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Toyota Donated $55K to Republicans Who Voted Against Certifying 2020 Election Results

Japanese automaker Toyota donated $55,000 to 37 GOP lawmakers who tried to decertify the results of the 2020 president election.

Axios Toyota chart — Toyota donated $55K to 37 Republican politicians who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.

Not only did the Japanese automaker support those politicians, but it was their top supporter — by a lot, according to investigative news website Axios, which pulled the data from a study by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The company’s $55,000 was nearly than double amount of the next closest company, defense company Cubic Corp., which approached nearly $30K in donations. Toyota spread that money out to four times more Republican politicians than the next closest company. Toyota officials defended their donations.

“We do not believe it is appropriate to judge members of Congress solely based on their votes on the electoral certification,” Toyota officials said in a statement emailed to Axios.

“Based on our thorough review, we decided against giving to some members who, through their statements and actions, undermine the legitimacy of our elections and institutions.”

Influencing U.S. elections is a hot-button issue

For decades, what groups are funding politicians has been a contentious issue, but divisiveness surrounding the funding and influence has escalated in the last two presidential elections — Americans want to know who or what organizations are supporting their politicians and candidates.

In the wake of the attack on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6 where protestors attempted to overturn the election while several Republicans inside the building attempted to forestall the inevitable, the divide has skyrocketed.

In all, 147 GOP members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted against certifying the November 2020 election results that saw former Vice President and Democratic challenger Joe Biden defeat Republican then-President Donald Trump.

Biden captured the popular vote with 81.3 million votes to Trump’s 74.2 million votes. The Electoral College vote was 306 to 232 in favor of Biden with 270 needed to win the presidency.

Since then, Trump and many others have contended the election was stolen. However, neither the Trump campaign nor individual supporters have been able to produce evidence of this, including two cases that went to the Supreme Court — both were shot down.

Where did Toyota’s money go?

The automaker spent big on politicians, including Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican in the U.S. House. Biggs has been an ardent purveyor of what many call “The Big Lie,” the idea that Trump actually won the election.

Axios reported an organizer of the “Stop the Steal” rally that immediately preceded the storming of the Capitol Building Jan. 6, Biggs helped organize the event. Biggs denies the allegation.

The negative response on social media was swift and predictable with thousands expressing their disappointment and vowing to no longer buy a Toyota. Many tweets used plays on words to talk about the newest Camry S-Edition or some other version of it and typing “#toyota” into the search function automatically pulls up #ToyotaHatesDemocracy.

Toyota Offers First Official Look at Next-Generation Tundra Pickup

2022 Toyota Tundra leaked pic — Part of a series of photos, this leaked picture of the 2022 Tundra TRD Pro in red forced Toyota to show off the new truck earlier than desired.

Toyota has been quietly providing a sneak peek at the next-generation Toyota Tundra to a handful of dealers and members of the media in recent weeks. Now that one of those retailers leaked out an image of the truck, Toyota has decided to release the first formal image of the 2022 Tundra.

There’s good reason for a dealer to get excited. The current Tundra has been around for an unusually long period of time, coming to market all the way back in 2007 and getting what was a relatively modest update for 2014. Its key domestic competitors, the Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado and Ram 1500, have gone through several complete makeovers during the same period. Even the Nissan Titan had a long-awaited remake in 2016.

“Some people don’t know how to keep a secret,” Toyota said in a tweet with the first official picture of the new 2022 Tundra.

Images leak out

The truck pictured in Toyota’s pic was nearly identical to the one in the leaked image, but for color. And, based on a number of details, appears to be a TRD model aimed at off-roaders. One of the most intriguing features is the light bar built into the truck’s new and significantly enlarged grille. The leaked images also show a TRD Pro tailgate. The official image also features 18-inch wheels shod with Falken off-road rubber.

There are plenty of questions to be asked about the next-generation truck. For one, will it be offered with more trim levels and body styles than the outgoing Tundra — and, in particular, in heavy-duty form? Detroit brands like Ford, Chevy and Ram offer seemingly endless variants that allow buyers to precisely match their needs and desires, something analysts believe have allowed the domestics to retain dominance.

Powertrain options make up another matter of speculation. The current Tundra offers a base 5.7-liter V-8 making an acceptable, if not overwhelming 381 horsepower. It’s widely expected that Toyota will lift a page from the Detroit playbook with an expanded series of engine options starting with a twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6.

