Autoblog

Being Toyota doesn't grant you any additional immunity from simple global economics. Word from Tokuichi Uranishi, executive vice president of Toyota, is that one of the world's largest automakers is going to miss its sales target of 9.85 million vehicles for 2008.

Toyota execs cite slowing sales in the United States, Europe, and Japan as a primary factor. In addition, rising raw material costs are hurting the global automaker, which assembled 9.37 million vehicles in 2007. To top it off, a yen that hit a 13-year high against the dollar at the beginning of this week is cutting profits on exports from Japan.

It may be up to China, Russia, and Korea to pick up some of the slack. Those emerging Asian markets are active, and Toyota is looking at them for future growth. In a move towards achieving that goal, the Prius, Camry, and RAV4 sports-utility will be introduced in South Korea shortly. Sales are expected to be just 500 units per month initially, and then increase to upwards of 1,000 a month.

[Source: Automotive News, subs req'd]

Click above for high-res gallery from Kobalt Tools 500

Toyota is hoping that there is some life left in the old adage, "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday." While we can't imagine many NASCAR fans driving off the showroom floor in a brand new Camry because of Toyota's 1-2 finish at the Kobalt Tools 500, they do have a few full-size Tundra pickups that could use some help rolling out of dealer's lots. Toyota realizes this, and Les Unger, national motorsports manager of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., notes that there are upcoming NASCAR races in pickup-rich areas like the Midwest, Southeast and Southwest, and Toyota also competes in the Craftsman Truck Series. We can expect to see plenty of NASCAR-specific marketing coming out of Toyota in the near future to promote its historic win, and with industry-giant Joe Gibbs behind Toyota's future NASCAR success, expect to see more of the Camry in the winners-circle.

[Source: Automotive News]

The Wall Street Journal has confirmed what's been alluded to in the past, but this time, it's from the top. Volkswagen's CEO Martin Winterkorn plans to price its U.S. offerings more aggressively in a bid to better compete with the likes of Toyota.

Currently, the Jetta starts around $17,000, while a comparable (?) Corolla is about $2k less. Same goes for the Passat and Camry segment, where the VW's mid-size sedan has close to a $4,000 premium over its Toyota counterpart.

Interestingly, Winterkorn admits, "We have definitely added too many technical items that (American) customers don't want to pay for." What those particular features are escapes us, but as long as they work, that's all that matters.

[Source: Wall Street Journal]

Toyota just released its performance TRD Aurion, but sales have ceased while the Japanese automaker investigates a potential engine failure issue. According to Toyota, the problem with the 323 HP V6 engine is unrelated to its supercharger or high output, and that the issue is likely a one-off. Toyota has 150 demo vehicles at its dealerships, and the automaker plans on inspecting each of those vehicles over a week's time to verify that a larger issue isn't at play.

Caution is always key when customer service and safety are at risk, so Toyota is doing the right thing by thoroughly investigating the issue before continuing sales. Assuming the engine problem is no big deal, we do hope that Toyota takes this sales break to consider selling a Camry version of the TRD Aurion here in the States, as the boring midsize sedan is anything but down under.

[Source: Drive]

When news came back in May that GM would encourage Chevy dealers to have a Camry on hand for customers to compare directly to the forthcoming Malibu, we lauded the company for walking the walk. Similarly confident in the Saturn Aura, the General ran a program earlier this summer in which Aura shoppers were offered comparison drives in both the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. According to GM, the Saturn program was a success, and Aura sales rose during the promotion. Despite that, the Malibu vs. Camry deathmatch is now officially DOA.

No specific reason has been given for the change of heart. A GM spokesperson says only that "it's been off the table for quite some time" and that "it wasn't the best approach" for the Malibu. The (undoubtedly significant) costs associated placing comparison vehicles in the 4,000+ Chevy dealers was said to not be a factor in the decision.

[Source: CNNMoney]

When GM launches the 2008 Malibu this fall, look for it to go directly after the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Mark LaNeve, GM's sales, service, and marketing VP, says GM will be laying out the reasons why it feels the Malibu is better than its competition in the new ad campaign. We hope to see the fur start to fly in the bread-and-butter sedan arena, with response ads upping the ante before being met with another challenge. LaNeve acknowledges that it will be a hard battle to pry backsides out of the Camry or Accord (especially with an all-new version of the latter), but GM's got an excellent car in the new Malibu. The assault on the incumbent evergreen models is already going on over in Saturn stores, where GM's actually placed the competitor's cars in the showroom next to the award winning Aura.

