Apparently the yet to be released $400,000 Lexus Supercar with nearly 560 horsepower is not quick enough for the tastes of some. Lexus is apparently planning to release the LF-A Nürburgring Edition which packs an additional 10 horsepower and a stiffer suspension among other slight improvements. No word yet on the cost of these tweaks, but once you are toying around in the $400,000 range an additional $100,000 is probably fairly inconsequential to prospective buyers.
The utterly bonkers track-spec of Lexus' forthcoming $400,000 monster
A potential LFA buyer lessee has leaked the lease pricing for the car to the guys over at Autoblog, and as expected, it’s going to cost quite a lot, to say the least.
Now, the lease option might’ve made you excited. After all, you couldn’t afford to buy, but the lease option should be much cheaper. Well think again. Leasing the LFA will cost you $12,398.44 a month for 24 months. That adds up to $297,562.56 worth of lease payments over 24 months. Yeah, not really cheap if we’re honest. At the end of the lease, lessees can pay $93,750 to purchase the car.
However, even if you have the money, there are still more obstacles to get around. First off, Lexus has to choose you to lease an LFA. You can’t just walk in to your local dealership and ask for one. All chosen people will be notified between March and June 2010. If you’re chosen, you have ten business days to head to your local Lexus dealership and deposit $10,000. Then you have to pass a credit check. If you pass it, you have put down another deposit of $50,000. Immediately before delivery, the customer has to pass another credit check. Oh, and keep in mind that because of the limited production of 500 units, not all people will be able to purchase one. You’ll have to get a move on if you want one.
Once you’ve passed all that, the biggest cost of the whole process steps in. Remember that $12,398.44 per month figure earlier? Yeah, you have to pay for all 24 months up front (Excluding the $60,000 paid in deposits) thanks to Lexus’ 1Pay Lease Program. So that’s $237,562.56. Lexus claims that this one time payment will be cheaper than if you were to make payments every month, and they’re probably right. Nonetheless, it just makes it even more out of reach for the general public, although I suspect that’s the purpose. After all, they stated a while back that they only want the classiest of people driving their LFAs.
We’re not done yet however. There’s also a $700 acquisition fee, tax, license, title and registration fees, insurance coverage and a 15,000 mile per year mileage limit. If you exceed that limit, you’re charged $0.20 per extra mile. Also, the vehicle will be inspected for excessive wear, and if anything is found, the lessee has to pay to get it repaired.
Despite being a lease though, lessees can customize their car with a choice of colours, configurations, interior materials and optional extras. To add insult to injury though, many of these customizations will cost you extra money. For example, leather stitching in a choice of nine custom colours costs $1,000, polished wheels costs $2,500, and if you want it painted in matte black, which I personally would, prepare to cough up a whopping $20,000.
Long story short: The Lexus LFA is ridiculously expensive. You can read more details on the lease, as well as the option extras, below.
Pricing Announcement
Lexus LFA Pricing Announcement
Lexus is pleased to announce the launch of the LFA, Lexus’ first ever supercar that delivers world-class design, performance, and cutting edge technology.
A Race Car that is Street Legal A radical departure from standard Lexus development, a band of engineers approached the LFA from a non-traditional angle, pushing their technological, material, and engineering boundaries every step of the way. The result, a tour de force powered by a 4.8L V10 engine that generates 552 hp and a remarkable 9,000rpm redline. Reaching 60 mph in 3.6 seconds with a top speed over 200 mph = Super High Performance! This race-inspired power plant is mated to a uniquely developed six-speed Automated Sequential Gearbox (ASG) with paddle shifters for ultimate driver control.
Weight-saving measures were implemented in every area in the development process. The LFA features advanced Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) construction for its chassis and much of its bodywork to deliver a light, extremely strong, and impact-resistant structure. It also has carbon ceramic brake discs, and a host of other technological marvels.
Production and Pricing Start of production will begin December 2010. Consumers will be able to choose from three configurations at the Base MSRP price of $375,000.
⇒ Configuration 1
Leather or Alcantara seats and trim in three standard colors
⇒ Configuration 2
Configuration 1 plus Navigation & Mark Levinson
⇒ Configuration 3
Configuration 2 plus Lexus Enform™ with Safety Connect™, which provides Destination Assist, eDestination, Automatic Collision Notification, Stolen Vehicle Location and Enhanced Roadside Assistance; Lexus Insider™; Voice Command; XM® Satellite Radio, XM NavTraffic®, XM NavWeather™ and XM® Sports & Stocks (includes 2 years of XM & Telematics subscription fees).
Consumers will have a tremendous amount of customization opportunity with each LFA thanks to: Exterior
10 Standard Exterior colors that may be chosen at no additional cost
20 Special Exterior colors (Note: These require additional lead-time for the order/production cycle)
3 Wheel finishes*
1.⇒ 6 Brake Caliper colors*
Interior
3 Standard Interior colors in Leather or Alcantara
9 leather colors and 7 Alcantara colors*
An interior divided into multiple zones, each customizable by several colors, down to the stitching itself
*Please note: Some customization selections have additional costs. Please see Appendix for detailed information
Customer Notification
Customers will be notified within a March – June 2010 timeframe of their opportunity to order a Lexus LFA. Due to the limited production of the Lexus LFA of 500 cars globally, and customer response which has exceeded the number of available cars, it is possible that not all customers who expressed interest will have an opportunity to order a Lexus LFA.
Once customers are notified of their opportunity to order a car, they will have 10 business days to place a $10,000 deposit with, and submit a credit screening form to, their dealer. A customer must obtain credit approval in order to remain eligible to order an LFA. If the customer’s credit has not been approved, the customer will not have the opportunity to order an LFA.