Toyota Tundra iForce Max — This shot certain implies what kind of transmission to expect.

New powertrain options to include a hybrid

But there are growing expectations that a hybrid will be offered, as well. That should come as no surprise considering Toyota was a pioneer in that technology — and the fact that it has repeatedly laid out a goal of “electrifying” essentially every product in its portfolio. Meanwhile, it has watched Ford get a leg up by launching a hybrid version of the latest-generation F-150.

If a hybrid is in Tundra’s plans, will it match Ford’s strategy with the PowerBoost and offer a built-in generator that can provide power at work and camp sites?

While Toyota still isn’t offering any official details about the next-generation Tundra, the official release of this pic will clearly resonate with current owners and potential buyers. Until now, they’ve had little to go on but for spy shots, rumors and a short company video that revealed an unspecified engine cover with the words “iForce Max” stamped in. That appears to be the name Toyota will use for its hybrid powertrain.

Pricing is one of the other details we’ll likely have to wait to have revealed. The current Tundra model starts around $36,000.

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Toyota Cutting NA Production by a Third Through October

Toyota expects to cut production at its North American plants by about a third through October.

Toyota is just gearing up to reopen its sprawling North American production network – but the automaker expects to assemble nearly a third fewer vehicles from April through the end of October than originally scheduled, according to a Reuters report.

Some of the lost production can be accounted for by the ongoing shutdown of virtually all vehicle operations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico due to the coronavirus pandemic. But it also appears to reflect both the challenges of restarting production and the anticipated slow recovery of the regional new car market.

From April through the end of October Toyota plans to build about 800,000 cars, trucks and crossovers in North America, down 29% from what it produced during the same seven-month period a year ago. Prior to the pandemic, Toyota actually had hoped to increase North American output, so the new numbers come in about 32% below that plan.

(Toyota marks 20th anniversary of “the car that changed the world” with special edition Prius.)

“The general direction of it seems accurate,” a senior company executive told TheDetroitBureau.com, asking for anonymity due to the nature of the subject.

Despite putting together an extensive playbook to restart its North American operations, it’s going to take some time to get back to normal.

Some cuts would seem impossible to avoid considering Toyota’s North American plants will have been shuttered for close to two months. They’re now just gearing up and the restart process won’t be quick or easy, Chris Reynolds, Toyota’s Chief Administrative Officer for North American manufacturing operations, said during a media webinar in late April.

The automaker has put together and extensive playbook that calls for social distancing wherever possible, the use of masks and other personal protection equipment, and other steps that will take time, said Reynolds, to adapt to.

“There is no going back to the normal for the foreseeable future,” said Reynolds. “We have to adjust to the new normal.”

(Toyota becomes latest to delay reopening of plants.)

At least initially, he and other Toyota officials said, production will ramp up slowly, starting with single shifts, even in plants that were previously struggling to meet demand running 24 hours a day.

According to the source who spoke to Reuters, Toyota expects to produce only about 10% as many vehicles in May as it had originally planned for. The automaker wants to be approaching normal levels of production by July.

Toyota’s Chris Reynolds said earlier this year that there’s “no going back to normal for the foreseeable future.”

That could leave the automaker struggling for product in some key market segments. Demand for full-size pickups, such as the Toyota Tundra, remained strong even during the worst of the pandemic lockdown, according to J.D. Power data, the research firm’s analysts warning during their own webinar last Wednesday that there could be shortages pop up in some product niches as sales begin to recover. The automaker’s RAV-4 SUV, it’s best-selling model in the U.S., has also retained relatively strong ales during the pandemic.

For now, though, U.S. dealers generally have solid supplies of most product lines, and Power data chief Thomas King last week said he did not see the American new car market getting anywhere close to pre-pandemic levels until July, at the earliest. He also warned that sales for the year could dip as low as 13 million compared to the 17.1 new vehicles sold in 2019.

(Toyota reveals “flexible” plan aimed at safely starting to re-open U.S. plants.)

How the pandemic-led production shutdown and sales slump have impacted Toyota should begin to become apparent when it releases its earnings report for the January-March quarter on Tuesday. But the broader effects likely won’t become clear until the books are closed on the following quarter.