Toyota-Honda U.S. Rebound Brings Call of ‘What Recession?': Cars

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.'s return to full production this month is boosting U.S. auto sales back near the pace reached before Japan's earthquake.

September light-vehicle sales, to be released Oct. 3, probably rose to a 12.8 million seasonally adjusted annual rate, the average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. That would be the fastest pace since April, when lost output caused by Japan's tsunami crimped supply of parts and finished cars.

“Recovering inventory levels have helped to bring buyers back into the market,” said Jeff Schuster, executive director of global forecasting at J.D. Power & Associates.

Jesse Toprak, who develops forecasts at TrueCar.com, went so far as to title his latest report “What Recession?” as the auto rebound defies consumer confidence that is near a two-year low.

Toyota has said it expects to reverse monthly U.S. sales declines beginning next month, and Honda is adding overtime shifts at two Ohio plants. Better supply also probably meant incentives rose from the lowest in almost six years.

“The big story this month was better inventory and favorable pricing” for consumers, said Jessica Caldwell, an analyst at Santa Monica, California-based Edmunds.com.

Sales declines at Toyota and Honda contributed to the U.S. auto sales pace slowing from a 13.1 million rate averaged in the year's first four months to as low as 11.6 million in June, according to researcher Autodata Corp.

Toyota Still Recovering
Toyota slipped behind Ford Motor Co. to third in U.S. sales this year through August, which was the first month in the past year that its global production increased. The Toyota City, Japan-based automaker is still recovering and may say sales dropped 15 percent, the average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, leaving it in third again.

“With the launch of the new Camry, October should be even better,” said Paul Atkinson, who operates Toyota dealerships in Bryan and Madisonville, Texas. “We're selling as fast as they're coming off the damn truck.”

Toyota, ramping up production of the redesigned Camry sedan, may say sales dropped 15 percent, the average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The Toyota City, Japan- based automaker's global production increased for the first time in 12 months in August.

Toyota shares fell 0.5 percent to 2,688 yen in Tokyo at the 3 p.m. close of Tokyo trading. Nissan Motor Co. gained 0.4 percent, while Honda fell 1.4 percent.

Overtime at Honda
Sales may decline 6.1 percent at Honda, the average of five analysts' estimates, after deliveries slid 20 percent or more in each of the past four months. The Tokyo-based automaker is scheduling overtime shifts at its Marysville and East Liberty assembly plants in Ohio, Ron Lietzke, a spokesman, said in a Sept. 28 phone interview.

Honda began the month with 32 days supply of vehicles, from 28 in August, Westlake Village, California-based J.D. Power said in a Sept. 22 statement. The industry standard is about 60 days.

General Motors Co. and Ford are anticipating that demand will keep increasing as the largest U.S. automakers negotiate labor contracts that boost production and add jobs.

GM, which reached a new four-year contract with the United Auto Workers this month, may report a 19 percent increase in September sales, the average of eight analysts' estimates. The Detroit-based automaker and union said the accord adds or retains 6,400 jobs and reopens an assembly plant in Tennessee.

Ford, Chrysler
Ford has discussed with the UAW adding as many as 10,000 union jobs in the U.S., according to three people familiar with the talks. Some of those workers would assemble Fusion sedans, which are currently made in Mexico, said one of the people who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private.

Deliveries this month may rise 5.9 percent for Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford, the average of eight analysts' estimates.

Sales at Fiat SpA-controlled Chrysler Group LLC, which has extended its UAW contract to Oct. 19, may climb 20 percent, the average of seven analysts' estimates.

GM fell 58 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $20.18 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Ford dropped 33 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $9.67.

Confidence among U.S. consumers stagnated in September near a two-year low as the share of households saying it was difficult to find a job climbed to the highest level in almost three decades. The Conference Board's sentiment index increased by 0.2 to 45.4 from an August reading that was the lowest since April 2009, the New York-based researcher said Sept. 27.

Auto Industry Shrinks
“The economy is stopped dead in its tracks,” George Magliano, a New York-based economist at IHS Automotive, said in a phone interview. “Considering that, the auto business is showing pretty good strength. The industry is hiring, it's producing more and there's pent-up demand.”
GM and Ford will be adding back only a portion of the jobs they shed during the recession that sent auto sales to a 27-year low of 10.4 million in 2009, according to Autodata Corp.

GM had about 49,000 U.S. hourly employees at the end of 2010, a year after its U.S.-backed bankruptcy. That's down from 111,000 such workers at the end of 2005, the company said in a Sept. 28 conference call with analysts.

Last year, about 962,000 U.S. workers were employed making vehicles and parts, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington. That's down 32 percent from 1.41 million in 2005.

The downsizing of the industry, achieved in part by U.S.- backed bankruptcies for GM and Chrysler, meant cutting production capacity. That prevented U.S. automakers from raising output and offsetting industrywide constraints on inventory after the Japan earthquake and tsunami in March, said Alan Baum, an industry consultant at Baum & Associates.