Once credit is approved, the customer will deposit an additional $50,000 with their selected dealer at the time they place the order for their car. A second credit approval immediately prior to the scheduled delivery date must also be obtained in order for the customer to take delivery of the LFA.
If you have any questions about the notification and/or ordering process, please contact [REDACTED].
LFA Lease Program is through Lexus dealer and Lexus Financial Services
All LFAs will be available only through a 1Pay 24 month lease via your Lexus dealer and Lexus Financial Services (LFS). You will have the option to purchase the Lexus LFA at lease maturity.
1Pay Lease Program for 24 months The LFA 1Pay Lease program is structured for you to prepay all monthly payments in a single payment at lease signing. In general, this single total lease payment is less than the amount you would pay over the life of a conventional lease.
How will the 1PAY lease work?
¾ Special reduced lease rate will apply.
¾ 24 monthly payments are calculated and collected in one lump sum (1PAY) at lease
inception. ¾ Any deposits made on the LFA will be applied to the 1PAY amount due
What will payments look like on a 1PAY lease?
Rates used to calculate payments are for example purposes only and are subject to change and will vary depending on final price of the vehicle and credit qualification.
Lease payments do not include acquisition fee, sales tax, license, or title & registration fees.
A $700 acquisition fee is due at lease signing. A security deposit is not required.
The lease example above assumes a mileage limit of 15,000 miles/year.
LFS Lease FAQs
What is the credit application process?
The credit application process is a two-step process:
Step 1 – Complete a credit application which will be reviewed by your Lexus dealer and LFS at the
time the first deposit of $10,000 is placed with the dealer.
Step 2 – Upon vehicle arrival at the dealership, a second review of your credit prior to delivery of
the LFA.
Is there an acquisition fee due?
Yes, the standard acquisition fee of $700 will be due at lease inception.
Are there any additional fees due at lease signing?
Yes, all sales and/or use tax, license, title and registration fees are collected at lease inception.
How about Insurance coverage?
Customer is responsible to provide insurance coverage information to the dealer at lease
inception and maintain coverage throughout the lease term.
Can customers purchase the vehicle?
Per the terms of the lease agreement, at the end of 24 months (lease maturity), the customers may
purchase their vehicle for the purchase option amount listed on the agreement.
What happens if the customer wants to turn in their vehicle prior to the lease maturity date?
Per the terms of the lease agreement, the vehicle cannot be returned prior to the lease maturity
date.
Is the lease transferable?
No, during the term of the lease, customers will not be able to transfer the lease or vehicle to third
parties. However, in the event of a deceased consumer lessee, the consumer’s estate will have the
option to transfer the lease to a qualified transferee.
Can I lease the vehicle in my business name?
Yes, you can elect to lease the vehicle in your business name.
If the customer does not purchase the vehicle at lease maturity, are they responsible for any
excess mileage, or wear & use charges?
Yes. Per the terms of the lease agreement, any mileage that exceeds the amount listed on the
lease agreement will be assessed a charge of 0.20 cents per mile for each mile that exceeds the
contract limit. In addition, the vehicle will be inspected for excessive wear & use and any resulting
charges are the customer’s responsibility.
APPENDIX
Customers can choose between 3 configurations: All at $375,000 Base MSRP INTERIOR COLORS APPENDIX cont’d
Configuration 1
Leather or Alcantara Seats & Trim in three standard co lors
Configuration 2
Configuration 1 plus Navigatio n & Mark Levinson
Configuration 3
Configuration 2 pl us Lexus Enform with Safety Connect, which p rovi des Destination Assist, eDestination, Automatic Col lision Notification, Stolen Vehicle Location, and Enhanced Roadside Assistance; Lexus Insid er; Voice Command ; X M Satell ite Radio, XM NavTraffic, XM NavWeather, and XM Sp orts & Stocks (includes 2 years of Telematics subscription fees)
Exterior Colors
- 10 Basic Colors
No Cost
- 12 So lid Colors*
$3,000
- 7 Metallic Colors*
$3,0 00
- 1 Matte Color
$20 ,000
- Custo m Co lors
TBD
Wheels
- Painted
No Cost
- IS F Finish (Dark G raphite)
No Cost
- Polished
$2,500
Brake Caliper Colors
- Black, Red
No Cost
- Yello w, Blue, Silver, Gold
$1,000
Interior Colors
- Red, Black, Camel Yellow
No Cost
- Stitching (9 special colors)
$1,000
- Steering Grip (9 special colors)
$1,500
- Seat Front (9 special colors)
$2,50 0
- Seat Back ( 9 special colors)
$2,50 0
- I/P & Door (9 special colors)
$2,500
- Carpet (black, cream , red, camel yellow, blue)
No Cost
- Floor Mats (black, cream, red, camel yellow, blue)
No Cost
- Headliner (black, red, camel yell ow)
No Cost
- Metallic Ornamentatio n (satin silver or blackish brown)
No Cost
Seats & Trim
Alcantara Seats
No Cost
Alcantara Trim
No Cost
Headlamp Washer
$100
Winglets
$200
* Special Selection Colors will only b e available for LFA s produced from December 2011.
BANGKOK, 21 Maret 2010 - Pertarungan di segmen kelas sedan terasa begitu ketat. Setelah Honda City meluncurkan New Honda City versi facelift, kini giliran Toyota dengan Vios yang bersalin rupa. Awal Maret lalu, Toyota Thailand telah meluncurkan sedan 1.500 cc yang telah direvisi itu ke pasar.
“Kami melakukan perubahan pada sedan laris itu, baik pada tampilan luar maupun dalam,” ujar sumber Toyota Thailand seperti dikutip theauto.
Sementara itu, situs autoincar.com memperlihatkan sedan andalan Toyota itu kini menggunakan grill anyar berbentuk v-shape dengan sentuhan chrome dan lampu belakang multi-reflector. Sedangkan di bagian kaki-kaki, velg ukuran 15 inci dipadu dengan ban 185/60 R15.
