All Entries in the "Auto News" Category
Japan Earthquake Will Hurt Toyota Sales, Effect U.S. Automakers Too
Update 3-16-2011: Toyota has announced that they will be closing all vehicle production plants in Japan through at least March 22nd, but that replacement parts manufacturer will resume tomorrow. Toyota has also said that they will resume building component parts for production outside Japan by March 21st.
The knee-jerk analysis here is that Toyota has the ability to ship parts at this time but not cars. Mazda’s facilities, for example, are mostly in southern Japan and have not been affected as dramatically as some Toyota facilities. It’s safe to assume that Toyota has the means to begin shipping parts via some alternative ports as soon as possible. However, shipping cars may be another story.
We’ll stay up to date.
—original story starts—
A Saturday Toyota press release reported that almost all of Toyota’s Japan operations have been unaffected by the recent earthquake. However, as a result of the massive disruption to the people of Japan, Toyota will be suspending all plant operations through at least Monday the 14th. Toyota’s press release also noted that (thankfully) there do not seem to be any casualties to Toyota team members – only it must be noted that accurate casualty estimates are still forthcoming.
Toyota’s press release did note, however, that a small number of plants will likely be unable to resume activities immediately and may be out of commission for a few days, weeks, or possibly even longer. These plant shutdowns will have a fairly large effect on Yaris sales according to our sources, as well as most Toyota vehicles exported from Japan (that means Prius, some Corolla, Scion, and almost all of Lexus). Automotive News is reporting that Japanese port closures could effect worldwide auto industry production – even Ford, GM, and Chrysler-Fiat.
Takata Airbelt – Cool Technology, But Is It Cost Effective?
Airbag design has progressed a long way since the early 1990’s, when dash-mounted units were the only secondary restraint systems available. In the intervening two decades forward airbags have gained multi-stage capability and a host of new airbag location points have sprung up in vehicle passenger compartments. It is no longer uncommon for airbags to be found attached to the side of seats or nestled inside A-pillars in order to protect heads and torsos from side impacts.
The Takata Airbelt in Action
The latest development in airbag design has been unveiled by the Takata Corporation, a Japanese safety systems manufacturer. Called the Takata “Airbelt,” the new protective device is essentially what it sounds like – an inflatable seatbelt that takes the place of traditional automobile seat belts.
Libyan Police Use Toyota Tundras
It might not be the most flattering endorsement of a Toyota product, but here it is: a New York Times article features an image of riot police rolling down the street in armored blue Toyota Tundras.
New York Times photographers captured these Libyan police using Toyota Tundras - click the image to see the original story
The question is, who sold the Libyans these trucks? The only thing worse than a North African dictator using a made-in-the-USA pickup to crush rebellion is using a made-in-the-USA pickup that was potentially sold by a US police vehicle upfitting business.
Ford Weaseling Out Of Full F-150 Airbag Recall
A little more than a year ago I noted that Ford F150’s had a mysterious exploding airbag problem, reporting that NHTSA was investigating F150 airbag complaints. In that article I predicted that Ford would likely need to recall some trucks, as their own internal documents indicated airbags were spontaneously exploding due to an electrical short. From Jan, 2010:
In light of Toyota’s recent recall problems, Ford would be wise to get ahead of this thing as quickly as possible…The F150 is Ford’s most popular vehicle, and they can ill-afford to have consumers question the truck’s safety… Hopefully, Ford will manage this issue better than Toyota
Today Ford announced that they would be recalling F-150s to fix this problem, but reportedly Ford will only recall 150,000 trucks rather than the approximate 1.5 million that NHTSA has requested. Ford argues that the only trucks effected by this airbag problem were built at the Norfolk, VA plant, yet NHTSA investigators have found evidence of spontaneously exploding airbags on F150s made at other plants (link).
In March of 2010, Toyota came under heavy fire when records showed that Toyota executives attempted to “negotiate” their way out of a NHTSA floormat recall to save money. Today, Ford seems to be doing something similar: Rather than replacing airbag assemblies on 1.5 million trucks as suggested by NHTSA, Ford is only going to replace 10% of the assemblies.
Evidently, 90% of 2004-2006 F150 owners who may be driving around with a spontaneously exploding airbag aren’t important to Ford.
US Top Gear Host Drives A Tundra
Rutledge Wood, host of the History channel’s Top Gear USA television show, is a proud Tundra owner. According to TruckTrend.com, Rutledge rates his Tundra pretty highly:
“[The Tundra CrewMax is] a great truck; it’s plenty big enough,” he says. “We have two kids, so I definitely have to have something that holds the whole family…Rutledge used to rate the [Tundra} a 10, but that’s changed now that he has his eyes on the new Ford Raptor. The Tundra now gets an 8. “The Raptor is just the most insane truck I’ve ever seen,” he says. “I really want one. I have to talk my wife into it, though. There’s never been a truck from the factory that’s been really good off-road.”
How’s that for a celebrity endorsement? Aside from the Raptor – which is definitely a cool pickup – Wood says the Tundra is a perfect 10.
If you don’t know much about Wood or don’t care what he drives, consider this:
