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A Toyota Motor signage at a showroom in Tokyo. — Reuters pic

Toyota shares fell 2.1 per cent to 3,485 yen in morning trade in Tokyo. They have lost 15 per cent in the last five days.

“Toyota’s stock might fall further until the impact on earnings and profits from the recall becomes clear,” said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief equity marketing officer at Tokai Tokyo Securities.

US Congressional investigators are seeking e-mails and other documents from Toyota and US safety regulators about the automaker’s recall.

It would be the first congressional review of its kind since the same committee investigated defective Firestone tyres linked to deadly Ford Motor Co rollovers in 2001.

Yesterday, Toyota said it would extend its safety recall of its most popular cars to Europe and China.

The scale of the fix for the Toyota accelerator pedals has emboldened rivals and could land the Japanese carmaker with hundreds of millions of dollars in extra costs per month. — Reuters

TOKYO, Jan 29 – Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp, revered in the industry for making reliable quality cars, is caught in a mass recall debacle that has spread from North America to Europe and China.

Toyota may have to recall close to 8 million vehicles worldwide for two separate issues relating to floor mats and sticky accelerator pedals, both with the potential to cause unintended acceleration.

Below are scenarios for how the issue could play out, and the business implications for Toyota.

(RELATIVELY) QUICK FIX

Toyota gets clearance from US safety authorities for a proposed remedy: shipping a “spacer” or “shim” to its US dealers – parts that would increase tension in the accelerator and help prevent it from sticking.

Alternatively, or parallel to that, CTS Corp, the supplier of the accelerator pedals, promptly ships out a redesigned pedal allowing Toyota to limit – to just a week – a planned production halt of eight models across North America.

A sales suspension would also be lifted relatively quickly, limiting the damage to Toyota’s sales and bottom line.

But even here, Toyota could incur warranty costs of around $230 million in the US alone, based on an estimated cost of below $100 for the shim or spacer fix, times 2.3 million vehicles.

Other costs would include repairs related to the floormats, financial support for dealers and increased sales incentives, plus the potential for costly lawsuits from car owners.

RECALL CASE DRAGS ON

Toyota struggles to get swift regulatory clearance and the recall turns into a full-blown political issue in the United States.

Congressional investigators are already seeking documents on the matter, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee plans a hearing on the matter on Feb 25.

Meanwhile, Toyota continues to suspend sales and/or production of the designated models, which made up more than half its US sales last year.

Consumer sentiment turns against Toyota, hurting sales of its other models, and shifting buyers into the showrooms of rivals such as Honda Motor Co, Hyundai Motor Co and Ford Motor Co. Resale values of Toyota cars fall, indirectly hitting future sales.

RECALL CASE SETTLES, BUT DAMAGE CONTINUES

Solutions are put in place for repairs and recalls, but the damage to Toyota’s brand image and reputation is done.

Consumers begin to shun the Toyota brand – Toyota is No.1 in selling cars to retail customers in the United States – chipping away at market share.

Earnings also suffer. The United States is Toyota’s biggest market, both in terms of volume and profit. Toyota has said it expects to sell about 2 million vehicles in the US this year – about 27 per cent of its total sales – but that was before it expanded the recall and stopped sales of several models this week. – Reuters

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 29 – Honda Motors has recalled all 2002-2008 year model Jazz units in South Africa after a fire broke out in one last year, killing a toddler.

Honda said on its website www.honda.co.za it would "inspect and modify driver door power-window switches that may, in some cases, short-circuit as a result of water intrusion".

Vanilla Nurse was killed on her second birthday in Cape Town in September last year when the car she was sleeping in caught fire.

Honda’s Jazz was its best-selling model in December, selling 352 units during the month.

Earlier this week, Toyota Motor Corp's announced it would extend to Europe and China a recall of millions of vehicles due to faulty accelerator pedals and floor mats. – Reuters

UPDATED

WASHINGTON, Jan 31 US safety regulators are satisfied with a Toyota Motor Corp. plan for fixing a sudden acceleration problem that is part of a massive recall and unprecedented sales and production halt, a government official said on Saturday.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) engineers have reviewed Toyota’s proposal for preventing gas pedals in eight models from sticking and have raised no objections, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has yet to be publicly announced.

Toyota has issued a series of recent recalls covering 5.6 million vehicles in the United states due to sudden acceleration in some vehicles.

