Toyota Motor Co., the world’s largest automaker, has been producing cars for more than 70 years. It wasn’t until after World War II, however, that production started to pick up. Toyota went from making 8,500 cars a year in 1955 to 600,000 in 1965. Models like the Toyopet and Land Cruiser hit the United States in 1957. Today Toyota is among the leaders when it comes to hybrid technology.
Toyota sold more than 3 million hybrids so far and thinks that they are slowly having an impact.
In August 1997, Toyota rolled out their “Coaster Hybrid EV” bus, followed by the Prius in December of the same year. 300 vehicles were sold in the first year. In 2010, Toyota sold 16 hybrid models in approximately 80 countries. Last year, Toyota moved 690,000 hybrids worldwide, 9 percent of Toyota’s worldwide output (ex Daihatsu and Hino). The 3 million mark was broken some time in February this year. Read More >
While searching Internet I saw your replies on Toyota Corolla. I too have few problems with Toyota Corolla 2007 model purchased in India, it has 37,000 Km on the odometer. The vehicle is serviced regularly every 10,000 km. The problems are:
1. Engine growling noise steadily increases with the RPM beyond 3,000 and this happens on all gears. What could be the reason?
2. One of the rear shock absorber was leaking and the dealer replaced just the faulty one (under warranty, car had done 27,000 km) and after that I feel the ride quality is poor. Do you think changing only one shock can cause this?
I have taken it to the dealer but their response is vague like (a) sound insulation from engine area must have become weak (b) change tires because side walls have a crack.
Gas prices are getting into the area where they affect consumers’ buying decisions. According to a new Kelley Blue Book study, more than 80 percent of car shoppers say that gas prices have influenced their buying decisions. 58 percent already have downgraded. But what about switching to diesel or hybrid instead? Be careful when you do that, says Edmunds: Choosing a green alternative can cost you a lot of green. Read More >
The Chinese passenger car market did something highly unusual in February: It declined. If the data of the usually not highly reliable China Passenger Car Association is to be believed, that is. They e-mailed to Automotive News [sub] that February 2011 passenger car sales were a minuscule 0.4 percent below February 2010 levels. Read More >
Here we go again. For your perusal pleasure, you’ll find below JATO Dynamics Brazil survey of the biggest car brands in the world’s largest markets in 2010 (as reported by Brazilian car business site automotivebusiness.com.br). Mind you, we’re talking brands here. We are NOT talking manufacturer groups. So Nissan is definitely separated from Renault, Fiat’s numbers do not include Chrysler, nor does Chevrolet include Cadillac or for that matter Wuling. It’s a little different from OICA’s list. And, to me at least, very interesting. I believe this list reflects better how consumers view the individual brands. Read More >
When Toyota became the world’s largest auto manufacturer in 2008, they reluctantly accepted the title. Toyota knew that the title was not won by Toyota’s strength, but by GM’s weakness. Toyota also was highly aware that the guy in front is everybody’s target. Their worst fears became reality sooner than they thought. Now, in an unusual departure from the usual Wolfsburg hubris, Volkswagen also realizes that too much success can make punch-drunk and lead to stupid or deadly mistakes. Read More >
The Nikkei [sub] agrees and says that “Toyota Motor Corp. is overhauling its strategy because it is now clear that emerging nations will replace industrialized ones as its most important markets.” Will replace? Wake up! Read More >
As Ed asked just a couple of days ago, has the industry learned the lessons of 2008? What lessons are we talking about? In American GM’s case, Prez Dan Akerson himself said they hadn’t learned many. GM do Brazil though seems to be even more clueless. Read More >
Take that, China. Japanese ingenuity has devised a way around the rare earth stranglehold the wicked Chinese use to stall worldwide progress of electric vehicles. A team of researchers from Japan’s Toda Kogyo and Tohoku University succeeded in making a magnetic material without rare-earth metals, The Nikkei [sub] says. Read More >
Yes, Lotus certainly made a “splash” in 2010, but to say that the brand’s abrupt metamorphosis was universally applauded would be a severe overstatement. For one thing, the move away from Lotus’s light-weight, low-volume philosophy brought howls from the Chapmaniacs. For another, launching five cars at once may be good for publicity, but it’s not great for ones credibility. Especially when your CEO is something of a supercilious jerk, and even your “advisor” only gives you 60-40 odds. And now that Mama Proton is starting to take a hit as Lotus builds up to reinvent the luxury sportscar (complete with its own engines), you have to imagine that at least a few of the Malaysian money men are wondering if they bit off more than their former Ferrari exec CEO can chew. But at this point there’s nothing to do but burn cash, build cars and hope Porsche and Ferrari fall off a cliff.
After having covered Argentina, if you thought I would lazily go down the alphabet to finish on Zimbabwe you were WRONG! I like surprises, as I’m sure you do too, so given Libya is at the center of world news at the moment, why not have a look at the cars that sell best in that country – as long as it’s still there. Read More >
Thanks in part to the help of people from TTAC, TrueDelta received a record number of responses to January’s Car Reliability Survey—over 21,000. Updated car reliability stats have been posted to the site for 534 cars, up from 488 three month ago. There are partial results for another 378. These stats include car owner experiences through the end of December 2010, making them at least eight months ahead of other sources.
Remember the phrase “jobless recovery”? Well, the auto industry is having something of a “price dropping recovery.” The headline for February auto sales may have been “the buyers are back,” but beneath the big volume boosts there’s trouble a-brewing. According to TrueCar’s transaction price forecast (above), Hyundai CEO John Krafcik was right to warn of an industry price war, as the industry has lost .3% of its average transaction price during the last year of recovery. Over the last year, Honda, Kia, Toyota and GM have all seen declines in average transaction prices, led by GM’s staggering two percent drop. And falling transaction prices are just the beginning: as we explore after the jump, incentives are also remaining high, and yet another volume-boosting technique is enjoying a boom as the industry once again starts to redline its sales.
Wondering why CR picked the cars it did for its recent “Top Picks”? Are you curious where it got reliability data for brand new cars like the new Elantra? Do you wonder how a “classic” like the Avalanche won top pick for trucks? Get the truth from the horses mouth, by checking out CR’s VYou page, where you can submit your burning questions and receive video responses. Accountability, here we come!
The problem is: The Chinese car market doesn’t seem to be able to read. It just doesn’t want to roll over. It had its big chance last month. China had been closed most of February in observance of the Chinese New Year. Most observers (including myself) had expected minus signs in front of the growth number for February.
First sales numbers are coming if for February, and there are good news and bad news. Read More >
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