Toyota recalls 396,000 vehicles in N. America

Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling 396,000 vehicles in North America for a third time due to a suspension issue that could result in loss of control when driving.

The recall involves the Toyota RAV4 sport-utility vehicle from the 2006-2011 model years and the Lexus HS 250h sedan from the 2010 model year.

The latest action is the third time these vehicles have been the subject of a suspension-related recall, following ones in 2012 and 2013.

Toyota said rust can form on the suspension arm threads if the nuts for adjusting rear-wheel alignment were not tightened correctly. Continued rust damage could lead to the suspension arm separating from the vehicle and a loss of control.

==Kyodo

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Carmakers target digital-savvy, eco-conscious drivers

TOKYO -- Toyota's three-seater exoskeleton car and an electric vehicle with touch screens that turn it into a "digital space" are among the concept models that will be on display at the Tokyo Motor Show this week.

The biennial event will also focus on self-driving cars and the latest environmental technology as firms look to tap growing demand for green vehicles, seen as the next evolution in the global automotive industry.

"This year, autonomous driving will be a big trend, with the Japanese automakers really showing what they are trying to do and trying to show that they can match, if not do better, than what Silicon Valley is up to," said Hans Greimel, Asia editor for the Automotive News.

The show's 44th edition, which kicks off Wednesday and runs until November 8, will feature 160 exhibitors including global auto giants and parts suppliers from a dozen countries.

It starts a week after Honda said it would put a commercialized self-driving car on the road by 2020, challenging rivals Toyota and Nissan, which are also betting on the future of vehicles that can drive and, in some case, park themselves.

Google has been testing self-driving cars in Silicon Valley, as have US-based Tesla and General Motors, while Nissan has vowed to put an experimental automated car on Japan's highways as soon as 2016.

At the show, Nissan, a leader in electric vehicles (EV), will show off an EV concept car without knobs and buttons, replaced by tablet-style touch screens featuring controls and maps on a white instrument panel.

Music, videogames and movies can also be played on the screens.

"The car becomes a digital space when it's parked," said Nissan product planning general manager Hidemi Sasaki. "You can use it as a gaming room, movie theater... or you can chat online with your friends."

Toyota's Kikai vehicle conjures images of the Terminator films with some of a usually hidden underbelly -- including fuel tank and hoses -- exposed, giving an inside look at the car's machinery.

The automaker said its concept car shows off "the fundamental appeal of machines: their fine craftsmanship, their beauty, simplicity, and their fascinating motion."

Fuel-cell future

Toyota and Honda will also exhibit their latest fuel-cell offerings, after Toyota last year started selling the world's first mass market fuel-cell car in Japan.

Toyota is hoping to sell tens of thousands of the four-door Mirai -- which is powered by hydrogen and emits nothing but water vapor from its tailpipe -- over the next decade, as it looks to stop producing fossil-fuel based cars altogether by 2050.

Honda's rival fuel-cell features a cruising range of more than 700 kilometers, and generates electricity that could help supply power to a local community in an emergency situation, it said.

Toyota's FCV Plus similarly functions as a power source for homes and communities as the auto giant aims to turn fuel cell vehicles from "eco-cars into energy-cars," it said.

The firm's hybrid gasoline-electric offerings, including the Prius, have sold more than eight million units since their launch in 1997.

But a limited driving range and lack of refuelling stations have hampered development of fuel-cell and all-electric cars, which environmentalists say could play a vital role in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and slowing global warming.

Again this year, most US-based automakers, which have not attended the Tokyo Motor Show since before the global financial crisis, are staying away, a reflection of their puny presence in the Japanese market.

Foreign carmakers have long complained that they were effectively shut out of Japan through tariffs and other barriers, although luxury brands tend to enjoy success in the world's number three auto market after China and the United States.

Among the overseas automakers attending are BMW, Peugeot Citroen, Porsche, Jaguar and crisis-hit Volkswagen, which is embroiled in one of the biggest scandals in the history of the automobile sector.

