That’s how we approach government engagement now.”Ĭiccone’s full-court press was born out of a public-relations crisis. “The attitude was ‘we’re the visiting team,’ when really we’re as much of the home team as anyone. “When I joined Toyota, the attitude was that we were a guest in the country,” Ciccone said in an interview, noting Toyota boasts 11 plants, including a planned battery factory in North Carolina, and 40,000 employees in the US. That’s a significant shift for a company that for years kept a low profile on Capitol Hill and deferred to industry trade groups to speak out on policy matters. Ciccone has made a point to regularly escort Toyota’s American executives, dealers and rank-and-file employees through the corridors of power for meetings with lawmakers and administration officials. Stephen Ciccone, Toyota’s Washington-based group vice president of government affairs, said the company’s large West Virginia presence - which includes about 2,000 jobs at a sprawling manufacturing facility - has been helpful in getting Manchin’s attention.īut courting Manchin is just one part of his more far-reaching campaign to advance the company’s interests. That sharply outpaced growth of lobbying spending on the auto industry overall, which rose 26% over the same period. In 2021, Toyota spent $6.2 million on US lobbying efforts, according to the OpenSecrets research group, a 41% increase from the $4.4 million it spent in 2010. The current tax-credit measure - while hardly a sure thing to be signed into law - eschews providing a similar advantage. Read More: Senate Deal Includes EV Tax Credits Aimed at Spurring Plug-In Marketįor Toyota, though, this win has particular significance: In the Build Back Better legislation that fell apart last year, President Joe Biden had called for an EV credit that would’ve provided extra incentives on union-made cars, a benefit for the Detroit heavyweights that rely on organized labor. The deal calls for continuing a $7,500 credit for the purchase of new “clean cars,” a priority the Japanese automaker has been fighting for alongside its domestic rivals General Motors Co.
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