Mr. Burlapp Find: 2012/2013 Toyota Corolla?

Not sure what to think here, but it does look more aggressive than the existing Corolla. Just an illustration so far....

Source;
http://www.burlappcars.com/2009/10/201213-toyota-corolla.html

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Toyota Says Company Is ‘Grasping for Salvation’

I dont' like to put articles that point out Honda competitor negative issues, but I thought that this was too big not to post.
Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest automaker, is “grasping for salvation” as it predicts a second straight annual loss, President Akio Toyoda said.

“We have to listen to our customers and make better cars,” Toyoda said in a speech to journalists in Tokyo today. The 53-year-old grandson of Toyota’s founder became president of the Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker in June.

The automaker is one step away from “capitulation to irrelevance or death,” Toyoda said, citing a study of how companies fail. Toyota has forecast a record loss of 450 billion yen ($5 billion) in the year ending March after the worldwide recession pummeled car demand.

The company has gone through the phases of “hubris born of success,” “undisciplined pursuit of more” and “denial of risk and peril,” according to Toyoda, who cited Jim Collins, the author of “How the Mighty Fail.”

The company will sell about 7.3 million vehicles this year, Toyoda said, compared with 8.97 million in 2008. Toyota’s sales plunged 28 percent in the first nine months of this year in the U.S., traditionally its most profitable market.

“Business fell off a cliff,” said Paul Heaton, who manages $500 million in Japanese equities at Pyrford International Ltd. in London. “This has really shaken Toyota.”

Yen at ‘Severe Level’

The yen’s 7.4 percent gain against the dollar in the third quarter also eroded earnings from exports.

“The yen is at a very severe level, and just increasing sales won’t make Toyota profitable,” Toyoda said today.

A U.S. lawsuit and the company’s biggest recall in the nation have added to Toyota’s woes.
The carmaker said this week it plans a recall involving 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles because of a defect that may cause floor mats to jam down the accelerator pedal.

Last month, Toyota’s request to seal a U.S. lawsuit by a former in-house attorney, who claims the carmaker destroyed crash data, was denied by a judge who said the suit was already “irreversibly” public. Bloomberg L.P., the parent of Bloomberg News, filed an ex parte request in the case asking that it not be sealed.

Toyoda said the 72-year old company, established by his grandfather Kiichiro Toyoda, will “need to groom young people to be making cars for the next 100 years.”

“The salvation for the company isn’t me,” he said. (whoa!?!)

Toyota shares fell 3.7 percent to 3,380 yen in Tokyo trading, compared with a 2.4 percent decline in the Topix index.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kae Inoue in Tokyo at kinoue@bloomberg.net; Yuki Hagiwara in Tokyo at yhagiwara1@bloomberg.net

Source;
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEQlm.ImGVUA

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Honda Develops Material That May Improve Batteries, Electronics

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co. said its U.S. research unit developed a carbon-nanotube process that may lead to cheaper, smaller and more-efficient batteries, electronics and solar panels.

The process produces tubes that are 1/100,000 the width of a human hair and may conduct electricity faster with less energy loss than current materials, Honda said in a statement today. Details of the research by the company’s Columbus, Ohio lab, aided by scientists at Purdue University and the University of Louisville, appear in the Oct. 2 issue of Science magazine.

The tubes are grown on the surface of microscopic metal particles, creating a material stronger than steel that conducts electricity better than copper and is as light as cotton, Honda said. Applying the research to electronics will take at least three years, Hideaki Tsuru, the project’s director at Honda Research Institute USA, said in an interview.

“Going to large-scale production is still a big challenge,” he said. “We put our eyes mostly on controlling the structure.”

Honda is Japan’s second-largest carmaker and the world’s biggest producer of motorcycles and engines. The Tokyo-based company for decades has invested in research beyond its main transportation-related businesses.

That has led to a solar-panel company in Japan; a U.S. unit to build small business jets; development of a small, humanlike robot; bio-fuel research; and home-based systems to produce hydrogen fuel and electricity from natural gas.