‘Limited Ability'
GM, Ford and Chrysler “had a fairly limited ability to capitalize because there are a lot fewer auto plants and workers than there were four years ago,” said Baum, who is based in West Bloomfield, Michigan. “You can't just add a shift willy- nilly.”

Nissan, whose better supply of parts has buoyed inventory levels above its Japan-based rivals, may say deliveries climbed 18 percent, the average of five analysts' estimates.

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker, and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp., may combine to sell 20 percent more vehicles than a year earlier, according to the average of three estimates. Both automakers are based in Seoul.

J.D. Power today increased its estimate for the September auto-sales rate to 13 million from 12.9 million.

Industrywide deliveries may rise to 12.7 million cars and light trucks this year, the average of 18 analysts' estimates surveyed by Bloomberg in August. Sales may climb to 13.6 million in 2012, the average of 15 estimates. The U.S. averaged annual sales of 16.8 million vehicles from 2000 to 2007, according to Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata.

The following table shows estimates for car and light-truck sales in the U.S. Estimates for companies are a percentage change from September 2010. Forecasts for the seasonally adjusted annual rate, or SAAR, are in millions of light vehicles.

September had 25 selling days, matching the year-earlier period.*T

GM Ford Chrysler SAAR
Himanshu Patel NA NA NA 12.8
(JPMorgan)
Rod Lache 21% 8.5% 22% 13.0
(Deutsche Bank)
Chris Ceraso 14% 4% 16% 12.6
(Credit Suisse)
Brian Johnson 17% 7% 25% 12.8
(Barclays)
Peter Nesvold 24% 1.6% NA 12.7
(Jefferies)
Patrick Archambault 15% -1.3% 13% 12.4
(Goldman Sachs)
Itay Michaeli NA NA NA 12.9
(Citigroup)
Adam Jonas NA NA NA 12.8
(Morgan Stanley)
George Magliano NA NA NA 12.4
(IHS Automotive)
Jeff Schuster NA NA NA 13.0
(J.D. Power)
Jessica Caldwell 19% 11% 23% 12.9
(Edmunds.com)
Jesse Toprak 21% 8.5% 20% 13.1
(TrueCar.com)
Alan Baum NA NA NA 12.8
(Baum & Associates)
Seth Weber 21% 8% 24% 12.8
(RBC)
Average 19% 5.9% 20% 12.8
*T
--Editors: Bill Koenig, Jamie Butters

Source;
http://news.businessweek.com/article.asp?documentKey=1376-LS9L3G1A1I4H01-31KL3EA80KPOTH5QSRJ96RFGAM

Subaru Hybrid For 2014 To Echo Honda, GM Mild-Hybrid Approach

Beyond the obvious Toyota, if any other make were to build hybrid cars, you might expect it to be Subaru.

The small Japanese company's cars are revered for durability and standard all-wheel drive, and their drivers are often assumed to be on the liberal side of center.

Subaru owners tend to cluster in mountainous enclaves of progressive politics, and data show their owners skew more Democratic than almost any other brand.

Now, at last, Subaru's hybrid plans are coming clear.

First hybrid in 2013
The company will launch its first hybrid vehicle in Japan within two years. That car will be a model of the Subaru Legacy mid-size sedan, most likely for the 2014 model year.

But according to a Subaru of America executive who briefed GreenCarReports on condition of anonymity, while development of the hybrid-electric drive technology is largely done, the company is still debating which vehicle will debut the hybrid system for the U.S. market.

Candidates include the popular Forester compact crossover utility vehicle, the equally popular Outback mid-size crossover, and perhaps the Legacy sedan as well.

Subaru could choose to put the system in its lowest-mileage vehicles (the larger Legacy and Outback), or increase the mileage of a more fuel efficient vehicle (the Impreza sedan or hatchback) to give the company a gas-mileage champion halo car.

Already the new 2012 Subaru Impreza will get 36 mpg on the highway, a substantial improvement over the 2011 model that gives it the highest gas mileage of any all-wheel drive car.

Mild hybrid a la Honda
The Subaru hybrid system, previewed in the Subaru B5 TPH Concept of 2005 and, at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, in the Subaru Hybrid Tourer concept, is a mild hybrid system very similar to Honda's Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) setup.

The General Motors eAssist system is conceptually similar, although the electric motor replaces the alternator rather than sitting between engine and transmission.

In the latest Subaru concept, a 10-kilowatt (13-horsepower) electric motor is sandwiched between a turbocharged 2.0-liter flat-four engine and the company's Lineartronic continuously variable transmission (CVT).

A lithium-ion battery pack, derived from the one used in the now-discontinued Japanese-market Stella EV electric minicar, provides power to the motor, which also recharges the battery during regenerative braking.

