The first-ever vehicle produced by Toyota was a truck, the G1, way back in 1935. Toyota can now boast that it has reached the incredible 200 million mark, of which 40 million are Corollas, the most popular vehicle ever sold.
''I would like to thank Toyota customers around the world for helping us reach this important milestone, ''stated Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda. '' I have the greatest respect, and would like to express my deepest gratitude, to all those involved in the development, assembly, and marketing of Toyota and Lexus products throughout the years. We are committed to building even better vehicles, in order to continue to offer the best possible products to consumers. This common goal is shared by our 300,000 employees across the globe.''
Source: AutoGuide
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| Photo: Toyota |
As the NASCAR season enters the long stretch into the summer two Sprint Cup teams announced changes in their crew line ups.
Bobby Hutchens, late of Stewart Haas Racing will join JTG Daugherty as General Manager for the #47 Toyota driven by Bobby Labonte.
“Bobby Hutchens is very knowledgeable and experienced,” Labonte said. “He has a want and desire to do this, which will really help our small team become more structured so that we can keep moving forward. This is going to be a great advantage for us.”
David Hyder has been named interim crew chief to replace Todd Berrier who will become the crew chief for the #78 Furniture Row Chevrolet driven by Regan Smith.
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| Photo: NASCAR |
“Todd Berrier did a great job and we wish him the best in his new opportunity,” Brad Daugherty co-owner of the team said. “We have great people throughout the organization and with the leadership of a champion like Bobby Hutchens we will stay focused on being the number one single-car team competing on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit.”
Over at Furniture Row team general manager Joe Garone said, "Todd will be a great fit with our operation. The skill sets he has acquired during a successful crew chief career will be valuable assets as we move forward with a high level of energy and anticipation.”
Berrier worked as a Sprint Cup crew chief for 11 years at Richard Childress Racing (RCR) before joining JTG Daugherty Racing and driver Bobby Labonte at the start of the 2012 season.
While at RCR, Berrier was crew chief for eight victories, including two of NASCAR's biggest events, the Daytona 500 (2007 with Kevin Harvick) and the Brickyard 400 (2003 also with Harvick).
"Furniture Row Racing has a reputation in the Sprint Cup garage for its commitment and potential," said the 42-year-old Berrier. "I welcome this opportunity and can't wait to begin my new position at Indianapolis this weekend."
Lexus announced today that it will invest more than 100 million dollars in its Cambridge Ontario production facility in order to raise production capacity of the Lexus RX to 104,000 units by 2014. 15,000 of these vehicles will be
RX 450h's, the hybrid/electric version of the RX. This investment comes on the heels of the 80 million-dollar investment in the Woodstock facility announced in March, which will create an extra 400 jobs.
These investments will bring the overall Canadian Toyota annual production capacity to 500,000 vehicles. ''For the past nine years, Canada has been the only country besides Japan to produce Lexus vehicles,'' explains Toyota Canada Chairman Ray Tanguay. '' The implementation of new technologies along with the newly created jobs is great news for Canada.''
From WRC
Sebastien Ogier wants to be in a position to fight for a podium on Rallye Monte-Carlo next January with his Volkswagen Polo R WRC.
The Frenchman completed the latest asphalt test with the car in Germany recently and pronounced himself happy with the progress the Volkswagen Motorsport team is making with its first ever World Rally Car. He added, however, that there was more work to come for the Polo.
Volkswagen has completed the reliability running with its new challenger and the emphasis has now switched to making the car as fast as possible.
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| Photo: Volkswagen Motorsport |
Ogier said: “The car is going in the right direction. We have done a lot of jobs from the start of the year, but as a driver we are always asking for more and we have to work like that to improve the car. Today, we are not at the level we want to be at, but we still have six months to go. We have a bit of work to do everywhere: engine, gearbox and suspension. I can't say something is perfect, there is always more to do, but I am happy with where we are at the moment.”
Volkswagen ran in both vineyards and military areas in Germany, basing its test close to Trier where ADAC Rallye Deutschland will be based from 23-26 August. The team has now moved on to rough gravel testing in France.
Sebastien Ogier will swap again his Polo R for his Super 2000-specification Skoda Fabia for Neste Oil Rally Finland from 1-4 August.
From GMM
Dr Helmut Marko has accused the FIA of sometimes using a "double standard" when it comes to dishing out penalties.
