The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Toyota

  • Toyota plans 90 per cent CO2 cuts from cars

    Toyota plans 90 per cent CO2 cuts from cars

    Toyota has revealed the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050—an initiative that is aiming for 90 per cent cuts in average vehicle CO2 emissions, and 100 per cent emission cuts from the company’s factories.

    Along the way, Toyota is also planning to sell 30,000 fuel cell vehicles and seven million more hybrids by 2020. And the company is also arguing that electrified drivetrains will become a much bigger deal in the future too.

    Much like the G7’s promise of eventual decarbonisation, these types of announcements will—simply by virtue of the message they send to markets—shift investment patterns and help make a low/zero emissions future happen.

    Given that Volkswagen (ranked the world’s third largest automaker by volume) is responding to the diesel scandal by promising a major ramp up of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, and that the automotive establishment is being given a serious run for its money by zero emissions upstarts like Tesla (and, in the not-too-distant future, some obscure company called Apple), there is very good reason for the oil industry to be worried. And given that Toyota is by no means the only corporation aiming for 100 per cent renewable energy in its manufacturing operations, the coal giants are likely fretting too.

  • Toyota donates Hilux trucks to military

    Toyota Nigeria Limited has donated five Hilux trucks to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in Maiduguri, Borno State, to aid the ongoing counter insurgency campaign in the Northeast.

    The Chief of the Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin, who received the trucks, expressed gratitude to the management and staff of Toyota.

    A statement issued on Friday by the Acting Director of Defence Information, Col. Rabe Abubakar, quoted Gen. Olonisaki as describing the company’s gesture as a show of public support and approval for MNJTF actions.

    “This donation is a laudable one and very timely, too. This shows that the fight against Boko Haram insurgency will come to an effective end going by the presidential directive.

    “The provision of adequate security, not only in the northeast, but in all corners of the country, is a task that must be done and done quickly too,” Olonisakin was quoted as saying after receiving the trucks.

    The CDS, who was represented at the occasion by Air Vice Marshal Olutayo Oguntoyinbo , promised that the Hilux vans would be used to ensure success of the operation against all forms of guerrilla movements and cross-border crimes around the Lake Chad Basin.

    While charging soldiers to make maximum use of the vehicles, he urged other companies and corporate organizations in Nigeria and countries around the Lake Chad Basin to emulate Toyota’s noble gesture.

    He called on Nigerians to come forward and support the military in the ongoing campaign against terror.

     

  • Toyota to restart production in China

    Toyota Motor Corporation said it will restart production at China plants that were shut after explosions in the city of Tianjin.

    Workers at two lines in the Tianjin Economic Technological Development Area were expected to return last Thursday and start preparation to begin production on Friday, Toyota said in an e-mailed statement.

    Employees at the Xiqing line also were to begin operations.

    Production has been shut at Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Corporation, the Japanese carmaker’s local affiliate, since the August 12 blasts at a chemical storage site in the northern Chinese port city. The explosions killed at least 123 people and injured 67 Toyota workers who live in the area. About 4,700 Toyota and Lexus vehicles were also damaged.

    The automaker said decisions about working overtime or extra shifts to recover lost production will be made as it continues to assess the state of its facilities. Toyota said it can’t estimate lost output at this stage.

    Toyota said it doesn’t expect sales to be “significantly affected” as they have “certain amount of inventory.”

  • Toyota, Amatheon invest $10m in Zambian project

    German firm Amatheon Agri group entered into a joint venture with Japanese car manufacturer Toyota, to finance agribusiness projects in Africa.

    According to a statement, the two companies will invest $10 million (or approximately Shs 36 billion) into commercial farming of cereals, such as maize, wheat and soya in Zambia.

    The international trading company, Toyota Tsusho, a subsidiary of the Toyota group, is already active in 53 countries in Africa while Amatheon Agri is a German agribusiness and food company that operates sustainable agricultural projects in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Uganda.

    The group also invests in the food processing sector.

    Already, Amatheon has opened up large-scale farms, and is growing maize and sunflower in Nwoya district. The firm recently embarked on plans to start similar farms in the eastern parts of the country.

    The founder/Chief executive officer/ founder of Amatheon group, Carl Heinrich Bruhn, explained in the statement that the joint venture between them and Toyota highlights the increasing importance of the agricultural sector across Africa.

