(Source:  BBC & NYTIMES)

Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, has made its worst annual loss as the global economic downturn has hit demand for its vehicles.  The Japanese company said it made a net loss of 436.94bn yen ($4.4bn; £2.9bn) in the year to 31 March, compared with a record profit the year before.

Toyota said expected to make a bigger loss in the current financial year.  Like many of its rivals, Toyota has cut production, including at its UK plants, as sales have declined. Toyota also blamed the loss on high raw materials prices and a strong yen, which makes its cars more expensive overseas.   “Both revenues and profits declined severely during this period,” said Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe. He said the loss “was a consequence of the significant deterioration in vehicle sales, particularly in the US and Europe”.

Toyota said it expected to make a net loss of 550bn yen ($5.5bn; £3.7bn) in the financial year ending in March 2010.

Analysts say Toyota has strong cash reserves, and is far from the bankruptcy that has claimed the American carmaker Chrysler and that threatens General Motors. Despite a $15.4 billion infusion in U.S. government loans, General Motors burned through about $10 billion in the first quarter, driving its cash reserves down to a bare minimum and putting it on the brink of collapse.

Still, Standard & Poor’s, the ratings agency, on Friday lowered its long-term credit rating on Toyota a notch to AA, the third-highest rating, and gave a “negative” outlook for the company.

“Toyota maintains a minimal financial risk profile, characterized by a strong capital structure with massive liquidity,” Standard & Poor’s said in a statement. But with auto demand forecast to remain sluggish into 2010, Toyota will likely struggle before it can stage a recovery, Standard & Poor’s said.

Toyota’s latest forecast paints a grim picture for the year ahead. Toyota has been hit hard in its biggest market, the United States, where sales have plunged and show few signs of recovering.

In April, Toyota sold 126,540 cars in the United States — a 42 percent drop from a year earlier — slipping behind Ford Motor, which sold almost 130,000 cars.

Toyota has also suffered double-digit percentage drops in Japan as well as in China, where it is losing out to rivals with a wider lineup of smaller cars that have surged in popularity.

Toyota sold 7.56 million vehicles in fiscal 2008, down from 8.91 million units in its blockbuster 2007.

The company has so far held off from laying off permanent workers, who enjoy lifetime employment guarantees. Toyota says that guarantee is a key part of its “kaizen” management principle, in which workers are required to constantly suggest ways to be more productive. But some analysts question how long Toyota can hold off from deeper cuts.

Toyota is counting on its third-generation Prius hybrid, which will be unveiled later this month in Japan, to buoy sales. But the automaker faces stiff competition from its Japanese rival, Honda Motor, whose low-cost Insight hybrid is expected to eat into Toyota’s market share.

In a filing with the Japanese Finance Ministry, it indicated it may sell as many as ¥700 billion in bonds in the next two years, Bloomberg news reported.

The automaker is also rallying around its iconic founding family, tapping Akio Toyoda, the company founder’s grandson, to replace Mr. Watanabe next month. Mr. Toyoda has said he will focus on “green” technology like hybrids and plug-in electric vehicles to bring about a long-term recovery.

The automaker could also benefit from Japanese government stimulus efforts.

Last month, officials unveiled a so-called cash-for clunkers program under which car owners who upgrade to “green” vehicles from cars that are at least 13 years old will receive government subsidies.

Auto threesome? Fiat CEO confirms pursuing partnership with Opel…GM, Opel, Vauxhall, FIAT, UAW/UnionsAs if Fiat doesn’t have enough on its plate while working on an alliance with Chrysler during its bankruptcy proceedings, the Italian automaker’s CEO has finally confirmed that it’s pursuing an alliance with General Motors’ German arm Opel.In the Fiat-owned newspaper La Stampa, CEO Sergio Marchionne said, “Now…from Autoblog

Rendered speculation: Chevrolet Sky-Volt?…disappointment to GM fans was the transformation of the Chevy Volt from concept to production form. The sporty, aggressive concept was to many eyes made too generic for production. One of our readers came up with a novel solution to both problems. Just graft the Volt concept nose onto the Sky and install an adaptation of the Voltec powertrain an…from AutoblogGreen 

REPORT: RWD Commodore platform could underpin Caddies, G8 GT could make a comeback…GM, GMC, Australia Pontiac G8 ST – Click above for a high-res image gallery With Pontiac’s death official, Holden stands to lose around $1 billion annually with the demise of the Pontiac G8. However, Holden doesn’t plan to go quiet into night. The Aussie automaker has drawn up plans to offer the rear-wheel drive Commodore platform to Cadillac an…from Autoblog 