But unlike full hybrid systems like those used by Toyota, Ford, Hyundai, and others, the hybrid system is not powerful enough to propel the car on electricity alone.

Instead, it restarts the engine when the car begins to move away from a stop, and it contributes torque to supplement engine power, reducing the load on the engine and hence the fuel it consumes.

Toyota tech? Not so much
Since 2005, when Toyota purchased the share of Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru's parent company) previously owned by General Motors, industry analysts had assumed that the small company would adopt Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive system--as Nissan did for its 2008-2011 Altima Hybrid, and Mazda plans to do.

But Subaru is a stubbornly independent company with a strong engineering culture. Aside from Porsche, it's the sole company offering horizontally opposed engines, which are smaller and give vehicles a lower center of gravity than inline engines.

Fitting Toyota's hybrid to a pancake engine might have posed its own challenges, but Subaru's engineers developed their hybrid system internally, along with the lithium-ion battery pack. And so the Subaru hybrid that will launch as a 2014 model will be a mild hybrid--a technology that Toyota doesn't offer.

The two companies are presently cooperating on a two-door sports coupe known as the FT-86. It will be sold as a Scion in the U.S., and the Subaru version--the brand's first rear-wheel drive car for the U.S. in almost 20 years--will be called the BRZ.

Source;
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1066695_subaru-hybrid-for-2014-to-echo-honda-gm-mild-hybrid-approach

Next Gen Toyota Supra underway!

Lexus plans super LFA Tokyo Edition, new Supra underway
By Tim Pollard

Lexus will launch an LFA Tokyo Motor Show Edition at this autumn's 2011 Japanese show, CAR has discovered - and we can expect a brace of additional new Toyota/Lexus performance cars in the coming years, including a likely Supra replacement.

The Lexus LFA Tokyo edition will bring an M3-esque exposed carbon roof and (still hydraulically adjustable) carbon rear spoiler. Presumably this just means the weave is exposed, as the LFA is already made from carbonfibre.

CAR understands the LFA Tokyo will cost about €40k more than a 'regular' Lexus LFA.
What else is planned for the Lexus LFA?

A spider roadster was planned and its carbonfibre construction meant the open-top LFA was nearly as rigid as the coupe. But our sources in Japan have confirmed the roadster LFA has been canned owing to the economic uncertainty in markets around the world.

And what's this about new performance cars from Toyota/Lexus?

Toyota is working on two other performance cars separate from the FT-86 and LFA projects.
Information is sketchy at this point, but CAR understands one is a front-wheel drive car (possibly a go-faster CT200h) and one is a potential successor to the Supra.

Officially, a Supra replacement is denied. But we hear a skunkworks, unofficial project is underway to replace the RWD coupe and some insiders predict a 2014 launch.

It also sounds like future fast Toyota/Lexus models will switch from high-revving naturally aspirated engines - as in the LFA, ISF and FT-86 - to smaller, turbocharged engines. Interesting times at Toyota, as it attempts to play catch-up after a decade away from the performance heartland.

Source;
http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Secret-new-cars/Search-Results/Spyshots/Lexus-to-launch-super-LFA-Tokyo-Edition-plus-new-Supra-underway/

The Next Toyota Camry Coupe (Solara) Imagined

What if the brought back the Solara? Nice rendition anyways....
Source (via www.autoblog.com);
http://www.theophiluschin.com/?p=3553

Autoten.com: 201? Toyota 4 doors coupe rendering

201? Toyota 4 doors coupe rendering

After autoten browsed the website,We found a rendering from Mag-x that reported to be a Toyota 4 doors coupe that focuses on luxury and sportiness. The source is said that the car will be a successor to the popular Carina ED/Corona Exiv. If this project is greenlight,The car will be first Japanese sedan coupe in 21th century.



As we know,In the near future we will see a 4 doors coupe from the car makers,From luxury brand like Mercedes CLA/CLB to Volkswagen new compact coupe that still in work.



This project is heading to the carscoop report that Toyota is working on a four-door coupe variant of the rear-wheel drive FT-86!!. A 2+2 door version and 2+2 seat is expect. But autoten is not sure these two car is the same project.



So,Wait for more information



Source;

http://autoten.com/2011/08/23/201-toyota-4-doors-coupe-rendering/

Inside Line: Comparison Test: 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid vs. 2011 Toyota Prius Five

Here's a really good article featuring two really good hybrids....

The New and Improved Honda Takes on the Undisputed King of Hybrids

By Mike Magrath, Features Editor Published Aug 26, 2011

As an only child, I missed some valuable life lessons. Sharing for example. Group dynamics are confusing, too. And finally, my last character flaw as influenced by my parents' halted procreation, to me compromise is a dirty, dirty word.

But, with each new phase in life, the C-word becomes more prominent. Bless those who can drive their caged Miatas, track-ready BMWs or cherry-bombed Corvettes on a daily basis. For the rest of us, though, a balance must be struck. Rear seats, fuel economy and tolerable in-cabin decibel levels become priorities and all of a sudden, a hybrid starts looking like a good idea.

