say, dealerships being around or the company being around in the future to fix those cars, said, Toyota is here; we will be around to fix a car if something happens to it?
ATKINSON: You know, and we have had dealers around us go out of business.
Not the case at all, Neil. Toyota has always taken the high road. In fact, I have never heard Toyota talk about trying to be number one. It is always about kaizen, continuous improvement, improvement of our product, improvement of our marketing, et cetera.
And, at some point, with that continuous improvement, not trying to be the best, but always getting better at what we do, eventually, you become number one. As dealers, you know, we have a different target on our back, now that Toyota has become number one in the world.
CAVUTO: All right. So, these latest incidents, bad timing for you guys, just when you disputed these reports and couldn't mimic the -- the accelerating problem that -- just bad timing?
ATKINSON: I noticed that your reporter used the word alleged incidents. The one in California is being investigated as we speak. NHTSA is there.
CAVUTO: Right.
ATKINSON: We're glad to have NHTSA on site. Toyota engineers are there. There will be a lot to come. They have only had two hours to be investigating that incident.
But, right now, both are alleged. And, from what we know, there's going to be a lot of information come out on this.
CAVUTO: That's a very good point.
And, Paul, I appreciate you mentioning that. That's -- by the way, we don't overdo these things on this show for this reason.
ATKINSON: Thank you.
CAVUTO: It looks like a slam-dunk in the eyes of many people who look at this sort of video and assume, well, ipso facto, it's bad stuff, got to be just what it appears to be on the videotape.
We are not so sure, and we just want to examine it very closely. And we want to look at all the variables before we rule on it, one way or the other. It is not our job to rule on it. It is investigators' job to rule on it, and not jump to any conclusions about it. So, that's why you are not seeing that stuff here. All right.
END
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