The German auto giant has admitted it had fitted 11 million of its vehicles with software designed to cheat official checks.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

As recalls mount, Takata, Japan automakers stuck in uneasy reliance

TOKYO - Air bag manufacturer Takata Corp and Japanese carmakers including Honda Motor Co are locked in the commercial equivalent of a bad marriage; not entirely happy in each other's company but unable to break apart and wary of potentially costly court battles.

Honda on Friday unveiled a new model with an unusual sales pitch - fuel efficient, lots of cargo space and, by the way, no air bag inflators made by Takata, the Japanese supplier at the centre of a global safety crisis that has rocked both companies.

Over the past five years, recalls have ballooned to include 36 million vehicles fitted with potentially lethal Takata air bags, triggering a criminal investigation and lawsuits in the United States, and testing ties between Takata and its main customers, bankers and auto executives say.

Automakers don't normally discuss supply arrangements for components like air bags in their new models.

But in a departure that underscores an increasingly strained relationship, Sho Minekawa, Honda senior managing director, said the new Shuttle wagon sold only in Japan would use inflators from Takata's rival, Daicel Corp.

"We use very little from Takata for our domestic models and that's been the trend in recent years," Minekawa said in response to a question at the launch of the new car. "There was a time when we used a lot."

The uneasy dynamic explains why Japan's automakers have not been agitating for a shake-up or even restructuring at Takata even as they give new contracts to other suppliers.

The automakers need Takata to supply replacement parts for urgent repairs and cannot demand compensation that would endanger its ability to do so in an industry where no rival could readily take up the slack.

A court battle could risk embarrassing disclosures about the responsibility of automakers in reviewing Takata's designs or in pushing for cost cutting, a banker who has been in contact with Takata said.

"The most important thing from the perspective of the automakers is that they can ensure replacement parts are being supplied in a stable fashion," said Masaki Higurashi, deputy director of the automobile division at Japan's trade ministry who is involved in coordinating the government's monitoring of the recall crisis.

Any discussion of restructuring would have to wait until after that, he said. "After all the replacement parts are supplied, the automakers have to decide whether to let Takata stay on as it is," he said. "I think the automakers are starting to think about that."

Honda, still Takata's largest customer, recalled almost 5 million more cars last week after concluding the Takata air bags they contained were at risk of exploding in accidents. Toyota Motor Corp added another 5 million vehicles to the tally and Nissan Motor 1.5 million.

Six deaths, all in Honda vehicles, have been linked to shrapnel from defective Takata air bags. Problems with Takata air bags have also been linked to more than 100 reported injuries.

'NO CHOICE BUT TO STAY TOGETHER'

The Japanese automakers and Takata failed to agree on whether the most recent recalls were necessary based on data provided by Takata.

As a result, there is no agreement between Takata and the automakers on how to split the costs, representatives of both sides said. That will have to wait until after they have determined why Takata air bag inflators are breaking down.

Takata will not be able to go it alone. The new costs could be as much as $1 billion if all vehicles covered by the new recall were repaired and the $100-per-car estimate favored by analysts applied. By comparison, Takata's market value is a little over $1 billion.

Takata has allocated $520 million to cover recall costs. At a meeting with analysts on Thursday, CFO Yoichiro Nomura said Takata had asked automakers to allow it to pay its share of recall costs in installments, a concession that would allow it to avoid a potentially destabilizing charge, according to analysts who attended the closed-door briefing.

Takata CEO Shigehisa Takada, whose family controls some 57 percent of the auto parts maker, did not attend the meeting. Nomura told attendees the CEO was busy with quality issues.

Honda is using a Takata competitor, Toyoda Gosei, for driver's-side air bags for its new Accord sedan in North America, two people with knowledge of that move have said. Toyota is no longer among Takata's top five customers.

Even so, one purchasing manager at a Japanese automaker involved in the recalls, who asked not to be named, said the companies were forced to rely on Takata given its 20 percent plus global market share.

"We have no choice but to stay together," he said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Modular mojo: Toyota re-engineers its appeal

TOYOTA CITY - Toyota Motor is looking to cast off a reputation for making reliable, but often dull, cars in a wide-ranging review of its designs, technologies, factories and supply deals - a full makeover aimed at staying on top in a cut-throat industry.

