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Article: Hot topic of 2009: Cost cutting; If it's not product, the car companies are slashing costs.(NEWSutomakers)
- Article from:
- Automotive News
- Article date:
- January 19, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Jesse Snyder
If it's not for development of new products or market launches of new vehicles, every cost in the industry is being slashed.
Dealer meetings. Opulent stands at auto shows. Business travel. Even the temperature in Toyota's offices. All those things have been cut to the bone as automotive companies try to align their costs with drastically reduced sales.
"We're trying to cut all the fat and not touch the muscle, said Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., "whether it is selling expense, efficiency of incentive expense, how many meetings we go to and literally the temperature of the building.
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