“Ubahan lainnya terlihat pada lampu spion yang kini memiliki lampu sign,” sebut sumber Toyota
Pada bagian kabin, aura kemewahan terpancar dari kulit kelas wahid yang membalut tuas transmisi dan lingkar kemudi. Bahkan, kini Toyota kontrol audio diletakkan di lingkar kemudi sehingga memudahkan pengemudi untuk memilih dan memindahkan saluran hiburan yang diinginkan.
Sementara untuk menambah kenyamanan dan kemudahan sepanjang perjalanan, Toyota menambahkan piranti Multi-Information Display (MID) yang menyajikan beragam informasi. Walhasil, tampilan Vios anyar itu tak hanya memancarkan kemewahan tetapi juga selangkah lebih maju dalam teknologi penunjang kenyamanan.
Tetapi untuk dapur pacu, Toyota Vios facelift itu masih menggunakan mesin lama. spesifikasi lama. Mesin 1NZ-FE DOHC 16 Valve VVT-i 1.500 cc itu mampu menyemburkan 109 daya kuda pada 6.000 rpm dan torsi 141 Newton meter pada 4.200 rpm.
Lantas kapan Toyota Indonesia meluncurkannya di tanah air? “Tidak lama lagi. Pokoknya tahun ini, apalagi Vios merupakan salah satu sedan laris Toyota . Sehingga kami juga harus memberikan penyegaran untuk memberikan yang terbaik bagi pelanggan,” papar sumber di Toyota Astra Motor.
Sebelumnya, disebut-sebut Vios facelift itu bakal diboyong ke arena Indonesia International Motor Show 2010 pada Juli mendatang. Di situlah Vios ini sekaligus diluncurkan.
The SNL skit below parodies the Toyota break failure situation, showing a couple whose breaks give out as their Pirus careens about. The joke: it’s a Ford commercial.
When I viewed this parody advertisement for the first time, the pre-roll (actual) advertisement was for Toyota—explaining how their people were dealing with the recent design problem.
I like to think there is a marketing manager/media buyer from Toyota somewhere pulling her hair out about this.
Of course, Toyota could have asked for this placement as well, just to let you know it is all a joke. In that case, that marketing manager/media buyer is pretty suave.
Also, I think the parody advertisement would have been better if it somehow rehashed Ford’s history of designing defective cars – e.g., the Ford Pinto.
The big news this week was an effort to preserve Frank Lloyd Wright’s Bradley House in Kankakee, one of the epochal early Wright Prairie Houses. Blair Kamin did a bangup job of covering the issue in the Tribune here. A local Wright in Kankakee group is trying to raise money to buy the house and make it a house museum and education center. The bottom line is the $1.9 million price and the more immediate concern of an additional $100,000 for the down payment beyond the $70,000 already raised. I can recall when the house was law offices and Kamin’s article notes that the owners for the last 5 years, the Halls, have been ideal, keeping it together and restoring it. With 100 art-glass windows, the house could be worth almost as much in pieces as it is put together. The real challenge is not simply the purchase price, but the ongoing operations, since house museums rarely generate more than a quarter of operating costs from admissions. The Bradley House either needs an angel to subsidize the purchase and an endowment, or it needs more angels like the Halls who will care for it as the treasure it is.
My other news clippings this week included a plan to restore the iconic 1957 Inland Steel Building using the Cook County Class L landmark tax incentive, which basically halves a commercial building’s tax liability for a decade. What’s the catch? It has to be a locally designated landmark and you have to spend half the value of the building on the rehab. The announcement came just days after the death of Bruce Graham, the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill architect who designed the building, or rather, completed the design that Walter Netsch had started, making the building a rare collaboration between the two SOM protagonists.
Inland Steel has a fascinating landmarks history. On a flower planter near the Monroe entrance you can find a 1960 plaque from the first, toothless 1957 Chicago Architectural Landmarks law, an add-on to the famous zoning ordinance that doubled the city’s density. Inland Steel was included in “Chicago’s Famous Buildings” and considered a Chicago Landmark WHEN IT WAS BRAND NEW! It epitomized the structural bravado that seemed the salient characteristic of Chicago School architecture, carrying its steel frame on the OUTSIDE and creating completely open floor plans serviced by a separate, windowless tower than contained all of the functional necessities. It is such an icon modern starchitect Frank Gehry is a partner in the building and has designed a new desk for the lobby.
Finally, Wrigley Field announced it wanted to put up a giant illuminated Toyota billboard above the left-field bleachers. What can I say – Toyota and the Cubs: what a co-branding opportunity!
Two teams you can trust – until September comes!
Don’t put the brakes on the Cubs season!
As if Toyota wasn’t enough of a target for regulators and Congress, now it is going to be a target for MLB sluggers?
All joking aside, Wrigley Field is a landmark and the signage would presumably have to be approved by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. It is a big sign, and it is structural. There are plenty of other signs in and around Wrigley Field, so the question is not whether a sign would be allowed but what kind of sign and how big.
Also, Wrigley has had a fair amount of changes approved by the Commission, including an addition in the bleachers that reached out over the public sidewalk at Waveland and Sheffield Avenues and the new club building that appeared last year on Addison.
Time will tell.
Careerbuilder put out a list of the most outrageous excuses for being late to work.
Here’s the list:
I got mugged and was tied to the steering wheel of my car.
(And my car’s a Prius)
My deodorant was frozen to the window sill.
(I didn’t know taxi drivers used deodorant)
My car door fell off.
(It’s a 1 AD Yugo)
It was too windy.
(And that was just from all my hot air)
I dreamt I was already at work.
(Then I dreamt I was fired)
I had to go to the hospital because I drank antifreeze.