Two of the best hybrids available right now are the 2011 Toyota Prius and the all-new 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid. They have four doors, reasonable cargo space, affordable prices and big-time fuel economy numbers. Each one has its own compromises, so we set out to find which car we found more tolerable, or maybe even likable.

One Old, One New

The 2011 Toyota Prius is, mechanically, the same car we've seen before. It features a pair of electric motors and a 27 kW nickel-metal hydride battery pack that provides a 36-horsepower shove for the electric half of the equation. A 98-hp 1.8-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder represents the conventional internal-combustion half. A planetary-type continuously variable transmission (CVT) figures out how to get the power to the front wheels. It's a respectable system that transitions smoothly between electric and full-blown hybrid mode.

The Honda Civic Hybrid, on the other hand, utilizes a 1.5-liter four-cylinder gas engine and newer 20kW lithium-ion batteries, which have a higher energy density than nickel-metal hydride batteries. The electric motor in the Civic Hybrid is parked between the CVT and the car's conventional engine. This means that any time the motor spins, the engine spins and vice-versa. Honda calls this system IMA for Integrated Motor Assist. Unlike with the Prius, there's no pure electric drive, but there is some engineless coasting available at certain constant speeds. In the Civic, if the engine can be off without ruining the ride quality, it will be off thanks to the car's automatic start/stop functionality and active Eco mode.

Because You Deserve It

There was already enough sacrifice going on in a test of two hybrids, so we skipped over the base model cars ($22,120 for the Prius One and $24,050 for the Honda Civic Hybrid) and went straight to the top. Our 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid with leather and navigation carried a sticker price of $27,500, which includes heated leather seats, navigation, Bluetooth, a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, 15-inch alloy wheels, automatic headlights and steering-wheel-mounted audio controls.

The top tier of Priusdom is the Prius Five. (Do not confuse this with the Prius V.) For the privilege of being the most pampered, you get to shell out $29,080. And that's before options. We'd skip the $5,080 Advanced Technology package seen here (nav, dynamic cruise, pre-collision, advanced parking system, lane keeping assist) and opt for the $2,380 nav system instead. That move would lower the Prius from our MSRP of $34,719 to a more reasonable $32,489.

With all of this trimming, it's easy to forget that these cars start out as relatively inexpensive compacts. But beyond the leather, beyond the multimedia information screens and beyond the atypical powertrains, the way these cars drive makes you forget their natural station in life.

On the Road

With a steeply raked windscreen, thin pillars and a low dash afforded by the centrally mounted everything, the Prius feels twice as big as it is — in a good way. There's no small-car intimidation factor. Perhaps this explains the way Prius drivers try to own the road.

The ride, too, mimics that of a large car, with minimal noise and harshness and a tendency to rebound a fairly impressive sine wave after severe impacts. And, like any decent large car, the Prius' steering and brakes are unobtrusive to the point of being annoying. The steering is weightier than that of previous Prii, but this is a result of reprogrammed steering electrons and not a revised, improved connection to the wheels.

On the Road

With a steeply raked windscreen, thin pillars and a low dash afforded by the centrally mounted everything, the Prius feels twice as big as it is — in a good way. There's no small-car intimidation factor. Perhaps this explains the way Prius drivers try to own the road. The ride, too, mimics that of a large car, with minimal noise and harshness and a tendency to rebound a fairly impressive sine wave after severe impacts. And, like any decent large car, the Prius' steering and brakes are unobtrusive to the point of being annoying. The steering is weightier than that of previous Prii, but this is a result of reprogrammed steering electrons and not a revised, improved connection to the wheels.

The real surprise in this test was the ride quality of the 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid. It's good enough to ignore the painfully slow 0-30 time and the confused start/stop system that gets behind itself in slow traffic. It's good enough that every editor who had it came back with pretty much the same impression: "Dude, the ride."

It's an enviably good mix of damping and spring rates that results in a ride that isn't floaty or harsh. And despite its compliance over rough pavement, when the road gets bendy, the Civic Hybrid sets firmly without the body roll you'd expect from a hybrid. It is still a Civic after all. You'll never confuse this for a large car ride, yet you'll wonder why everyone talks up those big cars so much anyway.

We've had experiences with light cars where a few hundred pounds of gear really makes for a marked improvement in ride quality, and we think that's what's happening here, as the non-hybrid 2012 Civic wasn't this impressive. As impressive as the ride is, the Civic does suffer from higher levels of in-cabin noise than the Prius. From wind noise to tire noise to the crude stutter of the engine firing back to life, there's little peace found inside the Civic.

Because Driving for Fuel Economy Is Boring

Before we donned our fuel-saving caps and glass-soled shoes, we had one last foray into the world we know best: the test track.

