Why are american car makers failing?

Toyota developing solar powered green car

Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) is secretly developing a vehicle that will be powered solely by solar energy in an effort to turn around its struggling business with a futuristic ecological car, a top business daily reported Thursday.

The Nikkei newspaper, however, said it will be years before the planned vehicle will be available on the market. Toyota's offices were closed Thursday and officials were not immediately available for comment.

According to The Nikkei, Toyota is working on an electric vehicle that will get some of its power from solar cells equipped on the vehicle, and that can be recharged with electricity generated from solar panels on the roofs of homes. The automaker later hopes to develop a model totally powered by solar cells on the vehicle, the newspaper said without citing sources.

The solar car is part of efforts by Japan's top automaker to grow during hard times, The Nikkei said.

In December, Toyota stunned the nation by announcing it will slip into its first operating loss in 70 years, as it gets battered by a global slump, especially in the key U.S. market. The surging yen has also hurt the earnings of Japanese automakers.

Toyota's response?

Engineering

Innovation

American Response? BEG, pay the unions more, pay the execs more, scare the people with THEIR failure

Chapter 11 might have brought us, in effect, new car companies, and if that is not the case, then that will have to be the inevitable result. The present structures with huge bonuses and $60 million union golf clubs is not in our power as a nation or a people to save