Toyotas European Operating Exposure - Case Study Example

Toyota’s European operating exposure Introduction Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese automobile manufacturer which has its headquarters in Aichi in Japan. Toyota is a multinational corporation that has taken roots to most parts of the world. Toyota employs more than 400, 000 employees worldwide and manufacture over 10 million vehicle units every year. This company operates 75 manufacturing centers in 28 countries globally; Toyota markets its cars in more than 170 countries. In 2012, Toyota was voted to be the twelfth biggest multinational corporation basing on revenue worldwide and it was also rated to be the biggest automobile manufacturer ahead of general motors and Volkswagen. Toyota is the biggest listed corporation in the Japan’s security exchange market by capitalization. Toyota Company manufactures a number of car products that range from subcompact luxury, trucks, buses, sports vehicles minivans and SUVs. It manufactures about five car brands. These brands include Lexus, Hino Ranz, and Scion. Moreover, this company holds many stakes in a number of automotive companies such as Isuzu, Tesla, Fuji, and Daihatsu (Hufman 2015, p. 1). All the vehicles that Toyota manufactures have either combustion or hybrid engines. Apart from manufacturing cars, Toyota also manufactures automotive parts for its own use and for sale. The popular Toyota car models include land cruiser, Tundra trucks, corolla, and Lexus. The annual employee growth in this company is 1.61% and the net income growth rate stands at about 73.32% (Hufman 2015, p. 1). On the other hand, the sales grow at an average rate of about 6.51%. From this statistics, we can conclude that Toyota has a good performance and it is a future oriented company. Toyota motor European manufacturing (TMEM) subsidiary One of the regions around the world where Toyota has established its operation is Europe. Toyota Company launched its operation in Europe in 1963 under an official distributor agreement. Toyota based its headquarters in Brussels the capital city of Belgium (Kanta, Maynand &Tabuchi, 2010: p.1). Since then, Brussels has been the nerve center of all the Toyota operations all over Europe. TMEM subsidiary is made up of a network of 31 national marketing and sales located in about 56 countries. TMEM Subsidiary operates over 3,000 retails and nine manufacturing firms (Yang 2013, p 1.) The subsidiary employs over 80,000 workers across Europe. Right from the year 2007, TMEM has been realizing sales of about 10 million units of a vehicle per year. This is almost 10% of the total Toyota made product sales all over the world. The operation of Toyota motor in Europe succeeded because of a number of factors related to the facilities this company established in the course of its operation. Some of these facilities are, first, the company has Toyota technical center which is located in Zaventem in Belgium (Hufman 2015, p. 1). This technical center is meant for research and development. It also deals with purchasing and production engineering. The second facility that exists in TMEM that make it succeed is Toyota training center which is also located at the same place and this facility provides training to the workers such as engineers from all distributors of Europe (Toyotauk.com 2013: p. 1). Another important facility is Toyota accessory and service center located in Brussels and this facility offers after sales service to the customers and also stocks Toyota accessories. Finally, there is Toyota Europe design development facility which mainly focuses on design concept more specifically for the European market. All the above facilities have been established to ensure that Toyota Company operates more efficiently and gain its autonomy with little support from the mother company in Japan. Right from the time Toyota started its operations in Europe, the company has expanded and operated in accordance with the preferences of the European consumers. TMEM through its localization policy, it believes in manufacturing cars according to the needs and preferences of the local consumers (Hufman 2015, p. 1). This is the reason why various facilities that we have discussed above are all located in Europe to ensure that the company does all its best to design and manufacture vehicles that suit the European consumers (Kanta, Maynand &Tabuchi, 2010: p.1). The facilities consider the marketing conditions in this region and design vehicles that are more convenient for the consumers. TMEM manufactured its first car in 1971 under the license in the Portugal. In 1992, the corporation launched full production of vehicles and engines Later on, the company introduced Carina model (Toyotauk.com 2013: p. 1). In 2001, there was a new production site in France which started making Yaris model. In 2002, TMEM managed to open a new production site in Poland. In the same year, the company established again another manufacturing center at Adaparazi in Turkey which became a strategic center for corolla car model for Europe (Yang 2013, p 1.) Examples of other car models that were manufactured in these new manufacturing centers include Auris, Avensis, Corolla Verso and Aygo. Currently, records show that almost two-thirds of the Toyota sales in Europe were manufactured by Toyota Europe subsidiary (Hufman 2015, p. 1). Only a third of these vehicles are imported from other subsidiaries around the world. Reasons for Britain Joining the European monetary union (EMU) There is a lot of debates whether United Kingdom should join European monetary Union EMU or not join. EMU is a union of several European countries seeking to adopt a single currency system that would be used in all of the European nations instead of each country having its own independent currency. This union settled on Euro to be the currency that should be adopted by the member