CarzUnlimited - The Ultimate Database for all the Latest Performance Cars

Toyota builds 15 millionth vehicle in North America(2/4/2006)

It took Toyota 20 years and $16 billion dollars of investment to do it, but yesterday the company announced it had reached the 15 million unit mark for in North American production.

All together Toyota operates 12 vehicle manufacturing, powertrain and component facilities in North America and is adding two more plants in San Antonio, Texas and Woodstock, Ontario. Currently 10 vehicles are produced on the continent, with the Camry Hybrid and RAV4 scheduled to start production in the fall, as well.

Toyota’s full press release and a breakdown of how much each of Toyota’s five manufacturing plants contributed to the 15 million mark can be found after the jump. Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky (plant shown) produced the most with 6.39 million units made since its opening in 1986.

[Source: Toyota]Toyota Reaches 15 Million Mark in North American Production
Milestone achieved in 20 Years of Production

February 2, 2006 – Erlanger, KY - Toyota announced today it has reached the 15 million mark in North American production. This milestone marks 20 years of manufacturing in North America, supported by a $16 billion investment in North American operations.

"This is a great accomplishment for Toyota in North America," said Seiichi Sudo, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, Inc. "This milestone has been reached because of the total team effort given. Every member of the manufacturing and design team has contributed to this phenomenal growth and success. I also want to thank our suppliers, sales teams, and our loyal customers who have contributed to making Toyota one of the most popular brands in America and Lexus the most popular luxury brand."

Toyota operates 12 vehicle manufacturing, powertrain, and components facilities in North America. Toyota will continue to further its commitment to build vehicles locally with two more North American plants under construction-- in San Antonio, Texas and Woodstock, Ontario.
Toyota now manufactures 10 vehicles in North America: Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Matrix, Sequoia, Sienna, Solara, Tacoma, Tundra, and Lexus RX330. Production of the Camry Hybrid begins in the fall of 2006 in Kentucky, and the RAV4 in 2008, in Ontario.

Toyota first began conducting business in North America in 1957 and began manufacturing parts in 1972 in California. In 1986, Toyota expanded operations to manufacture vehicles in a joint venture with GM at New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. in Fremont, California. Toyota now directly employs 27,000 jobs in manufacturing, and there are an additional 95,000 supplier jobs dedicated to Toyota business in North America.

Production of the 15 million vehicles produced in North America:

Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc.         6.39 million     (opened in 1988)
New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc.                 4.49 million     (1986)
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Inc.           2.48 million     (1988)
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana, Inc.           1.61 million     (1999)
Toyota Motor Manufacturing de Baja California    0.03 million     (2004)

Jack Collins to retire from Nissan(2/4/2006)

Jack Collins, vice president of product planning at Nissan North America Inc., will retire this year rather than relocate with the company to Nashville, Tenn.

Collins, 59, is one of 12 senior Nissan U.S. executives who won^t join the relocation of the headquarters from suburban Los Angeles, Nissan spokesman Fred Standish confirmed. He declined to identify the other 11.

The company gave its 60 directors, vice presidents and senior vice president-level officials until Wednesday, Feb. 1, to declare their intentions. Of those 60, 48 have said they will make the move to Nashville, three have decided to take retirement, and nine have said they will leave the company.

Collins has been in his current role since 1999, but he has been a major player at Nissan since the early 1990s.

He was broomed as part of a boardroom skirmish in 1997 led by then-Nissan North America CEO Bob Thomas. But the Japanese senior staff re-hired Collins and transferred him to their Nissan Europe division in Amsterdam.

When Thomas ran into his own troubles and left Nissan a year later, the Japanese quickly brought Collins back to the United States.

Collins is widely thought of as one of the most brilliant product planners in the automotive business, and one who sparks tremendous loyalty among his subordinates.

The rest of the 1,200 employees at the California headquarters have until April to decide whether to relocate with Nissan.

The automaker plans to occupy an office building in downtown Nashville until 2008, when a new dedicated headquarters building is completed in an office park outside Nashville in Franklin, Tenn.

Honda target ^100% reliability^(2/4/2006)

Honda and Jenson Button are both feeling good following their testing in Valencia this week and, despite one engine failure, were pleased with the performance of their new RA106.

Button was the driver who unfortuanely suffered the engine failure but says despite this he feels very happy with what he has seen over the last couple days.

"Overall, the test has been really positive this week so it is unfortunate that we suffered an engine failure on the final day," said Jenson.

"We^ve been working mainly on long run performance and the consistency has been good. As with all new cars we are just trying to get as much mileage as possible under our belts at the moment but I^m pleased with how the car is shaping up."

Mark Ellis, the teams Chief Engineer, was happy with how the car ran and says the team are keen to get back on the track next week in Jerez.

"It has been another very good test for us this week with the new RA106 cars," said Ellis.

