Honda reports 8,000 orders for CR-Z hybrid in less than 3 weeks
Filed under: Hybrid, Honda
2011 Honda CR-Z – Click above for high-res image gallery
In its home market of Japan, the Honda CR-Z has proven to be a sales success in the early stages. In less than three weeks the company has reported sales nearing the 8,000 unit mark. That’s nearly eight times higher than expected since the sporty hybrid went on sale at the end of February
Higher than anticipated sales volume may lead Honda to rethink its initial yearly sales target, currently set at 40,000 to 50,000 vehicles worldwide. According to the company, one aspect stand outs amongst the 8,000 CR-Z buyers: 40 percent have chosen the manual transmission option, a stark contrast to the Japanese automotive market which is dominated by automatics. Even with a sales spike, Honda still trails competing Toyota by a wide margin in the hybrid market. For comparison, Toyota sold 27,000 Priuses last month while just 3,500 Insights left dealer lots. Honda has a lot of work ahead to catch Toyota.
Initial demand in the Japanese market does not always translate into worldwide success. It’s worth mentioning that the Insight also saw early sales success in Japan, only to end up with lower than anticipated volumes worldwide. Several reviews critical of the Insight certainly did not help sales either. Still, if success in Japan is any indication of what to expect here, Toyota may have to share a little more of the market.
[Source: Reuters]
Toyota’s Feet of Clay
There was no magic to Toyota’s rise to the top; no voodoo in its relentless climb to surpass General Motors as the world’s largest, wealthiest automaker. Just 60 years of gut-wrenching slog. Sure, you could argue Detroit’s breathtaking arrogance and stunning complacency gave Toyota a free pass. But it wasn’t Motown’s myopia that created the dependable, efficient, value-packed cars and trucks that made the former weaving-loom manufacturer rich beyond belief. That was all Toyota’s work.
Toyota’s reputation for low cost and high quality reached near-mythic status by the beginning of the 1990s. Its all-new luxury car, the Lexus LS 400, sent engineers at Daimler and BMW scurrying back to their workstations to figure out how they could match the silky smoothness and refinement of its drivetrain and the millimetric precision of its panel fits. The Machine That Changed The World, the 1990 book written by MIT researchers James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones, and Daniel Roos detailing Toyota’s innovative lean production system, was required reading for enlightened auto industry executives around the world.
When The Machine That Changed The World was published, Toyota was just half the size of GM, and American cars still dominated their home market. But within seven years Toyota’s Camry would be the best-selling car in America, a ranking it would cede only once — in 2001, to Honda’s Accord — in the subsequent 12 years. And when Toyota’s global sales numbers finally overtook those of GM in 2008, ending the General’s eight-decade run at the top, not even the most die-hard GM lifers were shocked. Those Toyota guys had the car biz nailed.
Or so we thought.
What started with that horrifying fatal car crash involving a runaway 2009 Lexus ES 350 last August has since ballooned into two separate recalls covering what could reach 10 million vehicles worldwide. Toyota’s once gilt-edged reputation for quality and reliability now looks like a dented spittoon.
Special edition Fiat 500C Pink launched (UK)
Fiat has launched a Pink special edition for the 500C. Unlike the hatchback, which went on sale in January, just 300 models will be made (compared with the 500 models of the 500 hatchback).
The 500C Pink is based on the 1.2 Pop variant and at £13,500, it costs £1,200 more than the non-Pink car. However, Fiat says the 500C Pink comes with £1,870 worth of extra features. These include 16″ alloy wheels, chrome trim, body-coloured door mirrors, leather steering wheel and gearknob, Blue&Me infotainment system, carpet mats and a split folding rear seat.
BMW confirms plans for front-wheel-drive models
Filed under: Performance, BMW, Luxury
If there’s one thing that’s certain in this crazy world, it’s that Ultimate Driving Machines are driven by their rear wheels. Sure, there’s an occasional all-wheel-drive model thrown in for good measure, but even those revert to the tried-and-true RWD when extra traction from the front two contact patches isn’t deemed necessary or desirable. Well, alert the media (oh, wait…): BMW has confirmed the rumors that it will build front-wheel-drive automobiles.
