Aussie Motoring

It’s easy to think that everything Toyota does turns into a roaring success. Toyota is currently the top-selling brand in Australia, it leads the pack in the United States, it does very well in Europe and Toyota 4×4’s are known and loved right across the world. Even Toyota’s luxury brand – Lexus – does well across the globe.

But not everything Toyota touches turns to gold and to make things even more embarrassing the lack of gold is best seen right in Toyota’s own country.

When Toyota launched the Lexus brand some years ago they decided not to market the brand in Japan. In most western countries the Lexus brand has been a success with sales meeting or even exceeding Toyota’s targets.

So Toyota may have been thinking that they were an absolute shoe-in when they launched the Lexus brand into Japan last year. The reality must have come like a cold shower to Toyota executives.

That reality was that Toyota missed it’s Lexus sales target by almost half in a market place that is besotted with thoughts of BMW and Mercedes.

However, the reality of the Japanese car market has not stopped Toyota from taking the game up to the European competition. A few days ago Toyota/Lexus launched the LS460 into the very top of the luxury car market.

At a price range of $US66,000 to $US82,000 this is definitely not your average white-collar worker’s car but then you wouldn’t expect it to be. With such juicy equipment as a pre-crash safety system, radar cruise control and a 4.6 litre V8 it was never going to be cheap.

Future tweaks will include two new gas-electric models that will be powered by a 5.0 litre V8.

Will this put Toyota/Lexus back on top on its home turf? Only time will tell but BMW certainly isn’t resting on its laurels and they too have an interesting new power plant to add to their range.

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., today unveiled long bed versions of the all-new 2007 Tundra full-size pickup truck at a press conference at the Toyota Technical Center-Calty Design Studio in Ann Arbor Michigan yesterday.

For the first time ever, aftermarket equipment manufacturers will have the opportunity to obtain technical data and examine the Tundra Long Bed work truck in detail five months prior to the vehicle’s launch.

In private sessions closed to the public, and closed to other truck manufacturers, NTEA members will be afforded an early first-look at new, yet- to-be-launched pickup trucks. On Wednesday, September 20, Toyota will participate in an NTEA measuring session, where it will show, for the first time, two truck configurations developed specifically for work truck customers who consider their full-size pickup truck the most important tool in their bag.

The new Tundra Long Bed will be available in Regular and Double Cab versions. With a 165-inch wheelbase, the Tundra Double Cab Long Bed will be the longest pickup in the Toyota truck lineup. It will be suitable for carrying a crew of six plus maximum cargo. The Tundra Regular Cab Long Bed will provide extra storage capacity behind the driver’s seat and the largest interior volume in its class.

Both long bed configurations will come with a choice of three engines, including a 5.7 liter V8 that offers maximum towing of well over 10,000 pounds and a payload capacity to compete with the best in the half-ton class.

Tundras will be equipped with oversized door handles and controls, designed so that work crews can jump in and out of the truck to move around a job site without taking off their work gloves. The cab is designed to function as a mobile office with a center console capable of holding a laptop or hanging file folders.

On bench seat models the center seat section folds down to create a flat surface for use as a mobile desk. The glove box is big enough to hold a standard Thermos, and to aid safe hands-free communication, Bluetooth capability is available.

The SR5 grade Tundra Long Beds will be a popular configuration for foremen, supervisors or owner-operator tradespeople. The SR5 will offer a wide variety of functional options, appearance accessories, and upgraded fabrics and trim.

Now that is quite some truck but not one we’re likely to see out here in Australia.

Ajax Fasteners, the parts manufacturer that supplies specialest screws and clips to all four Australian car manufacturers has managed to stay in business until at least Friday.

Aussie Motoring reported back on August 12 that the company was on the brink of collapse and if it did go the consequences for Ford, Holden, Mitsubishi and Toyota would be dire. (You can read that report here)

Somehow the company managed to trade through Monday and Tuesday but workers on the first shift this morning reported to work with the expectation of being stood down. However overnight the four Australian car makers managed to cobble together a plan that will see Ajax Fasteners last until at least Friday.

It’s hard to believe but that headline is closer to fact than fiction. As reported on August 8 in More Supply Problems for Holden and Ford the industry is in dire trouble as another parts supplier is on the brink of closure.

Ajax Engineering Fasteneters, a company that supplies fasteners and bolts for Holden, Ford, Toyota, Mitsubishi and PBR Australia, is in voluntary administration and now cannot afford to pay it’s workers. Union spokesperson, Bill Shorten, claims the company needs $450,000 by Monday to pay workers and a further $2 million by the end of next week.

Unless the money is forthcoming the Administrator will have no choice but to close the plant. If that happens 200 people will be out of work immediately but that’s just the start. It’s estimated that PBR will run out of stock in less than 24 hours, Holden will be out of stock on Monday and Ford may just last till later in the week.

Re-supply is not just a matter of ducking down to the nearest Bunnings store and picking up a few packets of screws either. While fastemers and bolts may not sound very high tech what we’re talking about here are specialty products designed and produced for particular applications. Finding a new supplier will take months.

Talks aimed at providing a rescue package have been taking place between the Administrator and the stake-holders but one stake-holder has been unable to agree to the terms of a funding package.