    The partnership will culminate into the building of a large-scale agro-project of 2,700 hectares of land for growing maize, wheat and soya, Bruhn said.

    The collaboration of the two companies is part of the overall development of Amatheon’s already 40,000 hectares titled farm block and the Amatheon Agri group will act as the majority stakeholder and operating partner of the company.

    Bruhn adds that the project represents both companies’ shared understanding of responsible and profitable investment in the growing agricultural sector of Africa.

  • Defective cars: CPC demands status report from Toyota, others

    The Consumer Protection Council (CPC), as part of its efforts at safeguarding the interest of consumers, has requested franchise holders of four top world’s car brands in Nigeria to within seven days provide information on the status of their vehicles in relation to the faulty front passenger airbag inflators, which have prompted the recall of the brands’ implicated models from the market worldwide.

    The council, determined to ensure Nigerian consumers, who purchased these implicated models from the franchise holders are not left out of the recall policy, had communicated its position to Toyota Nigeria Limited, Nissan Nigeria Limited, Honda Automobile West Africa Limited and CFAO motors Nigeria, the franchise holders for Mitsubishi vehicles in Nigeria.

    CPC’s action came on the heels of the global recall of certain models of the brands from the market due to their front passenger airbag inflators’ defects. Toyota is reportedly recalling 2.86 million vehicles, equipped with certain front passenger airbag inflators in addition to a total of 12.66 million units already recalled. Honda had recalled 19 million, Nissan is to recall 198,000, while Mitsubishi is to also recall 120,000.

    More compelling for its intervention, the council disclosed that it has begun to receive complaints regarding burst airbag, which has a correlation with the reason for the on-going recall of vehicles across the world.

    The government’s agency, in its letter to each of the brands’ franchise holders in Nigeria and signed by its Director General, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, demanded a brief on the issue of the faulty passenger airbag inflators, efforts at sensitising the affected customers and the measures at recalling the faulty vehicles.

    The council’s letter requested each of the franchise holders to within seven days of the receipt of the letter, furnish the council with information on the status of their vehicles in Nigeria “in relation to concerns on the faulty front passenger airbag inflators and measures being taken to sensitise affected consumers and facilitate a quick recall of such vehicles in Nigeria, if any”.

    The council hinted that it has initiated the action in order to ensure that consumers, who purchase these vehicles, are not left out of the benefits of the global recall policy of the auto makers and the compensation fund that may be set up globally for affected consumers because “Nigeria is a very big market, where thousands of consumers purchase and currently possess” these brands of vehicles, which are put to personal and other uses.

    The recall of the different models of vehicle brands worldwide was sparked off by announcement from the airbag maker, Takata, that millions of vehicles recalled could have been equipped with airbags that shoot shrapnel into drivers and front-seat passengers upon deployment.

    Takata Chairman and Chief executive Officer, Shigehisa Takada, according to media reports, had, at a recent news conference in Tokyo, apologized for the crisis, saying his company was considering ways to help victims, including the setting up of a fund to compensate the affected consumers.

    According to the media reports, the defect, thought to be linked to a chemical propellant that helps inflate the airbags, can cause them to deploy with explosive force, sending metal shrapnel towards drivers and passengers.

    The defective front passenger airbag inflators have been reportedly implicated in several deadly accidents, which have resulted in eight deaths worldwide.

  • Toyota breaks ground on centre expansion

    Toyota breaks ground on centre expansion

    A groundbreaking to expand the Toyota Technical Centre near Ann Arbor is further evidence that Michigan is one of two North American pillars for the Japanese automaker in North America.

    Toyota is investing $126 million to add two more buildings to its complex in York Township. One will be a prototype facility for vehicle development; the second is a supplier centre.

    The powertrain development facility on the Ann Arbor Township campus is also being expanded as the automaker develops more of the engines and automatic transmissions here for vehicles that are designed and manufactured in North America.

    The construction is to be completed in late 2016.

    More than 300 jobs are relocating to Michigan, including employees from Erlanger, Ky, who worked in purchasing and supplier engineering as well as some vehicle and powertrain development staff from Calif. Consolidating people from all functions in one campus will make quick decision-making easier.

    The expansion is part of Toyota’s unification of its North American operations with much of the research and development centred in Michigan and the move of the corporate headquarters to Plano, Texas, from Torrance, Calif. Toyota will no longer have a third hub in Kentucky.

