Caracas noises
Toyota has had a presence in Venezuela for half a century. The current product line includes the venerable Hilux pickup truck, the Fortuner SUV derived therefrom, the ubiquitous Corolla, and a little ute called Terios, taken from the Japanese Daihatsu line.
None of these, says Hugo Chávez, are really suitable for rural areas, and if Toyota doesn’t adjust its product mix to suit the peasants country folk, Chávez says he’s prepared to expropriate the Japanese and bring in the Chinese to do the deed.
Neither of Venezuela’s alleged home-grown vehicles will do the job either, but so far it hasn’t occurred to Chávez to yell at Venirauto. Then again, this is the inevitable result of intimate interaction between auto industry and government bozos; at least the American Car Czar isn’t this clueless. Yet.
Update: The stakes have been raised.