Honda’s U.S. headquarters is in Torrance, California.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net

Source;

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aHRGEXfBAU7o

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Honda EV-N Concept changes at Night

Source;
http://jalopnik.com/5371021/honda-ev+n-concept-adorable-by-day-frightful-by-night

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Euro Honda Civic Mugen Type R Pricing Revealed

That's a nice looking car....
TDI plc launches full Mugen aftermarket product range for Honda Civic Type R FN2; Visual enhancements first release

Principal Mugen stockist and leading Japanese tuning house Torque Developments International Plc is pleased to announce that the full range of Honda Civic Type R FN2 upgrades are now available for the performance aftermarket.

Covering engine, chassis, braking and visual enhancements, the Mugen Civic Type R FN2 product range has been subject OEM style levels of arduous design, testing and quality control tests, ensuring that the Mugen FN2 product portfolio offers enthusiasts the ultimate in performance and reliability.

First launch from the Mugen range are FN2 the front and visual enhancements seen adorning the critically acclaimed Civic Type R Mugen concept. Lightweight, high quality and distinctive, the Mugen FN2 body styling provides a unique look, designed for the Honda connoisseur.

Mugen’s FN2 Honda Civic Type R visual enhancements include:

Front aero bumper – Part no: 62511-XLR-K0S0 – RRP £1150.60 – This incorporates large brake duct intakes, an aerodynamically shaped profile and a smooth undertray to decrease wind resistance while improving high speed stability.
Air intake garnish – Part no: 71140-XLR-K0S0 – RRP £234.38 – These triangular trims are installed into the front of the Mugen aero bumper to provide additional air channelling and improved visual appeal.
Front Sports grille – Part no: 75100-XLR-K0S0 – RRP £372.88 – A signature Mugen visual styling enhancement, the Sports grille combines great looks with a wind resistance reducing design.
Front Aero Fenders (pair) – Part no: 60200-XLR-K0S0 – RRP £852.29 – An aggressive frontal profile and rear hot air outlet help reduce underbonnet and front brake temperatures. A unique Mugen design in high strength, lightweight FRP.
Aero bonnet – Part no: 60100-XLR-K0S0 – RRP £1257.14 – Designed to perform, the Mugen Honda Civic Type R FN2 aero bonnet is equipped with large, functioning air outlets with a detachable air outlet inner cover. When open, the apertures allow more cool air through the engine bay, helping to lower underbonnet temperatures. Produced in high quality, weight saving FRP.
Rear Bumper – Part no: 84111-XLR-K0S0 – RRP £1044.07 – Muscular looks combine with the Type R’s twin exhaust outlets to create a distinctive rear look.
Rear Wing – Part no: 84112-XLR-K0S0 – RRP £1150.60 – Unmistakably Mugen, the FN2 Civic Type R rear wing provides a stunning look for Honda’s hottest hatchback. Adjustable in two places to suit driving conditions, the Mugen rear wing is made from ABS plastic, with an FRP base. Installation requires the removal of the original factory Civic Type R rear wing.

Source (via Autospies);
http://click2cars.com/2009/09/mugen-honda-civic-type-r-pricing-announced/

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2009 Tokyo Auto Show Preview: 'Near Production' Ready Honda CR-Z

One of the most highly-anticipated new model releases scheduled to debut at next month's Tokyo Motor Show would have to be the production version of Honda's CR-Z hybrid hatchback. That's not happening. Instead, we're getting a concept version of the production car. First unveiled at the Tokyo show back in 2007 in pure concept form, the sporty two-passenger CR-Z is slated for production early next year in Japan. We expect the CR-Z to hit the States sometime thereafter.

Underhood will be a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine mated to Honda's proprietary Integrated Motor Assist technology. Also on the menu will be a six-speed manual (yes!) gearbox that will surely be a more entertaining partner for driving enthusiasts than the CVT used in the Insight hatchback.

While Honda is still calling the Tokyo-bound 2009 version of the CR-Z a concept, it's clearly one of those concept-in-name-only deals. Don't expect the attractive sheetmetal to be altered before the car hits the showroom floor, and that interior is pretty much the same one you'll be able to sample in 2010. That's fine by us – the car's wedge-shaped lines are very attractive and call to mind the seminal CRX from the early 1980s, though with a modern flavor reminiscent of the current Insight.