Opel Insignia SportTourer OPC: An Audi S4 Avant-Fighter [Rendered Speculation]…heard that GM is pondering whether or not to bring the Insignia over here as a Buick, but with the current financial situation being faced by the General, we won’t believe anything until we see it. While we’re asking questions — How about an Audi RS4 fighter, or is that asking waaaay too much? [illustration via KORSdesign]from Jalopnik 

eBay Finds of the Day: Pontiac Vibe GT-R and G6 GXP SEMA showcars…world GM division. But for a lucky two, that thrill can be experienced every day on their own driveway as two past Pontiac show cars have popped up on eBay Motors for sale.First up is the Pontiac Vibe GT-R that debuted at the 2002 SEMA show in Las Vegas. Boasting a unique Opera Red Metallic paint job, ram-air induction hood scoop, special body-k…from Autoblog

CNBC’s Dennis Kneale Wouldn’t Know A Car If It Hit Him In The Ass [Auto Tech Wars]…in every GM vehicle. That aux-in jack that can be found in every GM product is the same aux-in jack you’ll find in every Toyota product. But more to the point of supposed technological superiority — find me a Toyota or Honda-branded vehicle with a plug-in-play system that works as effortlessly as Ford’s Sync system. Tell you what — Kneal…from Jalopnik 

Pontiac G8 GXP, Solstice Coupe – Future collectors items? [w/POLL]…lost when GM inexplicably dropped classic names like Bonneville, Grand Prix and Grand Am.We’re not going to disagree with that assessment, but it may not be the whole story. If sales figures alone can predict a future classic, perhaps we should rush out and put a new Solstice Coupe GXP in our driveway. We spoke with Pontiac’s media relations man…from Autoblog

Camaro Police Cruiser: Long Mullet Of The Law [Chevy Camaro]The 2010 Chevy Camaro is likely to attract its fair share of police attention. But what if the new Camaro was the police car? Whoa. Rendered gallery below. The detailed photoshop adds much of the features you’d expect from a police car, including the push-bar and an LED light-strip above the roof. Without many additions the Camaro looks the part of…from Jalopnik 

GM Autosales for April fell 33% – Toyota Falls Behind Ford Ford Motor’s vehicle sales dropped 32% last month, but the healthiest of Detroit’s auto makers outsold Toyota in the U.S. for the first time in at least a year. GM’s sales fell 33%.

REPORT: Largest American Axle plant to idle as work shifts to Mexico…choking GM‘s demand for American Axle components (accounting for 74% of the floundering supplier’s sales). Founded in 1994, American Axle will start moving the facility’s production to Guanajuato, Mexico over the summer. More than 500 of the 700 workers at the Detroit complex will be laid off indefinitely, and only 232 of the company’s most seni…

DetNews columnist warns of the dangers of nationalizing GM…GM, UAW/UnionsDetroit News columnist Daniel Howes has penned a commentary on what he believes the “mind-numbing” future could be if the White House and the United Auto Workers end up with majority control of General Motors.Howes fears that a government-and-UAW-controlled boardroom would end up an echo chamber, with both parties worried mainly ab…

Michigan Screws Up Laid-Off GM Factory Worker Unemployment, Forces Payback [Carpocalypse]…Unemployed former GM factory worker Greg Eddy has his share of problems, but thanks to Michigan’s inability to calculate unemployment benefits, he’s now also getting less money and a whopping $2,400 bill. After Eddy lost his job with GM — twice — he decided to go on unemployment while heading back to school at ITT for a degree in communications….

REPORT: GM won’t pay dealers for franchises, will buy back parts, vehicles…GMIn a special broadcast to dealers yesterday, General Motors’ sales chief, Mark LaNeve, explained that the automaker would buy back unsold new vehicles and parts from dealerships slated to be phased out by the end of 2010, but GM wouldn’t pay off dealers for their franchises.As reported earlier this week, GM plans to cut it U.S. dealerships by …

GM makes the case for testing E15 ethanol blend…GM has long been a proponent of using high-level ethanol blend, E85, in motor vehicles. But, with all of the talk of putting E15 or E20 (gasoline with 15 or 20 percent ethanol blended in) into the national supply – see these earlier posts about the EPA, the Minnesota Ag Department, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Underwriters Laboratories…