Sebastian Vettel on Sunday was demoted from second at the flag to fifth in the classification after passing Jenson Button whilst off the circuit at Hockenheim.
Marko, Red Bull's motor racing consultant, insists his driver did nothing wrong.
"The whole situation was triggered by Button, who left Sebastian no room and pushed him out," the Austrian told
Servus TV. "Sebastian had to move out to avoid a collision."
Many pundits likened Vettel's move to Nico Rosberg's overtaking antics in Bahrain, for which the German escaped penalty.
Marko pointed out that "the defendant" is often given "the benefit of the doubt".
"That wasn't the case now (for Vettel)," he said. "There is a bad aftertaste. There is a double standard."
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| Sebastian Vettel overtaking Jenson Button at Hockenheim. (Caption: F1) |
Unfortunately for Marko, most paddock residents do not agree with him, including Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg who said Vettel's move was "not right".
"The rules are very specific," ORF commentator Alex Wurz agreed. "You can leave the track with all four wheels as long as you have no advantage."
Former Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari added: "I think Vettel's overtaking was totally illegal. He was clearly outside the boundaries of the track."
Rémy Audette (Acura RSX No. 12) earned his first career CTCC win this past weekend at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, formerly known as Mosport.
Audette took advantage of the two provisional leaders Sasha Anis (Hyundai Genesis No. 14) and Luc Lesage (BMW 330i No. 22) going off some oil left by the car of Roger Ledoux to place himself atop. But to prove his performance was no fluke, he took the time to post a new lap record with a 1min29.364s on his way to the checkered flag of Saturday.
Bob Attrell (Hyundai Genesis No. 88) placed second, and Philip Fayer (Pontiac Solstice No. 3) third. Anis, the championship leader, managed to drag his battered car back to the pits and eventually rejoin the action to collect valuable points.
In the Touring class, Alain Lauzière (MINI Cooper No. 45) gave MINI its first turbo-powered win, and he too had a chance to set a new class record, posting a 1min34.225s. Damon Sharpe (Honda Civic Si No. 84) and Jonathan Young (Honda Civic Si No. 99) completed the podium.
Inside Track's Russ Bond was the guest driver in the Mazda2 B-Spec media race car and gave a good show, leading the race for a while. Nevertheless, in the end, Nick Wittmer (Honda Fit No. 91) came trough to save his perfect record. His brother Karl (Mazda2 No. 26) followed in his trails to earn second place from Bond.
Sunday showed no mercy to Audette, as the recent winner was forced to a DNF by electrical issues. Anis, on a charge from the back, clawed his way up to first - further lowering Audette's new lap record to 1min29.164s in the process.
His teammate Attrell earned another second place, followed by Scott Nicol (Honda Civic Si No. 41) in third.
In Touring and B-Spec classes, spectators witnessed a repeat of Saturday with Lauzière followed again by Sharpe and Young to the flag, and Nick Wittmer once more showing the way to his brother Karl and journalist Bond in B-Spec.
Ford Motor, which recalled about 11,500 Escape sport utility vehicles last week because of a fire risk, is pointing to a manufacturing flaw in fuel lines supplied by part maker TI Automotive for the problem.
A University of Michigan study released today found that only six in 10 Americans ages 17-19 have drivers' licenses. Thirty years ago, that number was eight in 10.
Chrysler Group says it is considering investing nearly $200 million into its Mack I Engine Plant in Detroit to boost production of the V-6 Pentastar engine.
BMW released the details of the 2013
Henniges Automotive Holdings today named former TRW and Lear executive Douglas DelGrosso as its CEO. DelGrosso, 50, will assume the role at the sealing and anti-vibration supplier on Aug. 1.
Ford is going after the Toyota Prius with its new
Also in this episode: Fernando Alonso is the first driver to reach three wins during the 2012 Formula One season and
General Motors took to a Georgia racetrack to show that its first compact Cadillac in a quarter-century drives as well as a BMW 3 Series. The trickier part will be getting it to sell as well.
India's Trades Union Congress (AITUC) has added its voice to the chorus of condemnation surrounding last week's Maruti Suzuki Manesar riot in which one one senior management member was killed.
News
23 Jul, 2012
The Department for Transport wants to charge drivers to use the A14
Kia will introduce the next Forte sedan in 2013, and we have pictures, straight from the office in Korea.
Toyota's Indian operation will start engine production at its factory in Bangalore next month, a local media report said.
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