It feels wrong, but throttling the 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid on a closed track actually sounds right. It sounds normal. Like a Honda. Of course, it also comes to a stop like a Honda.

Digging into the pavement from 60 mph, the 2,830-pound Civic managed to stop in a barely-Dodge-Power Wagon-beating 137 feet. Blame rear drums. Blame low-rolling-resistance Bridgestone Ecopia EP20 tires. Blame whom or whatever you want, the effect is a braking system that instills no driver confidence.

If you are presented with enough room to hold down the throttle without having to worry about any sort of emergency stop at the other end, the Civic Hybrid hits 60 in 10.1 seconds (9.7 seconds with 1 foot of rollout like on a drag strip) and goes on to complete the quarter-mile in 17.5 seconds at 80.1 mph.

The Prius lacked both the Civic's drama in braking and its familiar-if-not-pleasant engine note. Thanks to the slick CVT, the Prius' engine droned for 10.2 seconds when we hit 60 mph (9.8 seconds with rollout) and then for another 17.4 seconds as we ran the quarter-mile at 79.3 mph. When asked to stop from 60, the 3,138-pound Prius dug in and clawed out a perfectly standard 124-foot stop.

Things continued to be a relative tie in our handling tests. Despite the Prius being the poster child of terrible dynamics and the Civic's legacy as the real driver's economy car, the numbers were remarkably similar. The Toyota squealed around our skid pad at 0.79g while the Civic pulled 0.76g. The Toyota finished the slalom averaging 61.2 mph, behind the Civic's 62.8 mph.

And because this is that kind of test, the Honda recorded 20 mpg during track testing and the Prius flattened it with a whopping 24 mpg.

Because Gas Is Expensive

The first thing you should know about this portion of our journey is that we did not do a fuel economy loop. Fuel economy loops are designed to simulate some ideal mix of traffic-free, low-and-medium-speed events with few stops, little incline and a slew of otherwise idealistic environments. They've got as much to do with real-world driving as a strip club does with dating. Sure, it's a neat benchmark, but you can't get disappointed when the real world doesn't quite live up to it.

Could we have squeezed out more — potentially double — the miles per gallon by ignoring the flow of traffic, side-stepping hills and swapping our work schedules to reduce the chance of seeing another car? Sure. But we could do that with our current vehicles. The draw of a hybrid is that you don't have to change your behavior to improve your environmental impact.

So we picked editors with different commutes — heavy city traffic, light off-hours highway traffic and a near 50:50 mix of city and highway — and let them have at it with the charge that they're to drive as if their own dollars are on the line.

So we drove these two hybrids like we owned them and tabulated the results.

In our unstandardized, unstaged, real-world tests, the Toyota Prius fell below its 51 city/48 highway/50 combined EPA mpg estimate. We averaged just 39.8 mpg, with a best tank of 45.8 mpg and a worst tank of 34.9 mpg. The worst tank was a result of a long drive on a very empty freeway.

The Civic is rated by the EPA at 44 mpg. Everywhere. City: 44. Highway: 44. Combined? Yep, you guessed it. 44. And unlike the Prius, we managed to catch a glimpse of the elusive EPA number with one 44.8 mpg trek. Overall, though, we only squeezed 38.8 mpg out of the Civic Hybrid.

A 1 mile-per-gallon difference in the real world? Slight advantage to the Prius.

Because in Every Compromise, There's a LoserWe know why people buy hybrids. Be it carpool stickers or fitting in at the local Starbucks, there's an external motivator in the purchase that no math can dent.

Though it has a slight edge in ride quality, the 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid — with its normal dash, conventional shifter, traditional engine note and Civic-like driving dynamics — is almost too normal. It doesn't look special, it doesn't feel special and the IMA system compromises practicality and drivetrain smoothness. Each time the engine jumps back to life, hooking up to the transmission with the subtleness of a first-time clutch user, the compromises of a mixed drivetrain smack you square in the face.

The 2011 Toyota Prius was designed as a hybrid with a unique, instantly recognizable shape that emphasizes function over form and a drivetrain that channels the flow of power as seamlessly as runoff trickles into the Mississippi.

There are times to rebel, to swim against the school, and then there are times to fall in line. The easier compromise here is the car that makes you forget what real cars are like, that coddles and amuses as it delivers superlative fuel economy. In this case, that would be the Toyota Prius.

The manufacturers provided Edmunds these vehicles for the purposes of evaluation.

Source;

http://www.insideline.com/toyota/prius/2011/comparison-test-2012-honda-civic-hybrid-vs-2011-toyota-prius-five.html

2012 Toyota Camry - walkaround Video

Toyota EV racing prototype unveiled

Toyota has released new details about their attempt to set an electric vehicle speed record at the Nürburgring on August 29th.



