SIA assembles three Subaru vehicles, the Tribeca, the Outback and the Legacy. It also assembles the Toyota Camry, under a contract with Toyota. Camry production started last year and this year SIA expects to produce about 90,000 of them.

The 2009 Subaru Legacy PZEV, which is produced in Lafayette, meets a strict “partial-zero” emissions standard set by the California Air Resources Board.

The all-wheel drive (AWD) system of the world’s most expensive hybrid, the Lexus LS 600h L, has finally trickled down to the more conventional drive trains of the LS 460 and LS 460 L luxury sedans.

The AWD versions of the LS 460 and LS 460 L will utilize a drive train almost identical to their hybrid counterpart, with the obvious omission of Toyota’s hybrid synergy drive. The AWD system features a Torsen Limited-Slip Differential (LSD) that distributes drive torque between the front and rear wheels.

Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., today reported August sales of 211,533 vehicles, a decrease of 9.4 percent from last August, on a daily selling rate basis.
The Toyota Division posted August sales of 182,252 units, a decrease of 9.4 percent from last August. The Lexus Division reported August sales of 29,281 units, a decrease of 9.1 percent from the year-ago month.
Toyota Division

Before Batman, Michael Keaton starred in a 1986 movie called Gung Ho, which was not, as you might imagine, a story about America’s foreign policy but about the auto industry. The plot was in the “clash of cultures” genre and it followed the takeover of a struggling American car factory by a Japanese auto giant. Efficient, robot-like Japanese managers fought with their slovenly, free-thinking blue collar workers but eventually they all put aside their differences to save the failing factory.

Toyota Motor Corp says it will start leasing its new fuel cell hybrid next month as part of its efforts to encourage the widespread use of the zero-emission vehicles.

Japan’s top automaker, which has already won strong interest in its fuel sipping petrol-electric hybrids, will lease one of its Toyota FCHV-adv vehicles to Japan’s environment ministry.

TOYOTA has delayed its plans to become the world’s first car maker to sell more than 10 million vehicles annually, the latest sign that global car makers are bracing for a slowdown as robust sales to developing markets fail to offset losses in the crumbling US market.

The Japanese car maker, which is closing in on General Motors as the world’s largest car maker by sales volume, said it aimed to sell 9.7 million vehicles next year, reversing from the target of 10.4 million vehicles it set a year ago.

Japan’s three largest car makers saw domestic auto production rise in July due to a one-off factor, but the outlook for the industry is still uncertain due to sluggish local demand and the impact of a global economic slowdown on U.S. and European sales.
Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.TO), Honda Motor Co. (7267.TO) and Nissan Motor Co. (7201.TO) Wednesday released data showing a jump in July output as year-earlier figures were artificially low due to a major quake that forced the companies to temporarily stop production.

As gas prices topped $4 a gallon this spring, American consumers’ pullback on purchases of large SUVs and pickups hit Detroit’s auto industry like a hurricane.

But what got less attention was the similar upheaval it inflicted on Toyota Motor Corp., the Japanese giant that made its name on small and midsize cars. Having expanded into big pickups, SUVs and luxury cars, Toyota found itself nearly as exposed to Americans’ changing tastes as Detroit was. For the April to June quarter, Toyota’s operating profits in North America fell by 98.9%.

Lexus returns to the annual conference of National Police Fleet Managers on 2–3 September with a range of vehicles well equipped to serve the needs of the nation’s law enforcers.

A full line-up of IS, GS, LS and RX models will be on display at Cheltenham Racecourse, demonstrating the strength in depth of the Lexus brand. Hybrid power cars will be to the fore with the RX 400h and GS 450h presented in full police livery, showing how Lexus has succeeded in combining high performance with excellent fuel efficiency and lower CO2 emissions through its world-leading powertrain technology.

Cho, who is in the country for the 20th anniversary of Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. and the opening of the new transmission line at Toyota Autoparts Philippines, told reporters of the constraints for further plant expansion and growth strategies.

“We have no plan of establishing a new plant in the Philippines because in terms of finished vehicle production capacity, the market is still short,” Cho said.