Toyota Extends Production Halt until March 22

The ongoing disaster in Japan caused by Friday’s massive earthquake and tsunami is forcing many automakers to extend production halts on domestic plants well into next week. Today, Toyota announced that it has decided to continue the vehicle-production halt started on March 14 at all of its plants in Japan, including all subsidiary vehicle manufacturers, through March 22. According to reports, the suspension of production has already cost Toyota some 40,000 vehicles up until now.
“A decision on when vehicle production will resume in Japan has yet to be made,” the company said in a written statement.
However, the world’s largest automaker noted that it will resume production of replacement parts for vehicles already on market beginning on Thursday, March 17, adding that it also plans to restart manufacturing parts for overseas production on Monday, March 21. 

Honda, Nissan and Toyota Donate $3.75 Million Each for Japan

The massive earthquake followed by the even more devastating tsunami that struck the north-east coasts of Japan last week has brought together the country’s biggest automakers including Honda, Nissan and Toyota, which announced today that they will donate $3.75 million each for relief and recovery efforts in communities affected by the disaster.
In addition to the contribution in money, Nissan said it is also studying further relief efforts including complimentary provision of vehicles, such as trucks and forklifts, donation of medical supplies and daily commodities including blankets, antiseptics and masks, gift matching donation from Nissan employees, promotion, and support of blood donation activities.
Honda announced that it will donate a total of 1,000 power generators along with 5,000 gas canisters to the people left without electricity, while Toyota is considering the provision of goods and services as needed.
The three automakers have also announced the closure of some of their factories in Japan. From March 14 through March 20, Honda will suspend all production activities at its plants in Sayama, Saitama, Ogawa, Tochigi, Hamamatsu and Suzuka, plus all facilities in the Tochigi area, where damage was more serious. From March 15 through 20, Honda will also suspend production at the Kumamoto factory.
Nissan announced that operations at the Tochigi and Iwaki plants are suspended until March 18, while the Oppama, Kyushu, Shatai and Yokohama plants will be closed until March 16. As for Toyota, officials announced that the Hokkaido, Tohoku, Miyagi and Iwate plants are closed, with all employees having been evacuated to safe areas. The factories will remain closed at least until March 16.
Other automakers affected by the earthquake include Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Suzuki, which have either suspended or slowed down production because of supply shortages.

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Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

A massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit the northeast part of Japan earlier this morning triggering a 10-meter high tsunami on the coasts of the country sweeping away homes, cars and buildings. The disastrous earthquake, which was followed by many aftershocks, is said to be the world's fifth-largest since 1900 and the biggest in Japan in 140 years.
The full extent of damages caused by the earthquake and the ferocious tsunami remain unknown for now, but we’re already hearing news of people being evacuated and many homes and factories destroyed.
On the automotive front, Toyota and Honda were forced to shut down some of their production plants and evacuate their workers from several factories in the quake zone. According to reports, Toyota, which has a large manufacturing presence in northern Japan, was affected the most with the shutdown possibly affecting production of cars like the Yaris sedan and the Scion xB and xD models.
Honda initially closed down both its Suzuka and Sayama plants, but production at the first factory resumed shortly after. The Sayama plant, which manufactures the US-bound Fit among other models, remains closed. 

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Test Drivers "Blamed" for the Re-Design of the Toyota FT-86 Coupe

Toyota's FT-86 II pre-production concept car displayed at the Geneva Motor Show last week attracted a lot of attention, with many viewing the car's styling as a step back from the FT-86. However, as Toyota explained, these changes were not imposed only by designers, but by the company's test drivers and safety regulations as well.
More precisely, the feedback received from the test drivers after the early development stages had the biggest influence on the look of the FT-86 II. The most important change requested was to move back the A-pillars by around 100 mm at the base, which led to a more vertical windscreen.
“We had feedback from drivers who felt that the angle of the A-pillars created a type of ‘tunnel vision’,” Akihiro Nagaya, head of Toyota design division, told Autocar. “This could sometimes make the car hard to place on the road, particularly at higher speeds. The theory behind this car remains that of the ‘86’ (the original Corolla AE-86), which was easy and pure to drive, so we had to change it,” Toyota’s official added.
Another important change from the original FT-86 Concept is the taller nose, adopted in order to comply with pedestrian impact regulations, a modification which alters the sharp profile of the original concept. Toyota's designers complicated things even more with overly aggressive styling on the front and rear ends.
So, how many of these changes will we see on the production car? According to Nagaya, the road car will share around 50 to 70 percent of its looks with the FT-86 II. Another interesting statement made by Nagaya was that Subaru's version of this car will look very much like the Toyota, with the approach being similar to the S-Verso/Trezia rebadging work.

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