For decades, the Japanese automaker carved out global leadership by using common parts across many of its models. This was efficient, but made for uniform styling. A one-size-fits-all layout for the engine's surrounding parts, for example, gave its cars a boxy front end.

Under its ongoing Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) initiative, the automaker will standardise vehicle engineering, such as the optimal 'hip point' seating position for different vehicles, from sedans and sports cars to SUVs and trucks. This cuts the number of air-bag variations needed and allows air-bag modules to be installed from just one side of the assembly line rather than both, making plants more efficient.

Redesigning cars from the ground up, Toyota plans to lower the hood, or bonnet, and centre of gravity for better styling and handling. The new vehicle platforms, to feature more fuel efficient engines and rigid, lightweight frames, will be rolled out in stages starting with a medium-sized car this year, widely expected to be the fourth-generation Prius hybrid.

The savings from this overhaul - to be at least a fifth of Toyota's development costs - would be used to add or tailor other high-tech features, such as auto-braking, to suit different markets.

This approach is not new. Volkswagen, Toyota's rival for the title of the world's biggest automaker, has already rolled out its Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) in more than a fifth of its vehicles.

In a progress report on Thursday, Executive Vice President Mitsuhisa Kato, the architect of the TNGA outline, said Toyota expects about half of its vehicles in 2020 to feature TNGA platforms.

TNGA reflects the changing nature of the global auto industry. As rivals close the gap on quality and fuel economy, styling and cutting-edge features have become the key battleground. More car for the same price.

"TNGA is not just a more cost-effective way of designing the automobile" to play catch-up with Volkswagen and others, said a senior Toyota executive, who didn't want to be named because he is not authorised to speak to reporters. "It changes fundamentally the way we design and procure technologies and manufacture final finished products using those technologies."

MODULAR DESIGN
Since taking the helm in 2009, Akio Toyoda has sought to steer the company founded by his grandfather back to making more appealing cars instead of what he called reliable but unexciting products that fuelled Toyota's rise in the last century.

"Other automakers would design parts to accommodate exterior styling," said Satoshi Hino, a former Mazda Motor engineer and consultant specialising in modular architecture. "Having fewer parts was important in the 20th century because it helped secure quality. But in the 21st century, you have to make unique, attractive cars while still trying to limit new parts. Modular design allows that, and it's what TNGA is after."

With modular design, pioneered by Volkswagen's Swedish truck unit Scania decades ago, standardised units, such as a cockpit module, can be used across several models and be built flexibly into subtle variations to suit different markets. That allows for a simpler, slimmer manufacturing process - and factory savings.

With TNGA, Toyota aims to halve the investment required to retool factories for new models compared with pre-financial crisis levels in 2008, while slashing investment on new factories by about 40 percent, the company said on Thursday.


TNGA will also bring profound changes for Toyota's group suppliers.

Traditionally, Toyota's suppliers were forced to design parts to meet specifications that were optimal for individual car models - even where other automakers employed globally compatible standards.

TNGA will change that, with Toyota using global standards for certain parts - a move that would weed out weaker suppliers while landing more business for others.

Kato said this would allow Toyota's group suppliers to sell the parts to other automakers, boosting their competitiveness and benefiting Toyota.

To that end, Toyota said in November it would consolidate the development and production of diesel engines, manual transmissions and brakes at three group suppliers, helping top-tier firms such as Denso and Aisin Seiki focus on cutting-edge technologies and compete with global rivals such as Bosch and Continental.

For the first time, Toyota will also add an official from both Denso and Aisin Seiki to its executive line-up next month.

Ultimately, the test for TNGA will be whether the new generation of Toyota cars appeals to buyers.

"Competition will be even fiercer as demand in developed markets saturates and consumers become more selective in developing countries," said Satomi Hamada, senior analyst at consultancy IHS Automotive.