    The Toyota Technical Centre opened in 2008 on land acquired from the state of Michigan. There are about 1,200 employees now.

    Toyota has 14 plants in North America, including 10 in the U.S., and employs nearly 40,000 of which 37,000 are n the U.S.

  • Toyota ‘ll unravel Air Bag defects cause, says president

    Toyota ‘ll unravel Air Bag defects cause, says president

    Toyota President Akio Toyoda has vowed to help get to the bottom of the problems with Takata air bags, the recalls for which have ballooned to about 53 million vehicles worldwide, stressing that regaining consumer trust is its concern.

    Doubts are growing about whether Japanese supplier Takata Corporation has the financial muscle to deal with all the defects, a task that could take years. The ultimate size of its financial burden will remain unclear until the underlying cause of the problems is identified.

    Toyoda was solemn when addressing Takata’s woes. He pointed out Toyota Motor Corporation had gone through a similar public-relations disaster over massive recalls that began in 2009, and expanded to some 14 million vehicles worldwide, for problems including faulty floor mats, defective brakes and sticky gas pedals.

    “Recalls are not just about technical problems. If there is a morsel of consumer doubt, then we have to deal with it,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a reception for the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association.

    “We must aggressively pursue recalls. Otherwise, we can’t go forward,” he said.

    The air bag inflators being recalled can kick in with too much force, blow apart a metal canister and send shards flying. The defect has caused at least six deaths and more than 100 injuries worldwide.

    Toyota has been working with the other automakers affected by the Takata defect, including Japanese rivals such as Honda Motor Co., the hardest hit, and manufacturers such as BMW AG, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V., Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. to pinpoint the root of the air bag problem.

    Toyota and nine other automakers hired Orbital ATK, an aerospace and defence technology company based in Dulles, Virgina, to conduct testing on Takata air bags.

    Takata and United States’ authorities, as well as some automakers on their own, are also carrying out tests.

    Although exposure to moisture for extended periods appears to trigger the problem, the root cause is still unknown.

    “It’s like a sickness. You have to find out what’s causing it if you hope to treat it and fix it,” Toyoda said.

  • Self-driving cars and accidents

    Self-driving cars and accidents

    When the self-driving car was first introduced officially a couple of years back, the incidents of auto-crash were expected to become a thing of the past.

    Meanwhile, the new innovation is not impeccable in its self as faults are beginning to emerge. These faults are either man-made or failure in the part of technology.

    According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), in less than thirty years self driving cars will make up 75% of all cars on the road.

    And these would raise the question of how many human beings are ready to commit their lives to the care of a car driving itself through the use of radars.

    The IEED also projected that the number of more autonomous cars by 2040 will provide world traffic lights; stop signals or any visible signals.

    “Intersection equipped with sensors, cameras and radars that can monitor and control traffic flow to help eliminate drivers’ collision and promote a more efficient flow of traffic,” said Dr. Azim Eskandarian of the IEEE.

    It was believed that the production of more self-driving cars will bring about decrease in accident rate, reduction of fuel consumption and decrease in traffic jams.

    We also would not forget the lacuna of job unemployment that would be left open across the global.

    But on the contrary, a couple of accidents have been recorded. Maybe not at the same rate as in the case of manned cars anyways.

    It was recently reported that four out of the about 50 self-driving cars rolling in California were involved in accident since September when the state issued permits to companies to test them on public roads.

    Two of the four cars involved were reportedly in self driving mode and Google, a major partner in the production of the cars, would not discuss the incidents in details.

    In an October 2014 accident involving Delphi, the front of its 2014 Audi Sq5 was moderately damaged when hit from the side by another car while it was waiting to make a left turn.

    In a statement, it claimed that since September, cars driving on streets near its headquarter in mountain view had a handful of minor fender benders, light damages and no injuries.

    Google, who blamed the accidents on female drivers also added that the accidents were caused by human error and inattention.

    According to reports, five other companies have testing permits and they all said no accident so far.

  • Toyota gets first woman executive

    Toyota gets first woman executive

    Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) has promoted more foreigners to senior posts, including the first woman and first African-American to hold executive titles, diversifying a management team long dominated by Japanese men.

    The world’s biggest automaker appointed Europe chief Didier Leroy to become one of six executive vice presidents (EVP) effective after the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in June. He would be the first foreigner to become a Toyota EVP, the highest post to be held by a non-Japanese.