(And now the damn car won’t work because I put coffee in it)
I had an early morning gig as a clown.
(I know…what bozo would come up with that excuse?)
A roach crawled in my ear.
(Now I’m starting a business as a roach motel)
I saw an elderly lady at a bus stop and decided to pick her up.
(She was great in bed)
My dog swallowed my cell phone.
(But now the reception’s much better)
*****
Willblogforlols is written for entertainment purposes only. This post was intended to be funnier, but the dog ate my humor.
Andrew Wisot is a freelance writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and an US Weekly Fashion Cop who’s “between jobs.” Andrew will blog for LOLs until he’s employed again or 50,000 miles, whichever one comes first.
Recently the media has had a field day with the malfunctioning accelerator mechanism installed in some Toyota vehicles, and I was going to return the favor by bashing the media, but I decided to do a bit of research first. I was online, looking for an image of an emergency flasher button to insert in my post, and stumbled upon something a bit more interesting.
The italicized text is an excerpt from “Don’t Panic in the Drivers Seat”
“. . . we were sailing the Buick down the freeway when I got pinched behind a slow big rig. When the lane opened up I floored the accelerator and the engine went directly into warp drive. When I cleared the truck and let up on the gas nothing changed, we were still accelerating rapidly and the pedal was stuck on the floor.
It took me less than a second to realize this was a bad thing. I quickly pulled back into the right lane — no doubt to the consternation of the truck driver — flipped the transmission into neutral and slammed on the brakes as I crossed onto the small shoulder, with the engine over revving badly. I brought the big frigate to a stop and turned off the ignition.
This all transpired in just a few seconds, so quickly in fact that the people talking in the back seat didn’t know what had transpired. When I pulled off the road, one of them asked, “Do we have a flat?” Go here to read the whole post:
Stepping on the brakes IS NOT the answer to the stuck accelerator pedal problem. Disable the beast by shutting off the power source – TURN OFF the engine! And like the person in the quote above DON’T PANIC! Easy to say I know.
And this bit of advice is for CNN, highway patrol officers and the rest of the media as well: stop sensationalizing tragedy and dispense some useful information for a change. .
Here you go:
As soon as you think something is not right with your vehicle’s accelerator, put the transmission in neutral (that’s the “N” on the transmission display panel), then TURN OFF the ignition and turn on the emergency flashers (that’s the button with the red triangle on it). Yeh, I know the car will be hard to steer and the brakes will feel like they’re not working, but at least you won’t die or be seriously injured.
Toyota attacked the credibility of a California man who reported that his 2008 Toyota Prius took off last week and stopped only with help from a 911 dispatcher and a California Highway Patrol officer.
The motorist, James Sikes, said his car raced to 94 m.p.h. on a freeway near San Diego last week.
Guys, I’m so bad at keeping up with my schedule. Well…I now have gloves and found my workout gear, so hopefully there’ll be no more excuses. Tomorrow is marching 5 miles and a run of 1 mile, but timed, so I’ll be running hard.
Can I just let you know that I McDonald’s has some good frappés? yeah. The caramel one was really good. I had one while I was waiting for my mom’s car to get an oil change. I also spotted some new vehicles that caught my eye, but I have to continue to tell myself that I need to save. I want to be financially independent, so a car is not in the works any time soon…I don’t think anyway. Besides, I have too high of taste in vehicles to afford anything right now. The average sits around 30K for the ones I lust after…Used Tahoes, MB’s, Jags, LR’s…new VW CC, Toyota Prius, Highlander, used Sequoia. Can I also just say one thing?
I think everyone needs to take a chill on Toyota. It has already been roasted so many times. People are just looking for another person to blame when things go wrong. And on top of it, when you are the world’s largest automaker, when there is even just one recall, it’s bound to be massive. At least Toyota had the decency to fix the problem FREE OF COST. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you Toyota family. I happen to like Toyotas and will stick by that brand through thick and thin. Just because you’ve stumbled doesn’t mean you’ve fallen face-first to the pavement and not had the balls to get back up. But that’s just my perspective. I look at it this way: If God [for purposes of analogy ONLY] left people the first time they stumbled, we’d all be going to hell. You’ve been shown mercy; be merciful in return.
In other news…
I went to the recruiting station today…did an IST. 10:20 run, 70 crunches, and 12 pullups. FAIL. My recruiter says good job, I say 70% is a C minus. Plus I did way more [84, 14] a few months ago. He said to rest assured knowing that there will be some recruits that can only do 13:29, 45, and 3 in the events. Why settle for good when you know there’s better? We’ll see what I can do on Thursday night. That’s the pool function night here…hopefully a few days of crunch-mania is all it’ll take to get me back to the 80’s, and hopefully into the 90’s.
I know someone who bought Toyota (TM) a couple of weeks ago.
I remember telling this person that I was looking to possibly buy TM–IF they dropped to the low 60’s, if not fully drop into the 50’s. During the past 1-1/2 years or so, they’ve been struggling with higher recall levels than usual. However, their PR has been taking HUGE hits since this whole accelerator sticking (made by supplier CTX), causing a lot of accidents.
Traditionally, Toyota has been known to be a well-managed company. When I’ve talked with anyone who has worked at both Toyota and General Motors (GM), they’ve always touted Toyota’s full team involvement when solving problems. This contrasted starkly with GM’s methods (and their management style, I believe, was a big reason they had their downfall).
At the time, this made me think that Toyota’s good management would make the stock a good long-term stock. It might still be a good long term one, but I’ve seen several reasons to be concerned since.
They haven’t seemed to take full responsibility. I haven’t heard anything addressing whether the major failures are caused by
1. Product Quality: If it is the product quality, does anyone know what happened? Did CTX (the accelerator supplier) have print specifications and fail to meet them? If so, do they know which ones failed? Do they know how these products were made incorrectly in the first place? Are they sure they know what adjustments they need to make to avoid repeating the same mistake? What inspection checkpoints are in place? Have there been any new ones implemented?