First Camaro Crap-Out Comes 40 Miles From Dealership [Chevy Camaro]Maybe worse than the first Camaro wreck is the first Chevy Camaro breakdown. This “p**sy magnet” Bumblebee-yellow Camaro lost all electrical power and coasted to a stop with a scant 40 miles on the odometer. The ecstatic new owner, a forum fan-girl by the name of BUMLB, was crushed when the car conked-out cruising through a parking lot at a leisure…

AFS Trinity brings “150 mpg” plug-in hybrids to Capitol Hill for some sweet stimulus cash…an old GM plant and build “hundreds of thousands of plug-in hybrids” that could be sold for just $8,000 more than the non-hybrid versions. Gallery: AFS Trinity Cross Country Trip with XH-150[Source: NYT]Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Legislation and PolicyAFS Trinity brings “150 mpg” plug-in hybrids to Capitol Hill for s…

Chevy Volt: First Drive? [Vaporware]We’d love to drive the Chevy Volt test mule like Wired and others, but we’re pretty sure the Volt PR team is afraid of us. As well they should be. We actually have readers. [Wired]

Saturn’s death could hurt GM CAFE numbers…part of GM. One of the primary reasons that Saturn is being disposed of is poor sales. There is, however, one exception to that sales record: hybrids. So far, Saturn has accounted for about a quarter of GM‘s sales of hybrids. Saturn also had the best CAFE numbers of any GM division, thanks to the absence of any full-size body-on-frame vehicles o…

Killing Saturn Kills 25% Of GM Hybrids [Carpocalypse]…of GM hybrids. Damned if they do… [AutoNews via AutomobileMag]

Clash of the Titans: Fiat reportedly squaring off with European Union over mergers…interest in GM‘s European subsidiary Opel, Marchionne is now asserting that would consider the possibility, but that no offer had been made to date.[Source: The Detroit News | Image: Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty]Clash of the Titans: Fiat reportedly squaring off with European Union over mergers originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:…

 More cuts across the board: General Motors to slash dealers, plants and employees…GM, Earnings/FinancialsGeneral Motors’ spate of announcements this morning was bad news for enthusiasts (e.g. the shuttering of Pontiac) and even worse for GM‘s debt-for-equity swap (without a 90% take-rate the automaker is bound for CH 11). But for dealerships and workers, GM‘s re-revised restructuring plan is going to hurt… hard.In addition ..

Pakistani men pray next to a bullet-ridden vehicle parked in the compound of radical Lal Masjid or Red mosque in Islamabad.

Though it has no direct significance to transportation, this image was too impressive to pass.   Captured from Time’s Today’s Best Pictures (Friday 17 April, 2009 edition), it paints a grim picture of the dangers of living in today’s Pakistan.  It also serves as a warning sign for the dangers that lurk in one of the world most dangerous places – Pakistan.   The question that naturally arises here is – what is the criteria for clearing a vehicle safety inspection in this country where AK-47s are much more feared than the law or those who guard them.  TransportGooru assumes that this vehicle was pockmarked by bullets that flew around during the Pakistan Government’s  crackdown on militants in the Lal Masjid (Operation Sunrise) during July 2007.  A standing testimony for the carnage that happened inside the mosque’s premises that resulted in 154 deaths, and capture of 50 militants.  

Here is an article from BBC with the same vehicle (with captured nearly a few moments before/after the previous one was taken).

(Image Source: Time.com)

(Source: Fox Business)

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) have been under development for more than a decade. While the promise of road-infrastructure based traffic management is still years away, some car manufacturers are moving ahead with autonomous radar-based obstacle detection systems increasing the safety of both drivers and pedestrians.

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

Last summer, when gas cost $4 a gallon, buyers snapped up small cars so fast that dealers couldn’t keep them in stock. Now, with gas prices half that level, almost 500,000 fuel-thrifty models are piled up unsold around the country.

The turnabout comes at a bad time for the struggling U.S. car industry, which has revamped factories and shifted product plans to produce more small cars in coming years. The moves are prompted by coming stricter federal fuel-economy standards and the Obama administration’s car-bailout plan, which encourages auto makers to boost their vehicles’ mileage.

 Practically every small car in the market is stacked up at dealerships. At the end of February,Honda Motor Co. had 22,191 Fits on dealer lots — enough to last 125 days at the current sales rate, according to Autodata Corp. In July, it had a nine-day supply, while the industry generally considers a 55- to 60-day supply healthy.For other models the supply situation is even worse. Toyota Motor Corp. has enough Yaris subcompacts to last 175 days. Chrysler LLC has a 205-day supply of the Dodge Caliber. And Chevrolet dealers have 427 days’ worth of Aveo subcompacts. At the current sales rate, General Motors Corp. could stop making the Aveo and it wouldn’t run out until May 24, 2010.

