Disappearing Toyota?

[NismoZ]

The ex-Toyota team may make it to the grid with Kobayashi bringing 5 mil. Euros, Toyota engines @ 5 mil. Euros...oh, free engines...AND probably the TF110 design to boot. And the German facilities and the...this could go on all day! THEN they move to Serbia. What are the Serbian racing colors anyway? (Motorsport) Seems Toyota had to do this to avoid a 150 mil $ fine for quitting in violation of the Concorde Agreement.

[oddlycalm]

The ex-Toyota team may make it to the grid with Kobayashi bringing 5 mil. Euros, Toyota engines @ 5 mil. Euros...oh, free engines...AND probably the TF110 design to boot. And the German facilities and the...this could go on all day! THEN they move to Serbia. What are the Serbian racing colors anyway? (Motorsport) Seems Toyota had to do this to avoid a 150 mil $ fine for quitting in violation of the Concorde Agreement.

All of which means Toyota's exit is just as well thought out and executed as the rest of their F1 program.

oc

[Indy]

How can the people who set up such fabulously well thought out manufacturing systems be so stupid in racing?

Are the guys in the racing jobs all sons-in-law of executives?

[Easy]

TTE in Koln was one of the finest motorsports facilities in Europe if not the world before they even started the F1 program and yet Toyota's superbly well funded team did squat. Case in point why an F1 team can't be run like or by a major international auto manufacturer.

Toyota could have spent half the money, bought a stake in Williams and branded the team Toyota first, given Frank and Patrick Head all the resources they desired including full use of TTE and gotten much more out of Formula 1 the last 10 years.

However they didn't call for my thoughts on the matter.:gomer:

[stroker]

How can the people who set up such fabulously well thought out manufacturing systems be so stupid in racing?

Are the guys in the racing jobs all sons-in-law of executives?

Organizational and cultural rigidity. They don't understand that the process required to make a million mass-produced widgets doesn't necessarily translate into the best approach to making half-a-dozen handmade widgets and vice-versa. It's the same conceptual problem as the difference between running the Chinese Army and the US Special Forces.

[oddlycalm]

How can the people who set up such fabulously well thought out manufacturing systems be so stupid in racing?
Not stupidity and not a surprise to anyone that has spent time in Asia. Manufacturing systems are a collaborative group activity where broad contextual thinking triumphs. In F1 what succeeds is independent thinking and the ability to isolate important issues the bring a tunnel vision focus to solving them. It's the reason Brawn was able to take over the floundering Honda team and within one season put a championship car and team on the grid. The tools were there all the time.

Here's a book that explains the cultural differences in thought process accurately IMO. Not hard science with decades of double blind studies but a lot more than unsupported pop psych and theory.

Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently
- and Why
by Richard E. Nisbett

ISBN13: 9781857883534
ISBN10: 1857883535

oc

[STD]

Very good post oc. I was thinking the less lengthy, those that build the best wigget/wigget factory rarely have an idea how to be creative.
The same maybe asked about BMW's effort in F1.

Where would Toyota have been in IMSA without Dan Gurney?

[Sean Malone]

Corporate processes can work in racing...Motorola taught AGR Six Sigma to get Danika her first win. :gomer:

[NismoZ]

Yeah, that whole "cottage industry" thing? Didn't Andy Griffith actually launch a rocket into orbit from his junkyard years ago? Strange show! My guess is he didn't spend as much as NASA.:)

[NismoZ]

Huh, now Autosport reports Toyota is saying they are NOT selling their entry (some confusion over what kind of fine they may have to pay?) but they ARE shopping their design "for a nominal fee to some of the new entrants but none have accepted." Does this sound like they are begging? "We are discussing a settlement with Bernie on the basis of goodwill (:rofl:...oh, sorry) and what is acceptable to all parties." Sources saying they'd like to lease a lot of equipment, too. Nobody losing face on this one, right?

[opinionated ow]

Huh, now Autosport reports Toyota is saying they are NOT selling their entry (some confusion over what kind of fine they may have to pay?) but they ARE shopping their design "for a nominal fee to some of the new entrants but none have accepted." Does this sound like they are begging? "We are discussing a settlement with Bernie on the basis of goodwill (:rofl:...oh, sorry) and what is acceptable to all parties." Sources saying they'd like to lease a lot of equipment, too. Nobody losing face on this one, right?

Somewhere in Japan a whole heap of rusty swords are being taken from a back shed...

[oddlycalm]

Huh, now Autosport reports Toyota is saying they are NOT selling their entry (some confusion over what kind of fine they may have to pay?) but they ARE shopping their design "for a nominal fee to some of the new entrants but none have accepted." Does this sound like they are begging? "We are discussing a settlement with Bernie on the basis of goodwill (:rofl:...oh, sorry) and what is acceptable to all parties." Sources saying they'd like to lease a lot of equipment, too. Nobody losing face on this one, right?
If I needed any proof on cultural differences in perception.... :laugh:

Good news for Sauber though as they are now approved for the 13th spot.

oc

[NismoZ]

Yup:thumbup:

[NismoZ]

And Kobayashi is IN. Good for him.