2. Product Design: If it is the product design, does anyone know what part of the design needs to be changed? Are we sure? How long does it take to test this change? (Usually, the auto industry requires ridiculous levels of testing, taking a long time, even when the part does NOT have any safety characteristics.) Has there been enough time to test any changes to the design? Are there any other cars that have accelerators based upon this design?
You see, they’ve simply said that they will recall these accelerators and replace them. That, to me, sounds like management speak. I haven’t heard or read any assurances they even know what to change, other than people’s recent perceptions of them.
Does that sound like management that will take responsibility for its actions?
Assuming this mismanagement is an aberration–not a peek of more things to come–this problem probably is not solved. There will be more bad news.
Therefore, the stock price has more room to move upward than downward.
Instead, I recommended Ford (F). I’ve been a big fan of its CEO Alan Mulally for a while. He puts out himself as a good leader. In fact, I don’t hear this anywhere else, but it seems like he does a lot of the things that the Japanese car companies did to reach the top.
He’s cutting where he needs. Besides heads (which is always unfortunate, but…) he is truly commonizing carlines across the world. Not only should this improve product consistency, it also should also improve the designs, as the entire world is (or should be) working together. It reduce costs, as parts can be bought at higher volume levels (Although, things do not always work this way since suppliers often tend to be located near their customer’s receiving plants.).
Plus, with the American public rallying behind Ford, there is more room to move upward than downward. (Mind you, they have serious debt issues to address, but with Mulally at the helm, I’m betting that they find a way to solve these, too.)
I took a long time to address the main point.
I believe that my friend bought Toyota (TM) instead of Ford (F), because this person likes Toyota cars better than Ford cars.
Point: Just because the company is good and the products are, too, it does not mean that the stock is a good buy at the current market price.
Since then, Toyota has stayed about the same. In fact, I think it might have risen a little. (My friend bought shares around $73. Today, it is about $77.)
Ford was around $11.50. Today, it is over $13.
That’s too short a time period to be sure of anything, but I think it’s worth noting.
Apples are good for you–nobody can deny this–but this does not make them a good buy at $50/apple.
Know your products. Know your company. Know your prices.
Remember how I told you Mommy went a little “mad” and started giving stuff away for free this month? At first I thought one too many boring snow days around here got to her, but now I understand why she does it. So far we have a fan referral contest going on the Facebook page (get the details by “fanning” our page and visiting the discussion tab there, it’s been extended to 3/31) and we played some games and did real time T-shirt giveaways on the page as well. It has been a lot of fun meeting our blog readers and Facebook fans and now more people know about us and what we do, so I get it now. If you are reading this and don’t know what we do, please let me remind you. Mom’s company (this good. that bad.) gives people 3 ways to can help homeless companion animals. You can fundraise with our pet adoption T-shirts and products, buy them and we’ll donate proceeds to animal rescue, or tell us your rescue stories so we can share them on this blog to keep awareness high and ultimately increase pet adoption.
Mom has some other prizes and now that we know our “crowd” a little better she will be announcing an even more interesting creative contest soon. The thing is, a lot of people want to pitch in. They care about homeless animals and want to build awareness about pet adoption. Mom’s T-shirts and ideas are a good way to do that so they want to be part of it. As a result, we have some new prizes that have been donated and the contest is gonna get a little bigger and a lot better than just a T-shirt. I am here to tell you that this madness and generosity is totally contagious. We hope you will catch the fever too and maybe please please do us one little teensy tinsy favor in the meantime…
See the full 3D design & vote at http://bit.ly/a8o4ZH
One of our Facebook Fans even came up with a really unique way to get animals some respect and attention. She designed a race car for a national contest using our “adoption good. homeless bad.” logo and images of her own rescues. If she wins the contest, our logo and message will be on a real race car in a real race in front of thousands of people on the track and on TV. Our fan will get to go to the race to see it and Mom and I will get the word out there and hope that the slogan really catches on—we sell these shirts to make money for rescues after all. Maybe everyone will want to buy one after that! The only way for this to happen with your votes. The car that gets the most votes in the contest will win, and you are allowed to vote once a day. So, PLEASE: Vote for the “GOODBAD” pet adoption race car design in the Toyota Racing Sponsafier contest. Use this link to vote every day if you can, and spread the word (and the link http://bit.ly/a8o4ZH) and ask your friends, fans, readers, Twitter followers, whoever you know, to vote too. We have 14 days to win this thing! Let’s get the word out and get this car and this message out there on the track!
There was a story in the newspaper today about how Toyota’s sales are currently better than they had anticipated because of a major ad blitz and tremendous incentives that are being offered to potential buyers.
Several customers were quoted in the story, stating that the deals were “tantalizing,” and that they believed Toyota would now be selling them the “best cars available.”
It is amazing to me that these people are willing to look the other way, in terms of their safety and their lives, simply because they are getting promises and a good deal.
This is profoundly shortsighted and foolish. What good is it if you don’t have to pay any interest for three years, but you’re gong to be dead in six months because the accelerator pedal still sticks?
To think, because the company is now promising that their cars are safe, that their cars actually will be safe, is absurd. There are many questions still unanswered as to whether or not they were aware that their cars were dangerous and sold them anyway.
Even if we presume that Toyota did not know their cars were dangerous when they told us we could rely on their product, why should we presume now that when they tell us there is nothing to worry about, that they aren’t fooling themselves once again and, therefore, us as well?
This scenario is not confined to the sale of cars. We are confronted on a daily basis by a variety of companies, media pundits, religious leaders, and political leaders trying to sell us their product. We are constantly being seduced by their vows of sincerity and their promises of what they will do for us.