Source;
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/30/tokyo-preview-near-production-honda-cr-z-concept-unveiled/

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End of the road for Saturn as Penske walks away

Deal to save brand falls apart after auto retailer fails to find another car maker to manufacture vehicles once GM stops production.

General Motors Co. (GM-N0.75----%) is killing off its Saturn brand, ending a two-decade-old experiment that involved GM using “a different kind of company” to fight off competition from Japan-based auto makers.

Saturn Corp., the brainchild of GM chairman Roger Smith during the 1980s, was set to be sold to Penske Automotive Group Inc., (PAG-N19.18----%) but Penske walked away from the deal Wednesday.

“Today's disappointing news comes at a time when we'd hoped for a successful launch of the Saturn brand into a new chapter,” GM president Fritz Henderson said in a statement.

The deal fell apart because Penske was unable to find another auto maker to manufacture Saturn models after GM stops manufacturing them early next decade.

“Penske Automotive Group negotiated the terms and conditions of an agreement with another manufacturer, however that agreement was rejected by that manufacturer's board of directors,” Penske said in a statement late Wednesday. “Without that agreement, the company has determined that the risks and uncertainties related to the availability of future products prohibit the company from moving forward with this transaction.”

Penske, which is a major U.S. auto retailer and is the U.S. distributor of Mercedes-Benz's smart brand, had planned to take over Saturn's dealership and distribution network in the United States.

GM announced earlier this year that it would abandon the manufacturing and sale of Saturn vehicles as part of a major reduction in its brand portfolio.

It said it was closing Pontiac and seeking buyers for Saturn, Hummer and Saab. Saab and Hummer have been sold, although the deal to sell Hummer to a Chinese industrial company has not closed yet.

Saturn dealers in Canada, which were not part of the Penske deal, have been closing during the past few months.

The brand did little to stem the tide of market share losses that contributed to tens of billions of dollars in financial losses at GM this decade and its ultimate descent earlier this year into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the credit crisis.

The first Saturn rolled off the assembly line in 1990. Sales peaked in 1994 at 286,000 cars annually and were in the 250,000 range for much of this decade.

“It's a national tragedy,” said David Aaker, a professor at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. In his book Building Strong Brands , Prof. Aaker discussed what made the Saturn brand so strong in the beginning. “It was the only organization in the U.S. that really had a quality culture to it,” he said. “A group of people committed to designing and building a quality car. It was unlike anything else any American car [maker] had done.”

Saturn's clustered dealer network allowed for a no-haggle, fixed pricing program, Prof. Aaker said. Since adjacent dealers weren't competing on price, they were able to deliver low-pressure sales tactics and focus on cultivating relationships with customers.

“The result was, they created an incredibly loyal customer base,” Prof. Aaker said. “It was like Harley-Davidson level loyalty, for a car that really didn't look all that different.”

A hundred people started the organization under the slogan, “A different kind of company,” separating themselves from GM and losing job security in the process, Prof. Aaker said. “The culture there was just so strong, and they were blessed with some really fine leaders at the beginning, which was indispensable.”

Consumer pride was also important to the brand.

“But then [GM] made the decision not to invest in the car for 10 years,” he said, and from that point on, it was just a matter of time before the brand was phased out.

The loss of Saturn is a blow to a loyal group attracted to the company's no-pressure sales approach and solid customer service. Gwen Wolansky, an Edmonton resident, bought her Saturn last year after negotiating with other companies.

“I found the Saturn dealer much more relaxing to deal with,” Ms. Wolansky said, adding it was the best deal financially and her cousin and friends spoke well of their Saturns. “No one's said anything bad about them.”

When Ms. Wolansky posted her concerns about paint chipping on a customer forum, she was surprised to hear directly from the company, which provided a contact to help with the paint issue. With the failure of Saturn, she's worried the problem might not get addressed.

“Now there's no incentive for them to keep you as a customer, so who knows,” she said.

Source;
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/end-of-the-road-for-saturn-as-penske-walks-away/article1307636/

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