NYT: Japanese Cars, American Retirees

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/19/automobiles/19auto.html?em&ex=1212292800&en=7a495169c7e1aa71&ei=5087%0A


Tom Uhlman for The New York Times

Richard Baugh, 61, who plans to retire in January, inspects the paint on a Toyota Camry in Georgetown, Ky.

By EDUARDO PORTER
Published: May 19, 2006

GEORGETOWN, Ky. — For the last quarter-century, Toyota, Honda and Nissan have strived to appear to American consumers like homegrown companies.

They built a string of manufacturing plants in the South, employing tens of thousands of local workers. They hired American designers. They spent millions on ads to trumpet their growing roots in communities across the country.

"Being a good corporate citizen starts with hiring lots of good citizens," one Toyota ad says.

Yet as they built up their operations, the Japanese "transplants" have worked hard not to resemble an American car company in one vital respect: how they treat their retirees.


Tom Uhlman for The New York Times
JoAnn Elbert, 45, works on the moon roof of a car on the Toyota assembly line in Georgetown, Ky.


"We want to avoid commitments when we have no control over their costs," said Pete Gritton, the head of human resources for Toyota's United States manufacturing operations. "We can't build in things in such a way that we won't be able to keep our commitments later."

Until recently, the issue has mostly been academic for the Japanese car companies. Most of the American factory workers they started hiring in the mid-1980's are still working.

FULL story at link.