countries (Balcerowicz, 2014: p. 462). Euro is a single currency system that was launched EMU composed of eleven member states in 1999. After the agreement, twelve member states got rid of their independent currencies and adopted Euro to be a single currency that they would use. However, some European countries such as UK and Denmark were reluctant to this change and up to now, they have not adopted a Euro as their currency. The reason why Britain has not yet joined EMU is because of conflicting arguments from various stakeholders. Some were supporting the idea of adopting the Euro as their currency while others opposed the idea. Both the proponents and those against gave out their reasoning. Let us see what the proponents say about the move. First, the supporters of this move tend to argue that there would be a reduction in the exchange rate uncertainty if Britain joins EMU. They assert that Britain would incur low exchange rates cost thus, bringing an increase in the economic welfare (Baimbridge, Burkitt & Whyman 2012: p. 98). In a situation where the exchange rates costs are eliminated, the risks of unforeseen exchange rates are eliminated too. They argue that in the current situation where Britain has its currency, most businesses incurred a lot of exchange rate costs. A single company tends to process various exchange procedures which involve converting different currencies; in the long run, more costs are incurred. Therefore, if a single currency is adopted, all these extra cost that comes with exchange process are eliminated (Balcerowicz, 2014: p. 464). The elimination of the cost increases the profitability of the companies. Thus, the supporters of this decision know that the business organization would benefit a lot by the adoption of a single currency. The second argument put forward by the suppliers of this move is that when Britain joins the Union, it will make stronger and resilient than the exchange rate mechanism. Thus, the union would not be exposed to the speculative attacks. A country that has independent currency is prone to a high degree of speculation attacks by the investors (Baimbridge, Burkitt & Whyman 2012: p. 99).The investors fear to invest in various sectors of the economy because of the uncertainty of the currency. Nevertheless, when a region has a single currency it means that that currency is stable hence there is no speculation by the investors that the currency would fluctuate (Balcerowicz, 2014: p. 474), They invest confidently knowing well that they would gain from their investment. In other words, the supports of this move know that when Britain accepts to join the EMU, then the economy will have to improve much because there would be more investment in many sectors by the investors. The third argument given by the supports of this move is that the independent European central bank would mainly focus on the economic conditions across the Europe since it will have a less volatile interest rate as compared to the central banks of various member states. The monetary policies that would be attached to this independent central bank would make the Euro to be a very strong currency. This would allow lower interest rates than the rate that is experienced in the Britain. A situation that allows a lower interest rate allows more investment hence economic growth. Another argument posed by the proponents of this move is that the task of maintaining and sustaining low inflation would be in the hands of the independent central bank. The local central bank would be relieved of this task. Thus, this would in turn reduce the long-term interest rates and even stimulate competition and growth among the European member states (Baimbridge, Burkitt & Whyman 2012: p. 101). UK has flexible labor market and this market would be quite effective and efficient when a single currency system would be adopted. Moreover, the introduction of the single currency does away with significant barriers to free competitions across the member states (Balcerowicz, 2014: p. 477), In addition, a single currency system would promote price transparency, thus, consumers would be able to enjoy relative low prices of the similar commodities in any part of Europe. The supporters of the move also argue that the large Euro-zone would enhance the integration of the financial markets which later on would lead to more efficiency in the process of capital allocation in member states. The adoption of the single currency would make Britain benefit from the increase in the intra-European trade flows and even more capital market investment (Balcerowicz, 2014: p. 465), Others reason out that the single currency will be important to complement the single European market hence, fortifying the European Union to become a powerful player in the global economy. They also reason that when Britain joins the union, one member country cannot devalue its currency against that of the member states in the quest to boost the exports. All the union member states would work in harmony and integrate as if they are in one state thus, there would be no member that get involved in selfish motives that may harm others (Baimbridge, Burkitt & Whyman 2012: p. 98).In addition, if Britain joins EMU, then the Euro would be among the world’s strongest currencies like the US dollar and most important t reserve. These proponents also argue that if Britain does not join the Emu it stands a chance of losing political and economic influence in Europe and the rest of the world. Opponents of Britain Joining the European monetary union (EMU) As much as there are the people supporting the decision of UK joining the Emu, other groups feel that it will be of no benefit to UK to join this union. One reason given by those opposing the move is that according the historical records, the currents unions have collapsed in the past. Therefore, allowing Britain to join a single currency