At the Annual Accounts Press Conference for 2010, Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW, had this to say:
[The small car] segment is expected to grow further. And we will take advantage of this opportunity. We are exploring the possibility of developing a joint architecture for the front and four-wheel drive systems of these cars. In other words: There will be front-wheel drive BMWs in the smaller vehicle classes in the future.
Heresy, BMW fans? We wouldn’t worry too much – there seems little chance that BMW will make a wholesale switch from powering the rear wheels to the fronts, especially for its mainstream models like the 3 Series, 5 Series and 7 Series – but the addition of a FWD chassis will make it easier for the automaker to share platforms with other companies and to “reduce [its] fleet’s carbon-emissions worldwide by at least another 25 percent between 2008 and 2020.”
Video: This truck driver has got something on his nose…
Filed under: Truck, Etc., Safety, Videos, Work
Click above to watch the video after the jump
Is this a highway or the set of a new Bruce Willis flick? What appears to be a cell phone-wielding cameraman has captured some timely highway footage of a truck driver hauling more than just a few dozen tons of potentially hazardous liquid. We have no idea how a vehicle, apparently a Renault Clio, could possibly find itself in such a precarious and perpendicular position, but we’re even more puzzled as to how the truck driver could possibly pass other vehicles in traffic without noticing a 3,000 pound vehicle on its nose.
Assuming this is real and not some sort of staged stunt, we’re sure hope the driver of the Clio escaped this unfortunate incident unharmed, because otherwise we would feel really guilty about the fact that we laughed at the fact that the brake lights were flashing on and off. Like that was going to do anything. Check out the video for yourself by hitting the jump. The video footage is admittedly less than great, but we feel the bizarre nature of the subject matter is worth a look.
[Source: YouTube]
Continue reading Video: This truck driver has got something on his nose…
Video: This truck driver has got something on his nose… originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Report: NUMMI and UAW seeking closure through cash
Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota, UAW/Unions
Thanks to the hard work and solidarity of the United Auto Workers union, Detroit automakers have for years known that it is extremely expensive to offer early retirements, entice workers to walk away from their jobs or permanently close the doors at a plant. And even though NUMMI is an independent company, Toyota, too, is now fully aware of the financial pain involved in mothballing a factory for good. The Freemont, California NUMMI plant became expendable after General Motors cut ties with the company during its bankruptcy proceedings, leaving Toyota with more capacity than it needed.
A report from the Silicon Valley Mercury News indicates that the UAW and NUMMI have reached a tentative agreement on a separation package valued at $281 million, or about $60,000 for each and every member of the 4,700 worker plant. The original proposal was valued at $253 million, with $168 million for hourly workers and $85 million for salaried employees.
While $60,000 sounds like a king’s ransom to simply walk away from a job, the number isn’t as impressive when considering national unemployment at close to 10 percent. After all, it’s not exactly as though there are plenty of quality manufacturing jobs out there – even when times are good.
With NUMMI scheduled to shutter on April 1, we can see why some workers are anxious to close the deal. NUMMI employee Scott MacMillan reportedly told the SVMN that workers are dissatisfied with the amount of information the UAW is giving workers, adding “that has caused a lot of frustration for the employees.” NUMMI UAW workers are scheduled to vote on the separation package later today.
[Source: Silicon Valley Mercury News | Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty] Read more…
Mahindra Xylo: Specifications
Price: Rs 6,35,700/- to Rs 8,33,600/- (ex-showroom Bangalore)
Variants: D2,E2,E4,E6,E8
Dimensions
Length: 4520 mm
Width: 1850 mm
Height: 1895 mm
Wheel Base: 2760 mm
Ground Clearence: 186 mm
Kreb Weight: 1830 kg
No. of Doors: 5
Seating Capacity: 7/8
Fuel Tank Capacity: 55 litres
Engine
Fuel: Diesel
Type: mEagle CRDe
Capacity: 2498
Power: 112bhp @ 3800rpm
Torque: 240Nm @ 3000rpm
No Of Cylinders: 4
Transmission
Type: Manual
Gears: 5 forward, 1 reverse
