Originally posted by kazi
Envy was meant towards the other side of the Pacific - GM and Ford and Chrysler. Threat was used by mostly the domestics and Nissan too.
I'm sure Toyota does feel a little threaten by the fact that Honda is growing so fast for its relatively small size as a company and its always following one foot ahead or behind its products. Honda did steal the light way from Toyota for first production hybrid vehicle in Japan and USA. Honda was also the first Japanese car manufacturer with a luxury brand in the USA, 5 years ahead of Toyota and Nissan and breaking the mold for them. I believe there's a little bit of envy in that. 
Ok, i get your point now. I'm sure GM, Ford, and Chrysler envy the 3 major Japanese auto maker.
I'm sure Toyota see the fast grow of Honda but they're also growing themselves, so I think they're just keeping an eye on the competitor more than feeling threaten by them, considering they're twice as large as Nissan and Honda. About the Honda being the first luxury brand in the US. That's true, but have you ever consider maybe Nissan and Toyota did not want to take the risk and be the guinnie (sp?) pig in a brand new market? They might have thought about it but didn't know how well it'll do so they let Honda test the water first and since Acura did well, Toyota and Nissan jumped in.