    Toyota also named Julie Hamp, a senior official at Toyota Motor North America, as a managing officer, making the American the company’s first female executive. Christopher Reynolds, an African-American general counsel in North America, will also become a managing officer.

    Hamp’s promotion marks a step in Japan’s drive to narrow the gender gap in the workplace. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called on corporate Japan to appoint women to 30 percent of top jobs by 2020 – a target widely seen as unattainable and opposed by the country’s biggest business lobby.

    Women account for 11 percent of mid-to-senior level management in Japan and one percent of executive committee members, according to researcher McKinsey.

    Toyota has stood out for having few foreign executives – particularly compared with Nissan Motor Co (7201.T), led by Frenchman Carlos Ghosn – given that its home market makes up less than a fifth of its global sales.

    Seven of Toyota’s 57 executives are foreign. With the changes due in June, that number will rise to nine of 58.

     

    “We believe that discussion between people of various backgrounds creates new ideas and increased innovation,” Toyota said, referring to the introduction in 2013 of its first outside directors, including American and former General Motors Co (GM.N) veteran Mark Hogan.

    Frenchman Leroy is a senior managing officer as well as chief executive of Toyota in Europe. The 57-year-old, a one-time Renault SA (RENA.PA) official who joined Toyota in France in 1998, has long been seen as a candidate in the company’s efforts to elevate executives abroad to senior posts.

    As EVP, Leroy will be responsible for all developed markets at Toyota including Japan and North America.

    Hamp will become Chief Communications Officer, and Reynolds will be Chief Legal Officer and Chief Officer of Corporate Planning.

  • Toyota tops Best Global Brands list

    Toyota tops Best Global Brands list

    Toyota is the most valuable automotive brand on this year’s Interbrand’s Best Global Brands ranking.It moved  from 10th to eighth.

    Although Toyota was fined US$1.2 billion by the U.S. Justice Department in March 2014 and recalled nearly 6.4 million vehicles worldwide just a few weeks later, the Japanese automaker met the crisis head on and kept the reputation of its 77-year-old brand intact. This year’s increase in sales demonstrates growth not only in the US, but also in markets like China and Europe.

    This is the 15th annual ranking of the 100 most valuable global brands. The value of each brand is converted into a dollar value to produce the table. The Best Global Brands study is Interbrand’s annual report on the world’s most valuable brands. Interbrand’s method looks at the ongoing investment and management of the brand as a business asset, taking into account financial performance, the role of brand in the purchase decision process, and the strength of the brand.

    Mercedes-Benz, Germany’s automotive pioneer, has revitalised itself with new models and fresh expressions of its brand, resulting in a record 14 percent increase in sales. Sales rose 9.5 percent in the US (Mercedes-Benz’s largest market), demand has been revived in Europe, and the brand is closing in on competitors in China. In India too, the brand is on a roll. Continuing to provide the comfort, performance, and safety consumers have come to expect from the brand, while also offering dramatic styling and innovative new features, it’s no wonder Mercedes-Benz’s models still captivate.

    Honda has been ranked 20th. Although its ranking in 20th place remained the same from last year, according to Interbrand the dollar value of the Honda brand increased by 17 percent to US$21,673 billion dollars.

    Volkswagen comes at 31st. It is hard to find a global car brand that is as clear and consistent in its design and brand story.VW has made German engineering and reliable technology its hallmark.Its latest models, particularly the seventh-generation Golf and the up, remain true to the brand but benefit from minor changes that give them an edge. Remaining relevant and responsive, Volkswagen has persistently strengthened its ‘Think Blue’ sustainability initiative. It recently won Germany’s National Energy Globe Award for the initiative and for its commitment to making its global car plants more sustainable by 2018.

    Ford Motor Co is at 39. With record sales in key markets and its biggest-ever new product line-up, Ford is on a roll. As a result of growth in the North American and Asia-Pacific markets, Ford increased global sales by 12 percent. The Focus is the best-selling car in the world and the F-Series has been the best-selling pickup truck in the U.S. for 37 consecutive years.

    Hyundai drives in at number 40. Delivering on the brand direction ‘modern premium’, the Korean carmaker is riding on its brand slogan, “New Thinking, New Possibilities.” Hyundai is one of the fastest growing automotive brands, in terms of both volume and brand value. At the heart of Hyundai’s growth is its strategy to differentiate and increase relevance by creating customised products.