TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp, which is widely expected to overtake General Motors this year as the world’s top-selling automaker, is considering entering the aircraft industry, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Toyota (nyse: TM - news - people) may put up funds to a company to be set up by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (other-otc: MHVYF.PK - news - people) for its passenger jet project, Toyota spokeswoman Kayo Doi said.
‘Mitsubishi (other-otc: MSBHY.PK - news - people) Heavy has invited us to invest (in the venture) and we are considering it,’ she said,
adding nothing has been decided yet.
The comment came after a report Wednesday in the Asahi Shimbun daily which said Toyota plans to invest 10 billion yen in the venture to be set up in April.
Mitsubishi has been developing small passenger airplanes under its Mitsubishi Regional Jet project.
Again, Honda is new in aviation. Below is a wikipedia extract in Mitsubishi
As the leading company of the Japan's aerospace industry, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries(MHI) has been engaged in the development and production of a wide variety of aerospace products and thus contributed to the advancement of Japan, a technology-oriented nation, through its cutting-edge technologies.
In the defense sector, MHI has consistently produced jet fighters for Japan Air Self-Defense Force and anti-submarine helicopters for Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, as well as various other products, such as aero-engines, missiles and torpedoes. The company also plays an important role in the Ballistic Missile Defense System program. In addition, MHI is preparing itself to respond to the needs of the joint operation capabilities.
In the civil aircraft sector, MHI takes charge of the development and manufacture of major airframe components, including fuselage panels for Boeing 777 and composite-material wing boxes for the 787. In the space systems sector, MHI is the producer of the H-2A launch vehicle, Japan's main rocket, and now provides launch services to JAXA for H-2A launches. The company is also involved in the international space station program
Well, Mitsubishi aint exactly efficient at what it does.
Honda's already in the airplane business, it only makes sense Toyota join in if they can get some subsidies.
dont let your views on mitdsubishi automobiles influence the other aspects of the business.
it would be akin to gauging GE medical based on experience with GE toasters.
So back to toyota and planes. I give the company max ten years before it settles down and becomes a serious headache for competitors.
I don't think it would be competing against Boeing and Airbus, especially in the genre they are famous for i.e. super huge passenger airliners. There are tons of other kinds of planes too.
Abay saabji my gene pool has handed down a little bit of knowledge about Mitsubishi’s aviation business. There is no doubt that Mitsubishi’s aviation division is ridiculously inefficient.
Want an example? They make a copy of the F-16 fighter falcon called the Mitsubishi F2. Their version costs US$108 million. The original? Closer to US$17.5 million.
Seems to me Mitsubishi wants Toyota to lend a helping sack of dough
1- the point was that one unit’s performance is not a good indicator of another unit’s performance
#2- dude…did you see when that was written?
By DAVID E. SANGER
Published: May 20, 1990
18 years ago? before you started elementary school…things change..
Here is something a little more recent, (same decade, same century, same millenium) still a little dated for my taste, but gives you an idea of not just MHI, but specifically their aviation business.
*Analysts say it should dump such dross and concentrate on its promising–and highly profitable–aerospace unit. That division makes F-2 fighter jets, commercial rockets, and crucial wing parts for Boeing Co. and Airbus Industrie jumbo jets. Last year, the division earned $277.5 million–42.4% of the company’s total operating profit–on $3.9 billion in sales. “They’re a world-class business in aero-engine manufacturing,” says Roger Pratt, head of the Tokyo office of British engine maker Rolls-Royce PLC, which buys parts from MHI. Industry watchers say Nishioka should scale back and make aerospace his main business. *
1- the point was that one unit's performance is not a good indicator of another unit's performance
2- dude.....did you see when that was written?
Man, the NY times article merely gave you a reference to read through. Obviously the numbers will be different two decades later, that's why the prices I posted were from 2004. Lets not debate wether or not Mitsubishi is efficient or not, it's a well known fact they make heavy losses on their ridicuously expensive F2 and subsidize the rest of their aviation business by making little doodads for Boeing.
And how did you get the picture I was talking about anything but Mitsubishi Aviation? I'm talking about Mitsubishi Aviation and nothing else.
promising--and highly profitable--aerospace unit. That division makes F-2 fighter jets, commercial rockets, and crucial wing parts for Boeing Co. and Airbus Industrie jumbo jets. Last year, the division earned $277.5 million--42.4% of the company's total operating profit--on $3.9 billion in sales. "They're a world-class business in aero-engine manufacturing," says Roger Pratt, head of the Tokyo office of British engine maker Rolls-Royce PLC, *
so it does not look like they are too inefficient in their aviation business