union will also collapse with time (Balcerowicz, 2014: p. 472), They argue that joining may not help because history may repeat itself and this can be devastating to the UK economy. There is no guarantee that EMU would thrive well since some member states will start experiencing different difficultness and they would go back to their old independent currency. When this happens, the member states will withdraw from their membership from the union to establish their own monetary policies that would take care of their economic problems. Ireland is an example when it departed from the sterling currency and even helped itself more than it was benefiting before. Another reason given by the opponents of this move is that the common currency Euro may lead to the economic stagnancy and this can cause a higher degree of structural unemployment. This is the kind of unemployment that comes as a result of adjusting structures in the economy. Some individuals may lose they jobs because the systems have changed (Balcerowicz, 2014: p. 467), Unemployment also may occur when the independent central bank adopt deflationary monetary policies that would harm the member states’ economic status. Thus, they assert that it is dangerous for Britain to join EMU because it would trigger high unemployment. It should be remembered that Britain has a balanced labor force thus; any move that can disturb this balance may lead to unemployment which is one major economic menace that most countries are struggling with. The third point put forward by those opposing this move is that lack of exchange that comes as a result of single currency would do away with effective mechanism for adjusting trade imbalances that would exist among the member countries (Münchau 2013: p. 536). Lacks of effective mechanisms for adjusting to trade imbalances may cause a big problem of differential shocks to the economy. Historical records reveal that well-chosen currency devaluation can help the economy to stabilize (Balcerowicz, 2014: p. 466), Thus, they insist that Britain should just continue being independent and continue using its sterling pounds currency since a state cannot stimulate its economy through devaluation of the currency and boosting of the exports. Another point raised by those against the move is that Britain joining EMU may lead to a lack of coordination among the European monetary policies that would emerge from central banks’ committee and the committee of the finance ministry (Münchau 2013: p. 536). This move would further weaken the possibilities reduction of the local economic challenges. In other words, it means that if Britain joins the union and adopts Euro as its currency; most of its domestic problems would be overlooked by the European central bank (Baimbridge, Burkitt & Whyman 2012: p. 98). The independent central bank would concentrate on bigger issues that affect the entire Europe and forget to address the domestic problems that affect individual’s member states. Thus, UK would struggle much with its domestic issues that cannot be addressed with the independent central bank. Another reason against UK joining EMU is that the process of adjusting to the new currency will involve a lot of costs thus; business firms such as Toyota and the financial institutions would suffer financial losses. The procedure of adjusting to economic divergent through the transfer of capital or labor will be expensive for firms (Münchau 2013: p. 536). EMU does not have clear guidelines and principles that make it be committed r=to relieving the firms off these costs. Thus, this gives those opposing a reason to argue that there is no reason as to why UK should join the EMU because the move would just trigger extra costs that would be devastating to the economy. Lastly, those against insist that it is easy to start a union however it is hard to sustain it. The EMU tax income is about 1.5% of the GDP. This means that this rate is quite insufficient to come up with effective systems of redistributive taxation (Münchau 2013: p. 538). There would be a disparity in the prosperity among the member states. These differences in prosperity would raise suspicion and mistrust amongst themselves. The big beneficiary member states would not allow a greater degree of redistribution to other unfortunate member states (Liker 2010, p. 1). Consequently, there would be misunderstanding within the union a situation that can lead to the collapse of the union. In case Britain join EMU, it is likely the problems faced by Toyota motor in this region would, be solved. From the case study, the main problem facing TMEM is that is that the company is not making high sales as compared to other subsidiaries in a different region of the world. TMEM is also incurring much loss since the year 2008 while other branches in foreign countries are making huge profits (Münchau 2013: p. 536). From the discussion of the single currency union, we can deduce that the probable cause for Toyota not making good profits in Europe is that UK and other states such as Denmark have their own independent currency (Balcerowicz 2014: p. 462). Therefore, firms tend to spend a lot when carrying out transactions across various states. This in turn causes high exchange rates that squeeze the profits margins and cuts profits. This is the main reason why Toyota is not performing like another subsidiary (Liker 2010, p. 1). However, when UK decides to join the union, then these extra cost costs would be cut down and the company cannot start making big profits. This problem may not be eliminating completely when UK joins the union; this is because of the presence of other factors that tend to affect the operation of Toyota Corporation in this region. Short-term and long-term problems facing TMEM There are many problems facing TMEM, some of these problems and short while others are long-term. One major short term problem that