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Nov 20, 2008 4:27 pm US/Pacific
Japan Building A Better Automaker In U.S.
TOKYO (CBS News) ―
Toyota, like other car markers, is trimming production as sales fall. So it might be a surprise how workers there feel about the future of their jobs.
"I am very secure in my job," said autoworker Bryan Gorden. "I think we make a quality product."
That's because these Texans work for a Japanese company, CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen reports.
"I kind of feel like Charlie from 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,' because I got the golden ticket," Gorden said.
Job security is a Japanese cultural tradition - a belief that workers are so important they are the last to be cut.
When Tundra pickup truck production stopped here for three months, some workers were out the door all right -- but on a furlough spent doing community service in San Antonio parks at full pay until the assembly line restarted and they went back to their regular jobs.
For running a tight, employee-friendly ship, the head of Toyota makes roughly $1 million. His company will make $5 billion, even in this tough year.
Ford's CEO makes a lot more, and losses could hit $7.5 billion.
At GM, good pay for the boss, and losses of $15.9 billion.
Lower salaries mean that for Japanese automakers, it's not about bailouts, but rollouts. Like the first Honda Civic at a new plant that opened in Indiana this week.
And having cash on hand for designing ever more new models despite a bleak outlook from the head of Nissan.
"The U.S. market remains extremely depressed, Europe continues to go down, Japan continues to go down," said Nissan's CEO, Carlos Ghosn.
But Nissan isn't letting tough times crimp the push for new technology.
A sleeker version of their all-electric car will hit American streets in about 2010, and in 2012, there will be one in a showroom near you, with a range of about 100 miles, or maybe more.
While the Big Three worry about paying their bills next month, Japan's car markers are already planning for next year and after … so that when the recession ends, Americans will have even more reasons to buy Japanese.
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