Seen here for the first time, the unnamed racing prototype has a 41.5 kWh lithium-ceramic battery which powers two electric motors that produce 381 PS (280 kW / 375 hp) and 800 Nm (590 Nm) of torque. This setup will enable the 970 kg (2,138 lb) sports car to accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 3.9 seconds and hit a top speed of 260 km/h (162 mph).



If everything goes according to plan, Toyota will be beat the current EV record of 9 minutes and 1.338 seconds which was set by the Peugeot EX1 concept.



Source;

http://www.worldcarfans.com/111081935892/toyota-ev-racing-prototype-unveiled#ixzz1VmsptxSG

2012 Toyota Camry Photo

I like what they did to the front end....

Source;

http://www.woodyscarsite.com/2011/08/2012-toyota-camry-still-trying.html

Honda and Toyota: Getting Back on Track

This year hasn’t been the kindest to Japanese automakers Honda and Toyota. The devastation wrought by March’s earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, resulted in severe disruptions to their supply chains, causing dealer inventories to run low and other automakers to gain ground in sales.



However, after a dismal July, there are signs that both Honda and Toyota are gaining momentum; supply from Japan has improved, while factories in North America are running in overdrive in an effort to boost vehicle inventory to more ‘normal’ levels.



Even though rivals, including Detroit’s big three, have gained ground this year as a result of problems facing the Japanese duo, most seem to view Honda and Toyota’s improving fortunes quite favorably.



Don Johnson, General Motors’ US sales head, believes that more Hondas and Toyotas on dealer lots will help stimulate overall growth in new car sales, bringing back buyers who’ve been sitting on the fence. ”A lot of brand-loyal customers have chosen to sit on the sidelines until selection and price improve,” he says. “They will be coming back into the market.”



That said, it is likely to be some time before inventory levels reach pre-March totals. Randy Pflughaupt, group vice president of sales administration for Toyota, believes it will be 2012 before the automaker achieves year-over-year sales increases; Honda meanwhile, is currently running at around 95 percent of normal production in Japan, with full inventory achieved on all US product lines bar the Civic which traditionally is one of it’s most popular models.



According to a number industry analysts, it’s inventory that defines the ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ in the marketplace and right now, as it stands, Domestic brands are leading the way, Chrysler boasting a 72 day supply on its vehicles, allowing it to post a 20 percent gain in sales during July, as Honda and Toyota combined, slipped 6.9 percent. Ford, with a 54 day supply has seen sales jump by 13 percent for the bread and butter brand and 40 percent for Lincoln in the same period. GM, with a 73 day supply has reported gains of some 8 percent.



“Whoever has the cars, outsells everybody,” declared Ralph Martinez, a Chrysler dealer principal from Wilsonville, Oregon. “People are out there buying,” he said, but “they’re going to places that have a good selection.”



Source;

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2011/08/honda-and-toyota-getting-back-on-track.html

Honda says studying shift overseas to avoid yen effect

* Working under assumption of 80 yen to dollar over next 3 years

* Exports from Japan unsustainable at current dollar-yen rate -CFO

* Discussion of shifting output to continue until last minute -CFO

* Not optimistic that yen will weaken -CFO

* Honda move could put pressure on Toyota, Nissan (Adds details)

By Chang-Ran Kim, Asia autos correspondent



TOKYO, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co is studying possible production bases overseas to replace export-bound car production in Japan that has been battered by a strong yen, a top executive said on Tuesday.

Japanese auto executives have repeatedly warned that the yen had strengthened beyond what domestic exporters could cope with, but Honda Chief Financial Officer Fumihiko Ike's comment was the first indication so far that any concrete steps are being considered to reduce output in Japan.

"We currently have a three-year plan under which we are assuming a rate of 80 yen to the dollar," Ike told a small group of reporters at Honda's headquarters in Tokyo.

"And under that assumption, the discussion to look for an alternative production base is inevitable."

Ike tempered his comments by stressing that jobs in Japan needed to be protected, and that the discussion would continue right up to the point when the board makes a formal decision, taking into account exchange rates at that time.

But he said he was not necessarily optimistic that the yen would weaken, and that Honda was bracing itself for further appreciation towards 70 yen to the dollar after Japan's solo intervention last week did little to stem the dollar's fall. The U.S. currency was fetching around 77.00 yen on Tuesday.

"Protecting Japanese manufacturing and building cars here is becoming more and more difficult," Ike said. "We can keep the technology here, but if we were to build cars in Japan, they may be good (quality) products but they would be too expensive. And an expensive product is not necessarily a good product."

EXPORT EXPOSURE

Among Japan's top automakers, third-ranked Honda is the least exposed to excessive domestic production, exporting just 30 percent of its Japan-made cars last year. Toyota Motor Corp exported 53 percent, while Nissan Motor Co shipped 59 percent.

All three automakers have a basic strategy of creating a natural hedge against currency swings by producing as many cars as they can where they are sold. But for smaller markets where demand is insufficient to build a factory, production has been concentrated in Japan.