Customer research has told GM that import owners would be persuaded to buy a different brand that is as good or better than their current car, but only actual results will prove the hypothesis. One possible bone of contention is residual value, where the well-burnished reputation of the segment leaders has them holding on to nearly 50 percent of their original sticker after three years, versus about 35 percent for the Malibu. Instead of buying a car based on how much you can get for it in three years, we suggest you buy a car you're happy with, and we see a lot that's encouraging in the new Malibu. Heck, you might even want to keep it after it's paid off -- imagine that! Besides, if the car lives up to the expectations GM is whipping up for it, resale values will rise as word spreads. We can't wait to try one.

[Source: Automotive News]

The union talk is stirring again at Toyota's Georgetown, Kentucky plant, but management at the automaker has no intention of meeting with workers trying to unionize. A group of current and former employees at the plant called the Kentucky Workers' Rights Board have drawn up a laundry list of complaints, which include what they perceive to be unjustified firings, the use of too many temporary workers, and job-related injuries.The committee is putting together a recommendation which includes limiting low-paid temps to 90 day terms, and the establishment of a safety committee. Toyota's decision not to meet with the group came after the would-be organizers declared that they would hold a press release after a management meeting. Oops.

For years, there has been a lot of talk about organizing the Georgetown plant, and as of yet, the 7,000 full-time workers have never even voted for or against a union. A push to unionize a Toyota plant couldn't be coming at a worse time, however, as the UAW may have to take big cuts from the Detroit automakers. Since most Toyota workers make roughly the same hourly rate as UAW workers, we don't think the transplant workers will want to vote for a potential pay cut. If Detroit automakers get concessions, however, Toyota could cut worker pay anyway to keep its advantage.

[Source: Auto News (subscription req'd)]

Click the image above for more high resolution pics of the 2008 Malibu

GM is on the precipice of launching in the next few months three of the most important cars in the entire corporation. The 2008 Corvette and Cadillac CTS have been on the cover of virtually every enthusiast magazine, and us bloggers have been providing consistent updates via the web. The third and least-covered of GM's new models is the 2008 Malibu, but GM isn't taking lightly the importance of Chevrolet's midsize sedan. It's planning on bringing the Malibu to market behind the strength of a $100m ad campaign. With the Malibu set for a November 1 sale date, expect to see plenty of TV spots, radio ads, a print and web campaign, and maybe even some billboards this fall. $100 million is a lot of money (we checked). Toyota used a similarly-sized war chest to launch the Camry last year, and we can expect the Malibu to measure itself against the midsize sales king when it arrives.

While the upgraded Corvette and CTS bring much needed credibility and cash to GM, the Malibu may be the biggest launch of the three. The midsize sedan segment is huge, and GM can add to its retail market share if the Malibu is a success. The General is even planning on cutting fleet sales by half to about 20% of overall sales, which will boost resale values and lower lease prices (or lease incentives) at the same time. While the new Vette and CTS get all the headlines, GM is smart enough to give the Malibu the lion's share of the ad dollars.

[Source: Detroit News]

A recent JD Power finding that hybrid popularity is giving way to more interest in diesel powertrains may have some legs to it after all. Even though gas prices have been hovering above $3 for months, Toyota is still trimming the entry price of its 2008 Camry Hybrid by about $1,000. To help pay for the unexpected price drop, Toyota eliminated standard items like the JBL audio system, leather steering wheel and shift knob, Homelink, and electrochromic mirror with compass. $25,860 will now get you a hybrid powertrain plus steel wheels, and a single CD player, which aren't exactly luxury components. Unless the folks from Aichi, Japan have achieved manufacturing efficiencies from increased hybrid output, this could be bad news for Toyota and the many automakers on the precipice of introducing their own hybrid systems.

[Source: Auto News (subscription req'd)]

Click for gallery of the TRD Aurion

It's no secret that in Australia, the cars seem to, well, rock. You've got the Holden Commodores, the Ford Falcons, the rodded-up stuff from HSV and FPV, a dizzying selection of Utes, and a fair amount of imported goodies from Europe and Japan. While we make do with the utterly blandtacular Toyota Camry, our Aussie friends get not only the Camry, but the locally-built Aurion. We reviewed an Aurion Sportivo SX6 back in April, and determined it to be a "great Camry" with demonstrably better looks at the end of the day. Something better's on the way, however.

TRD unveiled its forthcoming version of the car at the Melbourne show back in March, and this week announced that the performance of the engine it's developed for the TRD Aurion has exceeded the targets set for it. The 3.5L V6 gets force-fed via Eaton's new twin-vortices supercharger, which makes its production vehicle debut in this application. TRD's Australian arm hasn't released hard numbers yet, but indicates that the engine's planned output of 235 kW / 320 HP is among the specs that have been exceeded. Acceleration times are also likely to be better than expected, and it's all wrapped in the sweet-looking package shown above. Naturally, we'll never see it here. Sigh...

[Source: Toyota Australia]