"Toyota needs to boost its product appeal, and quickly, to avoid losing market share." (Additional reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu and Kevin Krolicki; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Toyota Lexus to recall some 2006-2011 models

DETROIT - Toyota Motor Corp will recall 422,509 of its luxury brand Lexus vehicles in the United States because of a possible fuel leak that increases the risk of fire, U.S. regulators said on Friday.

The recall covers Lexus LS from model years 2007 to 2010, Lexus GS from 2006 to 2011 and Lexus IS from 2006 to 2011.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said fuel might leak where the fuel pressure sensor is attached to the fuel delivery pipe. If a spark occurs, fire could start.

Toyota told the NHTSA that it was not aware of any fires or injuries caused by this condition.

Beginning next month, Toyota is to notify owners of various versions of the three models affected and tell them to bring their vehicles into dealerships for repair.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Which car company is a top PH taxpayer?

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has released a list of top car manufacturers, importers and distributors and the corresponding 2012 income tax dues of these companies to determine if they have been paying the right taxes.

In its latest Tax Watch ad, BIR revealed that Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. and its luxury vehicle arm Lexus Manila Inc. sold the most units and at same time paid the most taxes in 2012.

Toyota and Lexus sold 65,396 units and paid a total of P1.37 billion in income taxes.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp., which sold 34,915 units, is the second top taxpayer among car brands with P455.29 million taxes paid in 2012.

Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. sold the third most units at 21,996 and paid P234.61 million in taxes.

Honda Cars Philippines came in fourth in units sold, but only paid P25.115 million in taxes. Honda was the only car company listed in the top 5 in sales but failed to make it in the top 5 in taxes paid.

Isuzu Philippines Corp. paid more taxes than Honda at P100.31 million despite selling fewer units at 11,759.

The BIR said the list of top brands based on sales was posted on the website of Top Gear Philippines.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Eiji Toyoda, who helped steer Toyota's rise, dies at 100

TOKYO - Eiji Toyoda, who helped steer Toyota Motor Corp's global rise and pioneered the automaker's vaunted production system, died on Tuesday, the Japanese automaker said. He was 100.

Toyoda, cousin of the automaker's founder, died of heart failure in Toyota City, the company said in a statement.

A taciturn engineer, Toyoda served as president between 1967 and 1982. He was chairman until 1994 and remained an honorary advisor at Toyota up until the time of his death.

Over his career, Toyoda presided over Toyota's rise in the U.S. market from the launch of the Corolla in the late 1960s to the decision to begin making cars in the United States in the late 1980s.

Toyoda was also instrumental in developing what became the automaker's much-imitated method of producing cars with as little waste as possible and continual quality improvements, a system that became known as the "Toyota Way".

In 1950, company founder Kiichiro Toyoda sent Eiji, a graduate of the University of Tokyo, to Ford Motor Co's massive Rouge Plant to learn about car making from the company that had pioneered mass production.

In a story that is still shared at Toyota training sessions, Toyoda returned to Japan impressed with U.S. materials and machinery but convinced that he could make improvements to Ford's world-famous production system.

"Japan's automobile industry facilities and engineers are good but our machine tools are inferior. If we can solve this problem, we can manufacture good and economic vehicles that are equal to America's," Toyoda wrote after his month and a half of training at Ford's major factories.

At the time of his death, Toyoda was being treated at a hospital the company had first founded as a clinic for its factory workers in 1938.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Toyota still world's top car seller

TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday its group auto sales totaled 4.91 million units in the first half of 2013, making it the world's top car seller in the period for the second straight year.

Although sales volume dipped 1.2 percent from a year earlier in the January-June period, Toyota clung to the top spot thanks to robust performance in North America.

Toyota was followed by General Motors Co. of the United States with 4.85 million units, up 3.9 percent. Germany's Volkswagen AG came third with 4.7 million units, up 5.6 percent.

While Toyota's sales overseas gained 2.4 percent to a record 3.74 million units, its domestic sales were down 11.3 percent at 1.17 million units affected by the termination last September of the government subsidy program for the purchase of environmentally friendly vehicles.

It is uncertain whether Toyota will be able to retain the top spot for the full year given slowing domestic sales and the performance of its international rivals in overseas markets.