Our short memory is particularly obvious in the political arena where we continue to vote for people in both parties who have proven to be ethically-challenged and that their self-interests, not our interests, are their prime directive.
And, of course, in our personal relationships we see the same mechanism at work.
After being disloyal and repeatedly lying to us, our partner will tell us that now they can be believed, now they can be trusted, and now we can be assured that the events that occurred in the past will never happen again.
Desperate not to be unloaded because of prior bad behavior, they will engage in a media blitz, so to speak, making promises to us about how great their new product is, how reliable their new product is, and that we should feel good about staying with the program.
Equally true, our partner, after past transgressions, will shower us with a variety of expensive gifts as an incentive to stay in the relationship.
Should we be seduced by glorious promises that our partner has truly changed, that the accelerator pedal has really been fixed this time, and that the relationship will not drive into a ditch? Should we be seduced by expensive incentives designed to have us overlook the downsides?
Our decision to stay in a relationship, secondary to transgressions and abuses by our partner, should depend not upon promises, presents, incentives, sales pitches, etc., but rather should depend upon our objective analysis of the situation, our looking at the facts, our knowing what we know, and our unwillingness to do the same thing we’ve done in the past and expect different results.
Toyota’s recall for model year 2000-2003 Tundras due to rust issues has expanded from the U.S. “Salt Belt” to all 50 states.
The previous recall only concerned the “Salt Belt”, as it was thought the rust could only be caused in the cold conditions of those states. However, it looks like Toyota’s changed its mind and will now be recalling the trucks all across the United States. They haven’t specified how many trucks are affected.
If you own a 2000-2003 Tundra, give your local dealer a call and see if you can arrange for a fix. I’d recommend not driving the car until the fix is complete, as the issue can result in rear brake failure. However, Toyota’s recommendation last time was to simply remove the rear spare tire until the fix is done, so you can always listen to them instead and do that.
Source: The Associated Press via Google News via Autoblog
Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the richest man in the world. Forbes Magazine’s new list of billionaires puts Slim at $53.5 Billion .. just ahead of Bill Gates at $53 Billion and Warren Buffett with $47 Billion. My computer doesn’t have that many zeroes!
But get this: the number of billionaires in the world grew from 793 last year to 1,011 this year! The total net worth of Forbes’ 164 B-boys (and girls) .. rose by 50% to $3.6 Trillion!!
I begrudge no one the right to be rich or to enjoy that wealth without complaint. But I do think some perspective is needed, especially since we’re still trying to come out of the Great Recession.
According to the Census Bureau, median U.S. household income fell 3.6% from 2007 to 2008, dropping to $50, 303. Nearly 40 million Americans now live in poverty. And 46.3 million Americans have no health insurance.
Tool Time
What does give me a little pause, is a story like this. Nolan Archibald, the CEO of Black & Decker, could win a pay package of $89 Million if investors approve the sale of BD to rival Stanley Works. What a tool! And what will the workers get? Oh, yeah .. screwed.
Oops .. Another (Brake) Shoe Is Falling
And I don’t know what Akio Toyoda gets paid but these days it’s probably not enough. This morning, Toyota (the company) agreed to hand over to U.S. investigators, documents from 2006 in which Toyota workers themselves complained to management, that safety was being sacrificed in the name of profits.
That can’t be good news.
And you hate to see that kind of information dribble out like this. Really, Mr. Toyoda .. get it all out there now, take your lumps and move on. You will be doing yourself and your investors a really big favor.
A Michigan court has ordered Toyota’s two top-ranking American executives to appear for deposition on March 11-12, 2010, in a Troy, Michigan wrongful death case.
The case concerns a 2005 Toyota Camry that surged from 25 to 80 mph on a residential street in Flint, Michigan, killing the vehicle’s driver. Attorneys for the victim’s family reqested the depositions of Yoshi Inaba, the chairman of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., and Jim Lentz, the unit’s president and chief operating officer. Toyota’s attorneys resisted making the executives available, arguing that lower level employees could provide the relevant information. Judge Archie Hayman of the Genesee County Circuit Court disagreed, ordering Messrs. Inaba and Lentz to appear on Thursday and Friday.
Both Inaba and Lentz testified before congressional committees in recent weeks. They will likely be cross-examined regarding the substance of their congressional testimony. It will be interesting to see whether either executive pleads the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering questions about Toyota’s defective parts and recalls, as more and more commentators speculate that criminal charges against Toyota executives could be forthcoming.
Okay, I worry quite a bit mostly about things I can’t do anything about but generally I am not an alarmist. However, given the news on auto safety lately, it is important to be informed. Here is something I can do something about. I was shocked to find out that there are new tires being sold that do not meet safety standards because of the age of the tires. This 20/20 report on ABC News was sent to me and I hope you check out your tires now. I would post more – maybe about the runaway car - but I am going to check my own tires.
JDM Garage is a small company located in Brisbane Australia. They mainly supply high quality new and used parts for performance Japanese cars.
So enough advertising, I wanted to show you 2 cars the’ve built. Both purple, both stunning, both on Nissan engines.
Brett’s AE86 sits on Longchamps XR4’s, they were custom made to attain a width of 9.5″ !!! Under the hood the SR20det is fed by a HKS turbine. The engine is equipped with Sard 850cc injectors, HKS 256/264 cams, Tomei gears and rocker stoppers, Greddy intercooler,… All that stuff is managed my an Apexi Power FC.
The second JDM Garage car is a R34 GTS 2 door. It rolls on nicely polished and flush sitting Work Equips.
Engine wise it rocks an RB25det with a Greddy T67 turbine, PWR intercooler, … Some other goodies are a Cusco roll cage, custom leather Bride’s, Nismo diff and JIC suspension.