The problem has affected popular selling Toyota cars as well as its luxury Lexus models and is suspected of causing crashes that led to 19 fatalities over the past decade, government officials have said.

Another 1.8 million vehicles have been recalled in Europe and 75,000 in China.

Most of the models affected by the recall in the United States have been recalled because of gas pedals getting jammed on floor mats.

The fix, which was reviewed by NHTSA this week and is expected to be announced by Toyota within days, covers roughly 2.4 million vehicles equipped with gas pedals that may not spring back as designed.

The remedy being readied by Toyota and its accelerator supplier, CTS Corp, involves a shim, also called a spacer, that will be placed in the accelerator to keep it from sticking, sources have said.

NHTSA regulators are not required to approve the remedy but they can reject the approach if they consider it inadequate. US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said last week NHTSA, which is part of his agency, closely reviewed the proposal.

LaHood said he was satisfied with Toyota’s response to the matter, which has dented its reputation and prompted rivals, like government-owned General Motors Co., to try and lure its customers to their brands with incentives.

Separate congressional committees have scheduled hearings into the matter next month. LaHood, NHTSA Administrator David Strickland and Toyota North American President Yoshimi Inaba are expected to testify. – Reuters

MUMBAI, Jan 31 – The Indian unit of Honda Motor Co said late on Saturday it would recall 8,532 of its 2nd generation City models manufactured in 2007 because of a faulty window switch.

The 3rd Generation City currently sold in India is not affected and does not require any part replacement, Honda Siel Cars said in a statement.

Earlier, Honda Motor Co said it has recalled 646,000 of its Fit/Jazz and City automobiles globally, including 140,000 vehicles in the United States and covers the models sold in North America, South America, Europe, South Africa and Asia, but not Japan. – Reuters

Daihatsu Japan has recently new Daihatsu Mira Custom. The new Mira, the seventh generation of the series, has been completely updated, including the platform and the engine. Development sought to maintain the smart styling, space and utility that have long characterized the Mira while enhancing quality and value to a new level that far exceeds other vehicles in its class. The lineup includes two vehicle types, each with its own distinctive characteristics: the Mira, which is based on the concept of “a high quality mini vehicle for city driving,” and the Mira Custom, based on the concept of a “premium personalized mini vehicle.”

Plans call for sales of 6,000 units per month in Japan. The manufacturer’s suggested retail prices range from 830,000 yen to 1,475,000 yen (excluding consumption tax).

GENEVA — Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor, which has partnerships around the world, sent out a press release this week touting the upcoming “world debut” of its new SX4 sedan. Trouble is, we’ve actually seen this vehicle previously — in another country, with another badge, from another manufacturer.

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Getting your car detailed is the best way to ensure that it is cleaned properly. However, when detailing professionals are taking care of your car or if you are washing it yourself, it’s important to clean seat covers properly to avoid ruining them. After all, seat covers are an investment designed to protect the seats in your car. They are a perfect vehicle accessory because they can be changed as needed, most are machine washable and they can protect you from hot seats during the summer months.

The type of cleaning required on car seat covers depends on the material with which they are made. For example, plain fabric seat covers can usually be cleaned in a washing machine; suede or leather seat covers must be cleansed with a special cleaner or a concoction of mild detergent and water. A good detailing company will know exactly how to clean the interior car seat covers in your vehicle and can recommend a good cleanser for the times you must do it yourself.

Most car seat covers can be cleaned in a washing machine on gentle with cold water. You can use the same type of detergent that you use to do your laundry. However, there are some interior car seat covers that are not machine washable, in which case a cloth, lukewarm water and some mild detergent should be used to cleanse the fabric of the seat cover. You can then dry with a small fan to ensure that the seat covers are properly dried. This is important because if you allow seat covers to simply air dry over time, the covers will pick up a slight mildew smell.

If the interior car seat covers have stains, you can use a gentle stain remover, or ask the detailing company to use the right stain removal agent to ensure you don’t ruin the seat covers. Cleaning is not necessary on a regular basis; in fact, only clean seat covers when there is apparent build up or if the covers are obviously dirty. Otherwise, you can clean your seat covers once every three months or so.

Seat covers are essential when trying to protect the seats in your vehicle. Just be sure that, since you have invested in a set of covers, that you take proper care of them. This includes engaging in the proper cleansing methods, whether you wash the covers yourself or have a detailing company do it for you.