hit TMEM badly was the allegation that Toyota Europe made vehicles fitted with the faulty mechanism. The allegation claimed that over two million Toyota vehicle made in Europe had defective accelerator pedals Bolduc (2010: p1). Toyota motor Europe manufacturing has been dealing with defective accelerators pedals in Europe right from the year 2008. In fact, this corporation recalled over two million vehicles to rectify the defective (Hufman 2015, p. 1). Nevertheless, the management of this company insisted that they would continue with the production since the company had adopted a new production process that use different components that provide a solution to the earlier problem (Yang 2013, p 1.). This scandal was one of the biggest blows that hit Toyota motor which led to low sales and big losses especially in Europe. Another long-term problem that faced Toyota motor Europe subsidiary is that the European market is quite saturated. This market is composed of many automotive makers thus; it is hard for a single company to have a big share of the market (Yang 2013, p 1.) The market is categorized to have a competitive structure in that many firms operate in the same industry and produce similar products. Therefore, the consumers have many options to choose from. It becomes hard for Toyota to set the prices because every firm is manufacturing quality vehicles and even offering them at much lower prices (Münchau 2013: p. 536). This gives Toyota a narrow profit margin unlike other Toyota subsidiaries in other parts of the world that enjoy bigger profits margins. This is the reason why Toyota Europe is always making low profits and fewer sales. Another problem is that car manufacturing is in the technology industry. Technology industry is one of the challenging industries to carry a business because things are always changing. Firms in this industry invest a lot in research and innovation in order o come up with new and appealing products that would always surpass those of the competitors (Hufman 2015, p. 1). Toyota as seen earlier also carries out serious research and innovation to keep pace with other manufacturers but the rate of competition is just too stiff in tat the amount spent on research alone is quite a lot This squeezes the profits margins unlike other subsidiaries outside Europe. Another long-term problem that faces Toyota motor in Europe is that there is political uncertainty. Europe is a big continent that is composed of many countries and these countries have their own political ideologies and economic interests. Some of these countries are rich while others are poor. Therefore, it is obvious that the economic policies tend to vary from one country o the other. This becomes a challenge for a particular business organization like Toyota to cope up with all the business regulations in each state (Liker 2010, p. 1). Business policies in these states are obstacles to the operations of the businesses. Therefore, it becomes a difficulty for the company to carry out their business smoothly due to these obstacles. One god example is that some states agreed to come together and form a union so that they can adopt one single currency, but some states like UK were reluctant to the move (Bolduc 2010: p.1). This was just due to different political ideologies. Therefore, business organizations such as Toyota encounter problems to run their operations in a region that has different political ideologies. Another problem that Toyota encounters in its business in Europe is that most states have enacted laws that require companies to means the demand for transparency, green operation, and responsible supply chain and community development participation (Bolduc 2010: p.1). In other words, the most government in Europe demands all business organizations to practice corporate social responsibility. Corporate social responsibility is a concept in the business world which requires that all business entities ought to carry out their business in a responsible manner through helping the development of the surrounding community and also taking care of the environment. In most cases, most companies such as Toyota spend a lot in participation in corporate social responsibility a practice that narrows the profit margins companies could have (Münchau 2013: p. 539). When profit margins are too small, organizations may end up making low profits and eve continue losses. This social obligation makes companies such as Toyota carrying out their business in Europe to incur losses and low sales. Toyota motor Europe also bases its operations on the principles of its mother company in Japan. The Japanese mother company has a long-term perspective in the development of a product brand with consistency relationship with the consumers (Yang 2013, p 1.) However, in typical western view has a different view from that of Japan. The western perspective is more of short term and this is affected by the shareholders’ returns. The fact that TMEM has to adhere to the principles of broader views of its mother company of Japan; it encounters hardship sin coping with the different aspects in western nations. This makes it realize fewer sales and sometimes losses. Finally, Toyota motor subsidiary in Europe tend to encounter a problem with its suppliers; the suppliers on this market are not sustainable. As discussed earlier, this market is quite competitive, therefore, manufacturers scramble for the few suppliers in that they offer good terms of trade (Bolduc 2010: p.1). Thus, suppliers tend to hop from one company to another looking for the best company that has favorable terms. For a business to thrive well, the supply of the raw materials need to be steady with less interruption. Now for the case of Toyota, it finds problems since most of the suppliers are not reliable because they demand good offers as those offered by other competitors (Kanta, Maynand &Tabuchi, 