You can read more about this looming disaster in the Australian car industry here

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries announced today new car sales continue to lag behind sales for the same time last year. 1079 fewer new vehicles were sold during July than for July 2005. That monthly drop now means that 3.1% fewer new cars have been sold so far this year compared to the same period last year.

Toyota sold the most number of new vehicles with 16,977; Holden came second with 11,129 new vehicles sold and Ford could only manage third with 9,627.

The top selling car was the Toyota Corolla with 4711 units sold during July. Holden sold 4022 Commodores and Ford sold 3951 Falcons.

Kia

On a worldwide basis Kia reported a 2.3% decrease in overseas sales despite recording 1.8% increase in US sales. In Europe, where Kia is in the midst of bringing a new plant online, sales were down 1.4% although that drop in sales may turn around when they release their new European built small car code named the ED in December.

The new European built Kia will only be sold in Europe

If you happen to live in a tourist destination or you spend a lot of time travelling on the highways around this great country you will know just how popular motor homes are becoming here in Australia. You will see everything from old Bedford buses converted into quite rough and ready accommodation right through to the well-known Winnebago palaces on wheels.

What you won’t see so many of are custom built motorhomes like this one.

Ross Bonney started with a 1997 Toyota Coaster and in 2002 turned it into this luxury motorhome. Ross spent many years in the house boat industry and it shows in the quality of his workmanship and his attention to detail.

The fittings include:

TV/Video CD player

Full size double bed

Pull-out barbeque

Separate toilet

Seperate vanity

Smev glass-top stove and sink

Microwave

3 way fridge

240/12 volt power

Factory air and

R/O awning

When you see motorhomes like this one it’s no wonder that they are proving popular for tourists and boomers who really want to enjoy their retirement.

And if you want to travel Australia in style then Ross has this beautiful unit on the market for just $79,5000.

You can email Ross for further details at: rmbonney4655@hotmail.com

A trip to Brisbane from Hervey Bay on a Sunday afternoon usually takes around four to five hours and even though a some of the trip is along a multi-lane highway up until recently you could expect the traffic to be heavy and moving very slowly on that multi-lane part of the trip.

Last weekend the trip took less than 3.5 hours and the traffic could not have been described as heavy at all. So has the increased cost of fuel finally hit the Australian motorist? If it has what can we expect to see in the short-term future for the Aussie motoring industry?

Already we’re seeing Mitsubishi going from bad to worse as their great white hope - the 380 sedan - turns into a great white disappointment. In fact the 380 has been such a poor seller that within a few weeks of the release of the car Mitsubishi reduced the numbers rolling off the production line and then began discounting the car to encourage sales.

Now the South Australian government is propping up the company by ordering over 680 of the model for the Government fleet. More than 500 of those will be delivered by the end of June.

And there is no doubt that Mitsubishi is in dire need of help; sales of their vehicles - including imported models - fell by 10% over the period from May 2005 to May 2006.

A 10% fall in sales is far above the industry as a whole. Sales for the industry as a whole are down 2.8% this year compared to last year with Holden and Ford continuing to fall behind Toyota. To the end of May sales of Toyota vehicles had reached 82,227 compared to 60,792 for Holden and 48,496 for Ford.

American Motor Vehicle Sales

Perhaps the Australian motor vehicle industry will be looking to America for some hint of what’s to come where, despite discounting and other incentives, the US manufacturers continue to fall behind the European and Asian manufacturers.

Comparing figures for May 2005 with May 2006 show that Chrysler’s sales are down 14% and Ford is down 1.9%.

Toyota continues to race ahead of the pack continually posting record sales months and May 2006 was no exception. Other companies with increased sales during May were Volkswagen Hyundai, Mitsubishi (yes in the US Mitsubishi recorded increased sales during May mainly thanks to the Galant), Audi, Mercedes, Mazda, Subaru and BMW.

The only foreign cars to buck the positive trend in the US were Volvo and Mini.

The Mitsubishi Galant - popular with the American motoring public.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Toyota is issuing a world wide recall for 986,000 vehicles across nine models that includes the Prius. The recall is to replace a faulty part in the steering system.

Letters should start going out to owners around the middle of this month and you can read the full story here

I come from back in the time when any self respecting Aussie teenager spent Saturday’s working on his car. Back then a dual throat Webber was a great start to turning a placid little Mini into a fire-breathing monster and if your exhaust pipe wasn’t wider than the funnel on the Manly ferry you were inferior.

It’s easy to think that those days are gone now that we have let computers come between drivers and their cars. I mean how the heck to you turn something like a Prius into a machine that will drop wheelies in all forward gears?

Well perhaps they haven’t gone away after all and in a world of high-tech cars we know have geeks instead of the petrol-heads of old.

These days it’s not about tuning your carbies and playing with the timing - it’s all about tweaking your onboard computers and it’s a world where geeks rule. These days you don’t hot up your Prius - you hack it instead and hacking your Prius has become a mandatory for any self-respecting geek.

Here in Australia many of the television ads for motor vehicles that we are force fed are … well … basically dull, boring rubbish.

But things are a little different overseas where a television ad for the latest Toyota RAV4 looks something like this

Before you watch it just be warned - don’t have any food or drink in your mouth while it’s playing - Aussie Motoring will take no responsibility if you should die laughing