In the North American market, Toyota's sales grew 5.4 percent to 1.21 million units as models such as the luxury sedan Avalon sold well, but the figure fell short of GM, which sold 1.64 million units, up 7.7 percent.

In China, the world's biggest auto market, Toyota's sales dropped 5.8 percent to 417,000 units on the adverse affect of the Japan-China territorial row over the islands in the East China Sea and ensuing boycott of Japanese products since last year -- in contrast with GM and Volkswagen, which performed better than a year earlier.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Toyota to recall 7.4 million vehicles

TOKYO - Japan's Toyota Motor Corp announced a massive recall on Wednesday to fix malfunctioning power window switches, saying it will pull back 7.43 million vehicles worldwide in the biggest single recall since 1996, performed by Ford Motor Co.

The move comes as Japan's biggest automaker tries to rebuild trust after a series of recalls between 2009 and 2011 in which it pulled back around 10 million vehicles, and as it struggles with plummeting Chinese sales as a result of a Sino-Japanese territorial dispute.

The recall primarily affects cars in the United States, China and Europe. Toyota's main rivals in the U.S. include Ford and General Motors Co, while in China they include Volkswagen AG, Hyundai Motor Co  and Nissan Motor Co Ltd, and in Europe Hyundai and Nissan.

The recall will include some Yaris and Corolla models on which the power window switches can be repaired in about 40 minutes, the company said.

"The process to repair (the power window switch) is not an extensive one," spokeswoman Monika Saito said, adding that it would involve putting heat-resistant lubricant on the switches, or exchanging them.

Toyota declined to disclose how much the recall would cost, or how it might affect its earnings.

The recall will include 2.47 million vehicles in the United States, as well as 1.40 million vehicles in China and 1.39 million vehicles in Europe.

In Japan, Toyota is recalling about 459,300 vehicles, including the Vitz, produced between 2006 and 2008.

The firm is also recalling 650,000 vehicles in Australia and Asia, 490,000 vehicles in the Near and Middle East, 240,000 vehicles in Canada and 330,000 vehicles elsewhere, said Shino Yamada, another spokeswoman for Toyota.

The vehicles recalled outside Japan include certain models of the Yaris, Vios, Corolla, Matrix, Auris, Camry, RAV4, Highlander, Tundra, Sequoia, xB and xD produced between 2005 and 2010.

The first time the problem was reported was in September 2008 in the United States, Saito said.

No accidents, injuries or deaths have been reported as a result of the problem, though there is a possibility that the malfunctioning switches could emit smoke, she said.

The move comes a day after Toyota reported that its sales fell 48.9 percent year-on-year in China in September. Japanese car brands have suffered as a result of an outbreak of anti-Japan sentiment in China in response to a territorial dispute between the two countries.

In 1996, Ford pulled back 8 million vehicles to replace defective ignition switches that could have caused engine fires.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Toyota to post Y350 bil profit

TOKYO — Toyota Motor will post a full-year operating profit of 350 billion yen, nearly 30% above forecast, when it announces its earning results next week, according to a report.

The Nikkei business daily said the projected operating profit in the year to March 31, will surpass the 270 billion yen estimate it gave in February, thanks to strong sales and a weakening yen in recent months.

The firm would also target operating profit to surge to around 800-900 billion yen for the current fiscal year, which would mark a more than doubling on the year, the daily said.

Despite the huge jump, the fiscal 2011 figure would still mark a drop of 25% year-on-year as Toyota cut production in the wake of a massive earthquake and tsunami disaster at home and heavy flooding in Thailand.

The effect of the natural disasters wore off mostly by the end of last year, enabling Toyota to increase output from January, the Nikkei noted.

Domestic eco-car subsidies helped to spur sales of its hybrid vehicles while results were solid in North America as well as in emerging markets, it said.

The yen, which hit a record high against the dollar last year, began to weaken in February and March, helping to mitigate an erosion in export profitability, according to the Nikkei.

The report did not mention possible net profit figures.

Toyota is to announce its earnings reuslts on May 9.

source: japantoday.com