"At these exchange rates we lose competitiveness on these exports, and that leads to a fall in sales, triggering a vicious cycle," Ike said. "And when that happens, the natural consequence is for that production (in Japan) to disappear."

Ike said Honda had already gone down that path with motorcycles, expanding production in India, Vietnam and Indonesia. Honda imports many motorcycles into Japan from Thailand and China.

If Honda takes a similar step with cars, it could put pressure on rivals Toyota and Nissan to do the same and lead to a hollowing out of Japanese manufacturing, one of the main drivers of the country's economy.

Toyota and Nissan have been more vocal than Honda about protecting domestic production, with Toyota pledging 3 million vehicles a year of output in Japan and Nissan pledging 1 million.

Nissan said this week it plans to boost its sales in the shrinking Japanese market to keep the 1 million annual production target as it shifts more export-bound output overseas.

"Car makers are trying hard to cut costs to absorb the currency impact, but there's a limit to the speed and scope of what they can achieve," said Credit Suisse auto analyst Issei Takahashi.

"Even if they build a lot in Japan, if they lose money by doing so they won't be able to protect jobs. I think it's inevitable that some production shifts overseas." (Editing by Edmund Klamann)

Source;

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/09/honda-idUSL3E7J922O20110809

2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid Spyshots

By Alex Nunez

Toyota was busy introducing all flavors of the 2012 Toyota Camry to the media earlier this week, but since all that stuff's embargoed, there's not much to tell. Yet. But what isn't under embargo is this collection of spy photos showing the 2012 Camry Hybrid in its birthday suit while shooting a television commercial.

The new Camry's familiar roofline communicates practicality overall, but the updated sheetmetal has more crisp lines, with new fascias fore and aft. The hybrid's grille treatment apes that of the facelifted Highlander Hybrid, and yes, those headlights are indeed the ones Akio Toyoda teased a few weeks ago.

In a nutshell, it's still a conservative look, but decidedly less frumpy than before. Now, let's see what changes Toyota's made below the surface to bring the Camry in line with the current midsize family-sedan competition.

Image Credit: KGP Photography

Source (with alot of pic's!);
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/07/30/this-is-the-2012-toyota-camry-hybrid/

Toyota Window to the world - multimedia system

Wow....

Want a 2012 Toyota Rav4 EV? You Won’t Be Able To Buy One

Interesting read....
By Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield
Contributing Writer July 15th, 2011

Its one of the most eagerly anticipated plug-in vehicles to join the market in the next year or so, but the reintroduced Toyota RAV4EV won’t be available to buy, says Geri Yoza, Toyota’s National Business Planning Manager of Advanced Vehicle Marketing.

Instead, the electric SUV will be available to fleets and car sharing programs rather than individual customers.

Designed by Toyota and given an all-electric drivetrain by electric automaker Tesla Motors, many fans had hoped the 2012 RAV4 EV would pick up where the legendary 1997-2003 Toyota RAV4 EV left off.

Still considered by some electric vehicle fans as the one of the best electric cars ever made, the original RAV4 EV featured a top speed of around 78 miles per hour and a range of between 100 and 120 miles per charge.

The original RAV4 EV was leased by government agencies, fleets and private customers with some lucky customers being able to buy them at the end of their leases. Many of those cars are still working today, years later.

The rest? Returned to Toyota at the end of their lease and crushed. We’re pretty sure you’ve heard the story.

But with only leasing and large fleets being targeted, will the 2012 Toyota RAV4EV have a similar fate to its predecessor?

We really hope not. Instead, we’re hoping Toyota’s plan to offer the RAV4 EV to a limited base is something that will change as the car becomes more popular in coming years.

Since Toyota is the only major automaker planning a plugin crossover SUV for the 2012 model year, we think it would be a big mistake if the RAV4 EV remained exclusive to such a small segment of the market.

History repeating, or an insurance against a platform Toyota still doesn’t trust? Let us know in the Comments below.

Source;
http://www.allcarselectric.com/news/1063236_want-a-2012-toyota-rav4-ev-you-wont-be-able-to-buy-one

2012 Toyota Yaris

Nice looking redesign, glad to see that they've finally figured out that the top centre speedometer doesn't really work over here....
Toyota today announced the details for the third-generation Yaris, which went on sale today for the European market.

The new Toyota Yaris will be offered in Europe in three variants including a 1.0-liter VVT-i and 1.33-liter dual VVT-i gasoline units and a 1.4-liter D-4D diesel. It will be available in four trim-levels including T2, TR, SR and T Spirit with prices starting at £11,170 ($17,989 USD).
Besides the overall redesign inside-out, the big highlight for the 2012 Toyota Yaris includes the company’s new Toyota Touch audio system, which is standard on all Yaris models except the entry-level Yaris. The system includes a touchscreen and provides access to Bluetooth connectivity, a USB port and a rear parking camera. The Toyota Touch audio system can be upgraded to the Toyota Touch and Go system, which adds a full map satellite navigation and access to a range of connected information services.