2010: p.1). This puts a strain on the company’s resources making it spend a lot in acquiring raw materials and even maintaining the suppliers. This increases the costs hence low profits. Solutions to the above problems facing TMEM One solution to the discussed problems is that TMEM must also scale up its game by offering reasonable bids basing on the technical negotiation skills. The bids should be realistic in that it gives space for the suppliers to make profits so that they can be sustainable and reliable (Liker 2010, p. 1). The company should study on how other well-performing companies are offering their bids to the suppliers and learn some skills to them as a competitive strategy (Kanta, Maynand &Tabuchi, 2010: p.1). The company should offer god goodies to retain these suppliers; a company that is good at retaining its suppliers for a long time benefit in the long run because of the steady supply of the raw materials meaning that production is also continuous. This will make it boost its sales and more profits will flow. Secondly, TMEM should adjust its perspective according to the European consumers. It should abandon the long-term perspective which works in Japan but adopt short-term perspective so that it can serve better the consumers in Europe. It is not good to import ideas from far to apply in the foreign land (Kanta, Maynand &Tabuchi, 2010: p.1). Toyota should devise its operation strategy right from the conditions in the market where it is operating. The company should try to embrace the European culture because it is targeting the European consumers; this will make it to position well to compete effectively with the competitors on this market. Another solution is that TMEM should invest a lot in research and development to counter the competitors from the old and new entrants in this market. The fact that it is operating in a technology industry, research and innovation should be its priority (Yang 2013, p 1.) Every car manufacturing in this market is striving to get a bigger market share; this means that every firm is doing research to come up with unique and appealing product that would attract many customers. Thus, TMEM should do more and more research to diversify its products to capture a bigger share of this market. TMEM should also strengthen its quality assurance department to ensure that all products released to consumers means the standards required. It should avoid at all cost to offer products that have faulty parts and systems as witnessed in the year 2008. In simple terms, the company should ensure consistency in the quality of the products (Liker 2010, p. 1). A company that always offers consistent quality products creates confidence in the consumers. The consumers later on become loyal to the brand hence they would always come for these products and even refer their friends to come and also buyer these brand. One thrilling aspect is when consumers develop loyalty towards a particular company’s products. However, when there are so many scandals about faulty parts of some brands, then the confidence of the consumers towards the brands would fade. In raising its sales volume, TMEM should boost its product promotion exercises. The company should invest a lot in the advertisement of its brands to create awareness among the consumers. Once it manages the consumers to differentiate its products, then it would be able to elevate its sales (Kanta, Maynand &Tabuchi, 2010: p.1). Toyota should employ all the social media available to reach to the consumers to enlighten them about their brands and even compared them with those of the competitors and explain to the consumers why they should choose its products other than those of the competitors. TMEM should also establish more training centers for its new and even old employees to provide them with regular refresher courses according to the marketing development. Many training centers would give the employees more chances to improve their careers and equip them with more skills and ideas that would help in boosting the productivity. Finally, TMEM should study the culture and behaviors of the consumers on this European market so that it can come up with products that suit them (Liker 2010, p. 1). In a case here the firm is able to satisfy its customers, customers will always come back to purchase the same product and also advise friends to come and experience the goodness of the products. Therefore, the company should concentrate much on the tastes and preferences of the European consumers if it wants to increase its sales. Sourced from http://fxtop.com/en/historical-exchange-rates.php?A=1&C1=GBP&C2=EUR&YA! The table below shows the exchange rate f Euros against Japanese Yen since 2000. Year Euro (€)¥ JPY(¥) 2005 1 130.88 2006 1 137.5 2007 1 150.93 2008 1 115.75 2009 1 113.65 2010 1 106.16 2011 1 100.2 2012 1 94.63 2013 1 113.93 2014 1 134.95 2015 1 126.52 Sourced from http://fxtop.com/en/historical-exchange-rates.php?A=1&C1=GBP&C2=EUR&YA! The table below shows the exchange rate of sterling pounds (£) against Euros (€) year Euros (€) Sterling pounds (£) 2005 1.413 1 2006 1.427 1 2007 1.360 1 2008 1.021 1 2009 1.040 1 2010 1.097 1 2011 1.104 1 2012 1.179 1 2013 1.137 1 2014 1.192 1 2015 1.275 1 Bibliographic references Baimbridge, M., Burkitt, B, & Whyman, P. (2012). “The Eurozone as a Flawed Currency Area”, Political Quarterly, 83, 1, pp. 96-107, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 16 April 2015. Bailey, M., Tavlas, S & M. Ulan, M. (1987). “The impact of exchange rate volatility on export growth: some theoretical considerations and empirical results.” Journal of Policy Modeling, 9, pp. 225-243. Balcerowicz, L. (2014), “Euro imbalances and adjustment: a comparative analysis”, CATO Journal, 34, 3, pp. 453-482, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 16 April 2015. 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