By CURT ANDERSON and DANNY ROBBINS, Associated Press Writers Curt Anderson And Danny Robbins, Associated Press Writers – Thu Mar 4, 6:30 pm ET
SOUTHLAKE, Texas – Toyota has for years blocked access to data stored in devices similar to airline “black boxes” that could explain crashes blamed on sudden unintended acceleration, according to an Associated Press review of lawsuits nationwide and interviews with auto crash experts.
The AP investigation found that Toyota has been inconsistent — and sometimes even contradictory — in revealing exactly what the devices record and don’t record, including critical data about whether the brake or accelerator pedals were depressed at the time of a crash.
By contrast, most other automakers routinely allow much more open access to information from their event data recorders, commonly known as EDRs.
AP also found that Toyota:
• Has frequently refused to provide key information sought by crash victims and survivors.
• Uses proprietary software in its EDRs. Until this week, there was only a single laptop in the U.S. containing the software needed to read the data following a crash.
• In some lawsuits, when pressed to provide recorder information Toyota either settled or provided printouts with the key columns blank.
Toyota’s “black box” information is emerging as a critical legal issue amid the recall of 8 million vehicles by the world’s largest automaker. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said this week that 52 people have died in crashes linked to accelerator problems, triggering an avalanche of lawsuits.
When Toyota was asked by the AP to explain what exactly its recorders do collect, a company statement said Thursday that the devices record data from five seconds before until two seconds after an air bag is deployed in a crash.
The statement said information is captured about vehicle speed, the accelerator’s angle, gear shift position, whether the seat belt was used and the angle of the driver’s seat.
There was no initial mention of brakes — a key point in the sudden acceleration problem. When AP went back to Toyota to ask specifically about brake information, Toyota responded that its EDRs do, in fact, record “data on the brake’s position and the antilock brake system.”
But that does not square with information obtained by attorneys in a deadly crash last year in Southlake, Texas, and in a 2004 accident in Indiana that killed an elderly woman.
In the Texas crash, where four people died when their 2008 Avalon ripped through a fence, hit a tree and flipped into an icy pond, an EDR readout obtained by police listed as “off” any information on acceleration or braking.
In the 2004 crash in Evansville, Ind., that killed 77-year-old Juanita Grossman, attorneys for her family say a Toyota technician traveled from the company’s U.S. headquarters in Torrance, Calif., to examine her 2003 Camry.
Before she died, the 5-foot-2, 125-pound woman told relatives she was practically standing with both feet on the brake pedal but could not stop the car from slamming into a building. Records confirm that emergency personnel found Grossman with both feet on the brake pedal.
A Toyota representative told the family’s attorneys there was “no sensor that would have preserved information regarding the accelerator and brake positions at the time of impact,” according to a summary of the case provided by Safety Research & Strategies Inc., a Rehoboth, Mass.-based company that does vehicle safety research for attorneys, engineers, government and others.
One attorney in the Texas case contends in court documents that Toyota may have deliberately stopped allowing its EDRs to collect critical information so the Japanese automaker would not be forced to reveal it in court cases.
“This goes directly to defendants’ notice of the problem and willingness to cover up the problem,” said E. Todd Tracy, who had been suing automakers for 20 years.
Randy Roberts, an attorney for the driver in that case, said he was surprised at how little information the Avalon’s EDR contained.
“When I found out the Toyota black box was so uninformative, I was shocked,” Roberts said.
Toyota refused comment Thursday on Tracy’s allegations because it is an ongoing legal matter, but said the company does share EDR information with government regulators.
“Because the EDR system is an experimental device and is neither intended, nor reliable, for accident reconstruction, Toyota’s policy is to download data only at the direction of law enforcement, NHTSA or a court order,” the Toyota statement said.
Last week, Toyota acknowledged it has only a single laptop available in the U.S. to download its data recorder information because it is still a prototype, despite being in use since 2001 in Toyota vehicles. Three other laptops capable of reading the devices were delivered this week to NHTSA for training on their use, Toyota said, and 150 more will be brought to the U.S. for commercial use by the end of April.
By contrast, acceptance and distribution of data recorder technology by other automakers is commonplace.
General Motors, for example, has licensed the auto parts maker Bosch to produce a device capable of downloading EDR data directly to a laptop computer, either from the scene of an accident or later. The device is available to law enforcement agencies or any other third party, spokesman Alan Adler said.
Spokesmen from Ford and Chrysler said their recorder data is just as accessible. “We put what you would call ‘open systems’ in our vehicles, which are readable by law enforcement or anyone who has a need to read that data,” Chrysler spokesman Mike Palese said.
Nissan also makes its EDR data readily available to third parties using a device called Consult, spokesman Colin Price said. The program allows access to a host of vehicle data, from diagnosing the cause of a check-engine light to downloading EDR data after a crash, he said.
However, Honda does not allow open access to its EDR data. Spokesman Ed Miller said the data is only readable by Honda and is made available only by court order.
In many cases, attorneys and crash experts say EDR data could help explain what happened in the moments before a crash by detailing the positions of the gas and brake pedals as well as the engine’s RPM.
“Had Toyota gotten on the stick and made this stuff available early on, I think they’d be in a better position than they are now,” said W.R. “Rusty” Haight, owner of a San Diego-based collision investigation company.
In congressional hearings on the recalls last week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Toyota’s EDR data cannot be read by a commercially available tool used readily by other automakers. “Toyota has a proprietary EDR, which is the system that only they can read,” LaHood said.
The AP review of lawsuits around the country found many in which Toyota was accused of refusing to reveal EDR and other data, and not just in sudden acceleration cases.
