In March 2009, the Los Angeles Times published an article by John Glionna, the newspaper's Northeast Asia correspondent. The article, "In Toyota City, Japan, the Good Times Rolled ... Away", later was picked up by other newspapers, such as the Canton Reporter. The Canton Reporter posted the article under the title, "Hard Times Come to Toyota City", on the CantonRep.com Web site.
An analysis and critique of the article, "In Toyota City, Japan, the Good Times Rolled ... Away", is presented in this paper. The article deals with a variety of issues, all of which are in some way connected to the Toyota Motor Company, the major industrial presence in Toyota City. In this paper, the several issues addressed in the article are analyzed and critiqued separately.
Glionna (2009) noted at one point in the article that, "Last summer, Toyota was just months away from overtaking General Motors as the world's biggest car company" (p. 1). The implication of this statement is that Toyota Motor Company is no longer about to become the world leader in automobile production. If fact, however the effects of the global economic recession on Toyota Motor Company have not altered the probability that Toyota will become the leader of the global automobile manufacturing industry. The imminent bankruptcy of General Motors, together with the capacity of Toyota to weather the current economic storm, all but guarantees that Toyota Motor Company will become the leader of the global automobile manufacturing industry.
Effects of Economic Recession in Japan
Glionna (2009) wrote that, "Unlike in Detroit, where years of steady decline preceded the current financial crisis, Toyota City's fortunes went from cruise speed to brick wall as Japan's model of economic prosperity endured an unthinkable drop" (p. 1). This statement by Glionna (2009) conveniently overlooks so many salient facts that it staggers one's imagination. Japan en...