"We have again had to contend with poor weather and track conditions however the cars have proven to be fast and consistent in all conditions. Despite a couple of small issues, we are happy with the reliability of the new car. We look forward to continuing our development programme in Jerez next week."

Engineering Director of Honda Racing Development, Shuhei Nakamoto, said that while the team would have liked a problem free run they were happy with what they got from the testing session.

^We have gained a little more top power and an improved torque curve after this test. Our target is 100% reliability so we still have work to do in the coming weeks, but overall we have made good progress."

VW strikes deal with Google?(2/4/2006)

Volkswagen of America, Inc. and Google recently presented the future of vehicle navigation at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, and it’s closer to virtual reality than ever before.

Volkswagen, Google, and graphics chipmaker, nVidia, are working on an in-car navigation map system and display that is 3-dimensional and more real looking than anything that’s available today.

Driver and Passenger will be able to instinctively recognize where they are in relation to the surrounding topography, especially in urban areas that are depicted with depth and accurate size relationships between buildings and roads.

Volkswagen, working through its Electronic Research Laboratory (ERL), in Palo Alto, Calif., together with Google and nVidia, is also working on other advancements, including automatic personalized content updates for its vehicle navigation systems.

Highlights of Volkswagen’s prototype vehicle include a vehicle-centric touchscreen interface to Google Earth with state-of-the-art graphics, accurate 3D maps and real-time traffic updates and routing. This open system harnesses the power of the web to maintain a dynamic database of current information on restaurants, dealerships, gas stations and other points of interest that can be overlaid directly onto the user’s 3D map. With the increasing accuracy of GPS, dead-reckoning and laser-radar imaging, as well as ever-improving car-to-infrastructure communication, this prototype will be available on showroom floors in the near future.

High-quality 3D and satellite-based representations of the world are becoming an exciting feature in on-line search engines and navigation. These photo-realistic, high-resolution 3D images are not only more engaging for the user, but they are also more efficient and accurate at conveying information than traditional 2D mapping representations.

Renault Clio is Car of the Year 2006(11/16/2005)

Renault^s third generation Clio stole a march on the opposition this week by scooping the prestigious Car of the Year 2006 prize. With a points total of 256, the new Clio narrowly beat VW^s Passat and the gorgeous Alfa Romeo 159 to the top spot. The prize couldn^t come at a better time for the French company, as the five-door Clio goes on sale at the same time. The five-door model continues the excellent value for money established by the three-door, with prices only moderately increased over the outgoing model despite significant improvements all round, and a coveted five stars in the Euro NCAP tests.

Grand prize for Grande Punto(11/16/2005)

This week, Fiat^s new Grande Punto won the 2005 Golden Steering Wheel, one of Germany^s most prestigious automotive prizes, which is awarded by a jury of car experts, celebrities from the entertainment world, and racing drivers. Organised by the weekly German magazine Bild am Sonntag, the prize is now in its 30th year, and is annually awarded to a model in each of four different categories. The Grande Punto beat the Volkswagen Fox, Renault Clio, Toyota Yaris and Peugeot 1007 to take the trophy in the Compact Class.

Professional modding of the Ford GT(11/16/2005)

Although only available to the UK market in tiny numbers, the Ford GT has taken the USA by storm, with the GTX1 project offering potential customers the chance the tastefully customise their ^ride^ by converting it to the roadster format. Featuring an intricate roofing system of four individual panels, the driver can choose between coupe, convertible or T-bar configurations. The GTX1 project makes few mechanical or performance amendments to the standard car, and is equipped with the ^standard^ monstrous 5.4-litre supercharged engine.

Porsche keeps the ball rolling(11/16/2005)

Porsche Net Rises 11th Straight Year on New 911 Model. Porsche AG, maker of the Carrera, said profit rose an 11th consecutive year as sales reached a record, helped by the revamped versions of the Boxster and 911- model sports cars. Net income in the year ended July 31 rose 13 percent to 779 million euros ($908 million), or 44.74 euros a preferred share, from a revised 690 million euros, or 39.69 euros, a year earlier, Stuttgart, Germany-based Porsche said today in a stock exchange filing. Profit beat the 701 million-euro estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

VW Adds 4Motion to Passat Range in 2006(10/27/2005)

Volkswagen has formally introduced 4Motion editions of its Passat sedan and wagon, featuring permanent four-wheel drive and a choice of the 3.2-liter V6 FSI engine or 2.0-liter I4 turbodiesel. Both engines come with a six-speed manual gearbox. The Passat 4Motion models go on sale in November in Germany. The Passat 4Motion sedan will reach U.S. dealerships in late January, a VW spokesman told Inside Line, with the Passat 4Motion wagon arriving about a month later. The Passat 4Motion models are expected to make their first official North American appearances in January at the Los Angeles and Detroit shows. VW of America has yet to price the vehicles but expects the premium to be $1,500 to $2,000 over the standard Passat.