Owner and operator of a seat covers and auto accessories manufacturing company, Dan Bodrero takes pride in the quality of his workmanship and stands by every product that leaves his store, whether it be dashboard mat or golf seat cover. Every item is hand crafted from top materials and is guaranteed to fit securely and snugly.

DETROIT, Jan 22 — Toyota Motor Corp said yesterday it will recall millions more vehicles in the United States, its second massive recall in four months, this time to fix potentially faulty accelerator pedals.

The newest recall, affecting 2.3 million vehicles, marked an acknowledgment that potential problems with dangerous acceleration on Toyota vehicles run deeper than the automaker had first announced and broadened a recall that already ranked as its largest ever.

The recalls have damaged Toyota’s reputation for market-leading quality and safety at a time when the automaker’s US sales remain under pressure.

Toyota had previously maintained that there was no evidence of a mechanical fault linked to reports of unintended acceleration that prompted the recall of about 4.2 million vehicles last year.

The automaker said the recall announced yesterday was separate from the earlier action, which Toyota said was aimed at addressing the risk that the accelerator pedals could become entrapped by loose or improperly installed floor mats.

About 1.7 million vehicles are subject to both recalls.

Shares of the world’s No.1 carmaker fell 3.3 per cent to 4,050 yen this morning in Tokyo, underperforming the Nikkei stock average’s 2.7 per cent drop. An analyst, however, shrugged off the impact of the recall.

“The recall is not a completely new development after the previous recalled related to the floor mats, nor is it based on any accident,” said Eiji Hakomori, an analyst at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets.

The latest recall includes the 2009 and 2010 RAV4; the 2009 and 2010 Corolla; the 2009 and 2010 Matrix; the 2005 to 2010 Avalon; the 2007 to 2010 Camry; the 2010 Highlander; the 2007 to 2010 Tundra; and the 2008 to 2010 Sequoia.

Toyota said its own investigation in recent months had found that some accelerator pedals on those Toyota brand models might stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to idle. The problems could occur when the pedal mechanism becomes worn, it said.

“It isn’t a sudden onset issue,” Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons said. “The owner would notice that the vehicle is slowly returning to idle.”

Toyota was not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the issue, Lyons said. Toyota filed the recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration yesterday and the investigation was in an early stage, he said.

As recently as November, Bob Carter, Toyota’s US brand chief, had said there was “no evidence” to support claims that the reported safety problems could be caused by anything other than loose floor mats interfering with the accelerator pedal.

NHTSA had received reports of 100 incidents at the time of Toyota’s first recall. Those reports included 17 crashes and five fatalities possibly linked to floor mats and accelerator pedals in Toyota cars and trucks.

Toyota’s earlier recall covers the Camry and Avalon sedans, the Prius hybrid, the Tacoma and Tundra pickup trucks, and the luxury Lexus models IS250, IS350 and ES350.

NHTSA had conducted a similar investigation of floor mats in Toyota vehicles that began in 2007 and resulted in a recall of more than 50,000 cars.

That probe focused on the Lexus ES350 and concluded that grooves in the floor mat could trap the accelerator if the mat was not secured with retaining hooks.

The recall announced last year is ongoing. Toyota has started repairs on the ES350s and plans to address the Camry and Avalon next, Lyons said. Those vehicles account for more than half the vehicles subject to that recall, he said.

Toyota plans to reshape the accelerator pedals and floors in the Camry, Avalon and ES350, Lyons said. The automaker also is installing a system that at highway speeds will return the engine to idle and give the brakes precedence if the brake and accelerator pedals are pressed at the same time. — Reuters

Lexus will enter two LF-A sportscar prototypes in the Nürburgring 24-hour endurance race on 23-24 May, 2009.

The entry of the two-seater sportscar, which is powered by a 5.0-litre, V10 producing more than 500PS, forms part of an on-going R&D process. As in 2008, Lexus engineers will use the grueling race at the infamous German track to gather technical data that will be applied to future mass-production of vehicles. The company will also use the event as an opportunity to develop human resources by giving young mechanics the chance to work as support staff.

The cars are prototypes of the LF-A, which is currently being developed with an eye on commercialization. Modifications for the race include safety equipment (roll cage, fuel tank, etc.), as well as a spoiler and other aerodynamic features. The development team has improved the LF-A’s performance with fine-tuning based on experience gained in last year’s, race while specifications for the engine, powertrain, and body structure remain largely unchanged.

