Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  Our commitment to our team members is that we're going to protect the core of what we have. That doesn't mean every day off and every benefit that may be a little esoteric or really not cost-effective is going to stay, but we realize our people need a certain number of hours of work and dollars per hour to maintain what we have, and that's what we're trying to work together to protect.

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  We've already taken many measures. We're at zero overtime, and in a company that has worked overtime the whole time we've been here, that's a change for people. We've had several days when we had non-production. For our contract or flexible workforce, that meant they were home. For our full-time permanent workforce, they could come to work for pay, or not; they could stay home.

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  That's how we've always designed it to be, on an overall compensation base, and not cherry-picking one element over another.

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  I think part of that confusion comes from the fact that compensation is modelled differently in the States. In a Toyota plant in the United States, your base rate might be 10% less than a Detroit three base rate, but your variable compensation, if the plant does well, might bring you up to a total compensation of 5% more than the Detroit three total compensation.

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  I'm not sure it's fair to say they're more competitive than other jurisdictions, but productivity is a function of how many man-hours you have to put in to build a vehicle. Our hours per vehicle are certainly very competitive within North America and the world. As I said, for man-hours per vehicle, if it's a more complex vehicle, it isn't the same calculation.

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  Toyota Motor Corporation worldwide is anticipating in the area of a $5 billion loss, give or take, in this year, by the end of this year that we're in the fourth quarter of right now. The cash burn has been very quick. We're fortunate that we have more liquidity behind us, so that is not impacting us as immediately.

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  I don't see that as a likelihood in any scenario that we're looking at.

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  I wish I were a better economist so that I could answer more accurately, but in terms of our current model cycles and our hopes for those models, I don't see that level of intensity coming out of there.

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  If you're asking about the Detroit three in Canada, the answer is different from what it would be for the Detroit three in the United States.

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  In Canada it's a little different from the States. We've all tried to be very competitive on total compensation, which means on base rate we may be pennies apart, but that's inconsequential. On value of benefits, we may administer them differently--one may be more flexible and one may be more rigid--but they're pretty competitive.

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  I don't think we'll feel that in Canada. We opened RAV4 with a single shift, so we are actually producing 75,000, and there is more market for the RAV4 than that—perhaps not a market for a whole second shift, but more market. Corolla is lagging a little bit right now, especially in the States.

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  How were they framing their analysis?

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  Absolutely not. Our workers, in terms of hours per unit or cost per unit, are North American and world competitive. That's been proven out in study after study. I'm not sure whether they found some cherry-picking where they can show a productivity difference. Productivity is apples and oranges, depending on the vehicle you're working on.

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  Perhaps the most notable media around that topic from last week involved Toyota Financial Services being in talks with the state-backed Bank for International Cooperation to loan some money. It is understandable that media misinterpreted and started calling “bailout” very quickly, but what needs to be understood is that in this instance Toyota Financial Services is not an operating function of our company.

Subcommittee on the Automotive Industry in Canada committee  We're neutral on the loan package. We need a healthy auto industry. Our auto industry is integrated. We immediately feel the outputs of failings in other segments of the auto industry, so we need a healthy auto industry to survive. Being neutral, we might ask that you think about how to do this in a way that doesn't give a competitive advantage.