“I don’t think Americans really like small cars,” said Beau Boeckmann, whose family’s Galpin Ford in southern California is the country’s largest Ford dealer. “They drive them when they think they have to, when gas prices are high. But we’re big people and we like big cars.”

The logjam of small cars is caused in part by the recession, which has sapped sales of all types of vehicles. But it also underscores how badly gasoline prices have whipsawed the industry. A year ago, car companies rushed to react when Americans practically stopped buying large vehicles and flocked to hybrids and small cars.

Click here to read the entire article (Subscription Reqd.  Free Registration available).

(Source: AP via WTOP.com)

 NEW YORK (AP) – Jaguar and Buick surged to the top of J.D. Power and Associates’ closely watched vehicle dependability study this year, tying for the No. 1 spot and dethroning Lexus for the first time since the Japanese luxury brand has been a part of the survey.

Lexus, Toyota Motor Corp.’s luxury brand, took the next spot in the study released Thursday, followed by Toyota’s namesake brand, then Mercury, Infiniti and Acura.

“Buick and Jaguar both lead the industry in nameplate performance,” said Neal Oddes, director of product research and analysis at J.D. Power. “In terms of individual model performance, Lexus and Toyota still do very, very well.”

The annual study measures problems experienced by the original owners of vehicles after three years. Suzuki owners reported the most problems among the 37 brands assessed by J.D. Power.

Despite losing its crown to Jaguar and Buick, Lexus still swept top awards in four segments, while Toyota’s namesake brand took five awards. General Motors Corp.’s Buick LaCrosse was J.D. Power’s top midsize car, while Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln brand took two awards. Chrysler LLC, which took no segment awards last year, won top honors for its Dodge Caravan in the van segment.

Jaguar jumped from the No. 10 spot in 2008, while Buick leapt from the No. 6 spot. The movement is notable for a study that is fairly consistent from year to year, and the results marked the first time Lexus was not either first or tied for first since it was first included in the study in 1995. Oddes said both Jaguar and Buick have made significant improvements recently.

“We see improvements all over the board with Jaguar,” Oddes said, citing fewer reported problems with vehicle exterior, sound system and the overall driving experience. “The improvement at a nameplate level is significant.”

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Financial Times)

Despite the US government’s determination to increase efficiency standards and become energy independent, hybrid cars sales in the US are falling at a ‘breakneck pace’ – even faster than overall car sales, reports the LA Times:

Last month, only 15,144 hybrids sold nationwide, down almost two-thirds from April, when the segment’s sales peaked and gas averaged $3.57 a gallon. That’s far larger than the drop in industry sales for the period and scarcely a better showing than January, when hybrid sales were at their lowest since early 2005.

In July, U.S. Toyota dealers didn’t have enough Prius models in stock to last two days, and many were charging thousands of dollars above sticker price for the few they had.

Today there are about 80 days’ worth on hand, and dealers are working much harder — even with the help of $500 factory rebates — to move the egg-shaped gas-savers off lots from Santa Monica to Miami.

The gist of the story is even though hybrids are more expensive and therefore less attractive to consumers in these recession-bound times, car makers are compelled by government regulations to continue developing them. Hybrid cars are not particularly profitable for the industry either; Toyota only recently began to turn a profit on its Prius.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Forbes)

Automaker’s finance unit is believed to have requested $2 billion loan from Japanese state-backed bank.

Finding it difficult to raise money in the U.S., Toyota Motor is reportedly seeking emergency funding of about 200 billion yen ($2 billion) in dollars from a governmental institution in Japan to support its U.S. auto-financing operations.

Commercial banks have been cautious to grant loans amid the credit crunch, particularly to the slumping auto industry, and Toyota (nyse: TM – news –people ) and several of its financing affiliates have had their credit ratings reduced, hurting their ability to raise money on the capital markets. As a result, Toyota Financial Services, an auto-financing unit of Toyota Motor, is turning to the Japan Bank for International Cooperation as a last resort for low-interest dollar loans, various Japanese media reported Wednesday.

In response to the global financial turmoil, the government funded an emergency JBIC program late last year to provide loans and debt guarantees to help Japanese firms finance operations overseas.

Click here to read the entire article.