Lexus has a strong track record in endurance racing in the US and Japan. Past successes include powering the winners of the legendary Daytona 24 Hours in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and winning the GrandAm championship (Grand American Rolex Series) with a record number of wins; and claiming the Super GT title in 2006 with the Lexus SC 430.

Some data on this machine

The Lexus IS300 featured here is another great modification by the western on the IS300 or also known Toyota

If you thing that the swap is easy, you are definitely wrong, nothing bolts in and fits, some of the things need to undergo major mod.

Not to mention that all IS300 comes with auto

The engine swap also maybe very much related to the famous legendary rear wheel drive AE86. What do you think of this Toyota monster.

TOKYO, Dec 21 — Japan’s Honda Motor Co today it will unveil at the Delhi auto show next month a concept model of a new small car that it is developing for India and other emerging markets.

Honda’s “New Small Concept” will join rival Toyota Motor Corp’s “EFC”, or Entry Family Car, also getting its world premiere at the Auto Expo in New Delhi opening on Jan 5.

Carmakers are racing to develop cheap, small cars to compete with Indian market leaders such as Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Tata Motors Ltd to win over buyers in the burgeoning middle class.

Details of Honda’s small car such as price range and likely launch date will be announced on Jan 5, a spokeswoman said. — Reuters

The Exora is in the Proton stable. — File pic

The growth projection is supported by the high correlation of 96 per cent to gross domestic product (GDP) growth, the research firm said, adding that its house forecast is 4.0 per cent.

“The strong correlation of TIV to GDP growth is demonstrated in the 2.0 per cent decline in 2009 against our GDP forecast of a 2.0 per cent contraction in GDP. A simple linear regression based on a 4.0 per cent GDP growth suggests that vehicles sales forecast could breach 574,683 units,” OSK Research said in a report today.

“Although consumer sentiment was somewhat subdued in third quarter last year, an upward momentum in the consumer sentiment index for both the fourth quarter of 2009 and first quarter of 2010 is highly possible, going by the historical average momentum over the its respective quarter throughout the recent years and the fact it is also coming from a low base in early 2009,” it said.

OSK Research said an increase in employment opportunities with new people entering the workforce will boost demand for TIV growth for 2010.

“This is due to the high percentage of the young population, where those within the age of 20 to 29 make up as much as 17.2 per cent of the total Malaysian population. It is likely that as much as half of this age group have yet to enter the workforce,” it said.

OSK Research said that total loans growth is expected to further broaden by 8.5 per cent in 2010.

“As this is a function of GDP, ultimately the expanding loans base would tilt towards a more flexible lending policy on the part of banks,” it said.

“This also comes in light of a healthy non-performing loan ratio in the overall banking sector despite the tough environment in 2009.”

Nevertheless, there are risks of a shortfall such a drastic hike in petrol prices and subsidy removals, according to OSK Research.

“Risks of a removal in petrol subsidies and higher oil prices could potentially create a knee-jerk impact on TIV sales, notably on vehicles with a higher engine capacity,” it said.

“As 60 per cent of the total volume comprises vehicles with engine capacity of less than 1500cc, it is safe to say that demand would not negatively impact TIV sales over the longer run.”

The other downside risk is that the likely increase in the hire purchase (HP) rates are unlikely this year after the last round of increase for non-national makes back in May last year when rates imposed by banks rose by an average of 100 basis point, OSK Research said.

“In a worst case scenario, although the possibility is highly unlikely, a sudden 100 basis point increase in HP rates across the broad could see a knee-jerk reaction where volume could possibly decline by as much as 7,000 units a month, close to 19 per cent of the average monthly volume over the past two years,” it said.

“Likewise, should a 100 basis point increase reflect solely on the HP rates of national marques such as Proton and Perodua, the extent of a knee-jerk drop could be as much as 3,000 units, equivalent to 10 per cent of the average monthly volume since 2008.”

OSK Research said the impact on national cars would be rather less though compared to the non-national, as over 60 per cent of the total TIV represents the volume from both Proton and Perodua.

As 2010 will be the year that a slew of subsidies will be removed along with the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax, “we do not see the likelihood of an increase in HP in the near term”, it said.

“It is worth mentioning that auto players backed by their own HP financing arms, namely non-national automakers such as Toyota, Nissan, including luxury auto players BMW, were able to offer lower interest rates at 1.99 per cent given their ability to absorb their own costs compared to national automakers, which are highly dependent on the availability of loans from banks which typically charge higher HP rates,” it added. — Bernama