The 2012 Toyota Yaris will come to the United States later this fall. We expect it to debut at the 2011 LA Auto Show in November.

Source;
http://www.egmcartech.com/2011/07/13/2012-toyota-yaris-unveiled-in-europe-coming-to-u-s-this-fall/

2012 Toyota Camry Spy video

Here's more on that spy photo of the next generation Camry.... I'd be surprised if this stayed up more than a couple of days....

2012 Toyota Camry private unveiling caught on camera

Well, the 2012 Toyota Camry has been creating a lot of buzz since the last weekend when we first reported about the teaser that had been released by Toyota. According to Akio Toyoda, the new Toyota Camry will be launched in the United States of America this September. Toyota wanted to keep the world guessing but a person who was present at the private unveiling of the car has shot a video of the car. The video seems to have been shot with a cellphone camera.

We see three cars roll on to the stage with a red car in the center. This is probably the car seen in the teaser video posted earlier. Now, the size of the car looks pretty similar to the current generation Camry. Video does reveal the higher shoulder line of the car giving it a more muscular stance which in America is very important for a car. The tail lights resemble that on the new Honda Civic with a chrome garnish running along the length of the boot. You can also spot a subtle lip spoiler on the boot lid.

Source;
http://www.indiancarsbikes.in/auto-videos/2012-toyota-camry-private-unveiling-caught-camera-44841/

2012 Toyota Camry Teaser Video

Promises to exceed expectations

Toyota has released the first teaser video for the 2012 Camry.

While there isn't much to see, Toyota president and CEO Akio Toyoda says the model is the "best Camry ever" and will "exceed your expectations." He also promised the Camry will be a "remarkable car in terms of handling, safety and fuel economy."

Additional information is limited, but the redesigned Camry will be available this fall.

Read more: http://www.worldcarfans.com/111063034613/2012-toyota-camry-teased-video#ixzz1QxKBTDba

Source;
http://www.worldcarfans.com/111063034613/2012-toyota-camry-teased-video

Woodyscarsite Find: 2012 Toyota Camry Illustration?

Source;
http://www.woodyscarsite.com/2011/06/2012-toyota-camry.html

Report: The two 'most American' cars are Japanese

The two most American cars aren't, well, American, according to a new ranking by our friends at Cars.com. For the third straight year, Toyota Camry, a product of Japan's largest automaker, is the "most American car," as determined by Cars.com formula. Honda Accord, the flagship of Japan's second largest automaker, is second.

The highest car on Cars.com annual ranking from a Detroit Big 3 maker is General Motors' Chevrolet Malibu.

Cars.com's annual American-Made Index ranks the most-American vehicles based on percentage of their parts that are made domestically, where they are assembled and how many are sold to U.S. buyers.

Both Camry and Accord are made with 80% of their parts coming from the USA. And most are assembled in the U.S. Camrys are made in Georgetown, Ky., and Lafayette, Ind.

The Ford Explorer comes to the list, reborn as a crossover, with a higher percentage of domestic parts, 85%, than a Camry or Accord and is made in a Chicago factory. But it doesn't sell in as great a numbers as they, meaning also that it probably results in fewer American factory jobs.

"In today's global economy, there's not an easy way to determine just how American a car is," said Patrick Olsen, Cars.com editor in chief. "Most cars built in the U.S., for example, are assembled using at least some parts that come from somewhere else. Additionally, many U.S. automakers assemble vehicles in Canada and Mexico, while foreign automakers have opened plants on U.S. soil. Our index is another resource that car buyers can use to help guide their purchase decision."

Besides Camry, Toyota also has the Tundra (No. 9) and the Sienna (No. 6) on the list. GM also has three vehicles on the list -- the first time since 2009. In addition to Malibu, they are Chevy Traverse (No. 8) and the GMC Acadia (No. 10). Honda held two spots in the top 10, while Ford and Chrysler each held one.

"Despite the disaster in Japan, and General Motors usurping Toyota as the world's largest automaker, we're not surprised to see the Camry in the No. 1 position again," said Olsen. "The Camry remains an incredibly popular vehicle, and higher total sales require a higher number of U.S. factory workers and a larger number of U.S. suppliers – all of which contribute to Toyota's ranking."

Here's the list of the top 2011 model-year vehicles on Cars.com's list, and their percentage of domestic parts:

Toyota Camry: 80%.
Honda Accord: 80%.
Chevrolet Malibu: 75%.
Ford Explorer: 85%.
Honda Odyssey: 75%.
Toyota Sienna: 75%.
Jeep Wrangler: 78% for 2-door, 79% for 4-door.
Chevrolet Traverse: 75%.
Toyota Tundra: 80%.
GMC Acadia: 75%.

Source;
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/06/ranking-the-two-most-american-cars-are-from-japanese-makers/1