Toyoda wonders aloud if Toyota has faltered by following GM's lead

During the reign of company President Katsuaki Watanabe, Toyota became the number one automaker in the world, along with amassing $52 billion in cash and marketable securities. That sounds like one of the most amazing runs in the history of the automotive industry, but it's more than a little disappointing to company scion Shoichiro Toyoda.
The 84 year-old Toyoda is apparently the mild-mannered type, but Bloomberg is reporting that he read the riot act to Watanabe and his fellow execs. The news agency's sources say that Toyoda railed Watanabe for being "so anxious to boost sales and profits that he'd let Toyota emulate bankrupt General Motors." Toyoda also reportedly chastised execs for becoming too dependent on large and expensive cars, trucks and SUVs, saying, "customers need to save money."
Toyota may have made $17.7 billion in 2007, but the $4.5 billion it lost in 2008 and the $5.7 billion it expects to shed in 2009 shows that Toyoda may be on to something. If the company is to turn around in the next few years, though, it'll have to come at the hand of another Toyoda. Shoichiro's son Akio takes over as president on Tuesday.
[Source: Bloomberg | Image Source: AFP/Getty]

115 Plug-in Toyota Prius test cars fail to crack 50 mpg average in year-long test

When Consumer Reports tested out the Hymotion L5 plug-in Toyota Prius conversion earlier this year, they weren't overwhelmed with the results. Sure, the mileage they observed was boosted to about 67 mpg over the first 35 miles of the drive, but that didn't match the claims of 100 mpg (or more) that Hymotion and A123 Systems make about their product.
To be fair to Hymotion, their qualifies mileage talk about their plug-in Prius MPG "that can achieve up to 100 mpg for 30-40 miles" this way:

Hymotion PHEV fuel economy is based on independent testing performed at Argonne National Labs and Idaho National Labs. Actual mileage will vary based on each individual's driving style, route, traffic, climate conditions, terrain and other factors.

Unfortunately for Hymotion, there are new results of tests done at the Idaho National Laboratory now available and they might make the company a little less eager to promote the work done by INL. The lab drove two groups of Prius test vehicles (one 40-car fleet and another 75-car fleet) from early 2008 until March 2009 for almost 500,000 miles and found that the average fuel economy tallied 46 and 49 mpg, respectively. As you might expect, driving style and the battery mode (charge sustaining vs. charge depeleting) had a big impact on the figures. You can view the result data in these PDFs: 1, 2. Add it all up, and it sounds like PHEV proponents might want to take former Tesla marketing boss Darryl Siry's advice to electric vehicle manufacturers to heart.
What do you think - are plug-in hybrids the next big thing, an overhyped solution, or something in between? Drop us a line in the comments.

[Sources: Idaho National Laboratory; Hydrogen Car Revolution]

There's a Toyota Prius wait list?

2010 Toyota Prius

Auto sales are down - that's not exactly a surprise to anyone anymore. But Toyota has revived a little something from last summer called a wait list - for people who are interested in buying a new 2010 Prius. According to a story in The New York Times, Toyota is running its Prius production plants in Japan 24 hours a day and offering overtime to workers - even bringing in workers from other areas of the country - to meet demand for the hybrid car. Panasonic EV Energy, the Prius' battery supplier, is also working constantly to keep churning out packs for the model.
This is the effect of those higher-than-expected sales numbers. The NYT says that the waiting list is "several months" long in Japan. While impressive considering the marketplace, Toyota is still warning that 2009 will not be a profitable year for the company.

Yet another crack at Toyobaru

The Toyobaru deserves a place in the mythical creature pantheon with vampires and the Loch Ness Monster -- every official denial is followed by another sighting. The latest speculation on Toyota and Subaru's coupe project provides more details, suggesting specs of 200 hp and 145 lb-ft, MacPherson struts forward and a multilink suspension aft on a 2,700-pound vehicle.
Supposedly the car's mechanicals are Subaru's work; Subaru's 2.0-liter engine is mentioned, but not the Toyota-designed heads that have been mentioned before. The look of the car is on Toyota's shoulders and will come in two slightly different flavors for each marque to sell. The car should cost around $20,000, and expect it to arrive in 2011. Or not. Hat tip to Ben D.
[Source: Road & Track]

2010 Toyota Prius was Japan’s best-selling car in May

Toyota spent most of February tossing and turning in its sleep over competition from the new 2010 Honda Insight. Honda’s new hybrid was the best-selling model in Japan in April; marking the first time a hybrid has held the spot for a monthly sales period. Well, Toyota can now sleep peacefully at night.

For the month of May, Toyota’s 2010 Prius sales beat the Insight, becoming the best-selling car in Japan for the month.

“I think a green car tax break and other incentives helped the sales performance (of the Prius) quite a bit,” Akihiko Otsuka, chief engineer for the new Prius, told reporters.

The 2010 Toyota Prius went on sale on May 18 and was priced about $3,000 less than the outgoing model. Toyota says there were more than 80,000 advance orders for the third-generation model. Towards the end of May, Toyota announced that it will be increasing production of the 2010 Prius to meet better-than-expected demand.

We’re guessing all the Japanese folks listened to Clarkson when he called the Honda Insight ‘Biblically terrible.’ Nonetheless, Honda is planning to have four gasoline-electric hybrids on the road by 2012 including the CR-Z hybrid and a Fit hybrid.

Toyota sees the turnaround coming, ramps up production

Toyota, which reported a 39.5 percent drop in May sales when compared to the same month last year, said that it will be ramping up production of six of its best-selling models over the next three months.

“We see a turnaround coming,” Bob Carter, general manager of Toyota Division, said during a sales call Tuesday.

With nearly a 40 percent drop in sales, what turnaround is Carter talking about? Carter told Automotive News that May sales were up 25 percent when compared to April.

“There was an improvement on the retail side of the business for the entire industry,” he said.

Carter said that North American production will increase by 65,000 units as Toyota increases output of the Camry, Corolla, Sienna, RAV4, Tacoma and Tundra models. All six models posted a sales gain in May over April with the Corolla up 27.2 percent and the Camry up 23.7 percent.

Toyota to stay top-selling car brand in the U.S.

Toyota Motor Corp. will most likely keep its top seller status in the U.S., beating out Chevrolet and Ford for the second year in a row. Toyota topped Chevrolet for the number one spot last year by 41,296 vehicles selling a total of 2.3 million. Sluggish SUV sales due to high gas-prices helped Toyota increase its lead over Ford and Chevrolet earlier this year. The Japanese automaker sold a total of 1.8 million vehicles through November, 185,200 more than Chevrolet.

GM would not comment on the report made by the Detroit Free Press but Ford said that it is more focused on returning to profitability rather than fighting for the sales leader title.

“In times like these, who’s on first is less important than who’s still on the team, meaning who’s still selling cars and trucks,” said George Pipas, Ford’s U.S. sales analyst.

Before 2004, Ford had been the top-selling U.S. brand for 18 years. Chevrolet jumped in on the action in 2004 fighting Ford for the number one spot.

Source: Detroit Free Press