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.

 

Possibly, but then looking at it in a different perspective, maybe Toyota and Nissans saw Honda's success with Acura, even if it might have been their guinee(sp?) pig and envied their sucess so much they followed with their own luxury nameplates launch in 1991.

 

Very true and I guess we'll never know the true answer because Toyota and Nissan will never admit that they were behind.

On the side note, what's the correct spelling for guinee? heheh.

 

GUINEA.

And, I think, size wise, Nissan's still a pretty big company. Just saleswise, it's not.

And I do think Toyota looks at Honda enviously. While Toyota has pretty much a full lineup, Honda is still poised for expansion into high growth markets. And in the US, markets where Honda and Toyota fight head on, Honda is usually an equal, the market leader or limited by manufacturing.

It'd be stupid for Toyota not to take the Honda threat seriously. Nissan is still in recovery mode, and despite what Nissan fanatics would like to think, Nissan is still on a second tier to Honda and Toyota. The sales, the owner surveys, and public opinion all indicate that Nissan isn't on the same level as it's other two Japanese competitors.

 

Toyota do have a pretty full line up but there's still several areas that they haven't enter, such as the big trucks and SUVs area. Tundra is nice for a first step but there's still bigger trucks and SUV that Toyota doesn't have an answer to.
Honda seems to me like they'll be staying in their area for quite awhile. They're great at what they do. Such as sedan, coupe, sporty car, van, and small SUV. But Honda did state that they're not planning to develope a V8 any time soon and segments that Honda doesn't have a car in require some sort of V8 with high TQ output. So they can continue to grow, but so can Toyota.
I agree Nissan is still in recovery mode. They were at the edge of bankruptcy only a few years ago. You can't turn 180 degree that quickly. In term of quality, as of right now, they're still behind Honda and Toyota. This is also due to the massive cost cutting to get as much profit as possible. They quality can only go us when they have more money to do so. Even with poor interior quality of the Altima, it's still selling like a hot cake. It might not out sale the Accord or the Camry because they can't produce that much anyways. Ever since it came out, month-to-month, the sales of the Altima has always been increasing. However, back to the main point, the fit and finish of Nissan right now is still behind Honda and Toyota.

Just my $.02

 

Doesn't Toyo have a full size SUV and a full size pickup?

 

it has the Tundra and the Sequoia. But those are only intro to full size truck and SUV. Tundra competes w/ the F150. What about F250, F350, etc. Also, SUV, there's also SUV that's much bigger than the Sequoia.

Full size truck and SUV is just an example, Toyota has nothing to compete with the RSX or performance hatch like the Si and the SVT Focus. They also don't have performance compact Sedan like the Mazdaspeed protoge and the SE-R SpecV. They don't have a rally car to compete with the WRX either. Their luxury line is also not as full as say BMW and Benz either. Get my point? :dunno:

 

The Seqooia is big enough already. People who buy F-250's wont buy a Toyota.

Toyota has the Celica GT-S. And the Corolla is supposed to get a high powered version, or so a rumor said. Rally cars have just hit the USA, and their a niche market. Honda still needs to expand to core markets, such as trucks. Also, the Lexus lineup consist fo 5 cars and 3(GX470 is going to be out very soon) SUV's. BMW has 4 car lines and one SUV. But if you count all the variations, and M version, and the Z8, then your right. But what I'm trying to say is Lexus is on par with MB or BMW with 95% of people, as far as brand name goes at least.

 

All points well taken. That's sorta what I mean w/ the trucks part. They gotta build repulation w/ the Tundra first and once they've proven themselves, maybe then they can move up to the F250 and so on. Toyota has most of the core market covered, how they gotta enter the niche market. While Honda has their niche market cover and need to fill up all the core market. When I was refering to Lexus, I was talking about all the variants. My point is there's still some room for Toyota to grow.

 

Right. If I was Honda, I wouldnt bother with the Element, I'd put that money behind a truck. Or maybe not. I dont know, people that buy trucks tend to be (not always) people that would only buy a ford or chevy. you know, those kind of people.