In Kentucky, to cite one example, a recent lawsuit filed by Dari Martin over a wreck involving a 2007 Prius sought information from Toyota to bolster his claim that the car’s seatbelt was defective. Toyota refused, contending there was no reliable way to validate the EDR data and that an engineer would have to travel from New Jersey or California at a cost of some $5,000 to retrieve it.
“There is simply no justifiable reason for Toyota not to disclose this information,” Martin’s lawyers said in a court filing.
Lawsuits in California and Colorado have accused Toyota of systemically withholding key documents and information in a wide variety of accident cases, but no judge or jury has found against the car company on those allegations.
Some crash experts say Toyota shouldn’t bear too much criticism for failing to capture large amounts or specific kinds of data, because EDR systems were initially built for air bag deployment and not necessarily to reconstruct wrecks. They also vary widely from vehicle model to model, said Haight, the San Diego collision expert.
“That doesn’t mean I’m hiding something or preventing you from getting something,” Haight said. “It simply means that, in the development of a car, other considerations took priority — nothing more.”
_____
Anderson reported from Miami. AP Business Writer Dan Strumpf in New York, AP writer Greg Bluestein in Atlanta and AP Researcher Barbara Sambriski in New York contributed to this report.
I’ve been really diggin’ Celica Supras lately. The sharp angular lines, the flares and the possibility of big power in a little package. I really have to set up a photoshoot with Julian’s Celica…
Check out the bad ass packaging for the Trust suspension! If I could find that set up, I’d buy a Celica Supra just to build it around it!
I seem to remember when Toyota first announced their recall.
Immediately, the first thought that came to my mind was “must be the electric throttle. A sensor or something sending out false readings”. It makes perfect sense. Electronic sensors fail like this all the time. Throttle position sensors, etc.
So then when they said “sticky pedal” it made no sense. So the pedals are magically pushing themselves down and getting stuck?
Reports from drivers were “sudden acceleration”, not “I was accelerating, and when I took my foot off the gas, the car kept going”.
It made no sense.
So they continued to insist, knowing very well the real problem could put them out of business, despite continued customers trying to explain it to them.
They implemented their half-assed “repair” and low-and-behold, the problem still exists!
Well Toyota, you obviously have bigger problems here. You need to stop denying it, and get to the root of the problem.
Maybe if you dealt with this 10 years ago when you found out, you wouldn’t have 10 years worth of cars to fix now. Does it still feel like a good money saving tactic now?
Here’s the real problem….Electronic throttles are DUMB.
They are literally pointless. They offer no advantages, and only serve to make things unnecessarily complicated, and expensive.
Real cars have a throttle cable. When you push on the gas, it pulls a throttle cable, which then opens a butterfly plate on the throttle body letting air in.
YOU are in control of it. The car can’t do anything about it. No computer in your car can override it (with the exception of cars with cruise control).
You keep that throttle plate clean, and it will never even stick on you either.
So instead of step on pedal -> physically open throttle plate -> air enters, you go faster
Toyota has step on pedal (more like step on button designed to feel like a pedal) -> some kind of sensor senses how much pressure you are applying, and provides that information to the computer -> computer signals some kind of motor/solenoid to open throttle plate to detected amount.
How does that make any sense?
There was absolutely nothing wrong with traditional systems. In fact most cars still use it. It’s simpler, safer, cheaper, and works just the same.
“ask someone you know who drives one” I always laugh now when I hear that ad.
I can’t get over JUST how catastrophic everything has become over the past year — I’m not even talking solely about natural disasters or premature celebrity deaths. I am talking about EVERYTHING going on. My mother had a calendar in my house growing up that listed 2010 the year that the world came to an end. While I don’t necessarily think it will end COMPLETELY, I am seeing major… major…. downfalls to say the least. Let’s recap shall we?
1) TRUST IN AUTO MANUFACTURERS –GM this morning recalled over 1 million cars…. General MOTORS ladies and gentleman. This isn’t Toyota were talking about now. That’s another 15+ million cars being recalled as we speak. We trust auto manufacturers to put our safety first right? We trust them with our lives as well as those we love and care about. It is extremely unnerving to hear quotes daily in the Wall Street Journal that car companies clearly put profit over safety — should we all start rebelling and using bicycles to get to designated locations? Not realistic but I’d prefer to do that at this point over giving any of these car companies hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit.
2) NATURAL DISASTERS– Haiti then Chile — what next? Haiti will never recover fully from the damages caused to their country, nor will Chile apparently. Natural disasters of these size are catastrophic, devastating, and life changing for FIRST WORLD countries — the devastation caused to THIRD world countries is unfathomable.
3) SCANDALS INVOLVING NATIONAL ICONS (POLITICAL AND SPORTS) — There once was a day when our sports figures and our political icons stood for something — Obama in my opinion still embodies all that a husband and father should be and for that, I admire him. Other iconic figures such as John Edwards and Tiger Woods have proven to us that we really can’t put people on pedestals anymore… In addition, various celebrity sports figures such as Marion Jones and Andre Aggassi came out with scandals of their own which made all of America look at them differently afterwards.
4) SEVERE RECESSION– I mean… do I need to even reiterate just how bad the job market is now? It used to be — that when you spend 50k at an esteemed college/university there was a LARGE unspoken understanding you’d be able to find at LEAST an entry level position with a company and work your way up. Interns were strictly those in college looking to gain a little experience and get their hands dirty — most were paid internships. NOW? If you graduate from an esteemed college after having thrown yourself in severe debt, you would be LUCKY to land an unpaid/ or stipend internship a few days a week. Most of the internships are now taken over by those 30 or older who were fired from their previous job and trying to ease their way in any which way back into the work force.
More pictures I’ve found from the show that I like.
The Kyusha Kai crew sittin’ pretty.
There’s an Infinity M30 somewhere behind the smoke. This is under explicit instructions to not do any burn outs or drifting at the show.
The other end of the crew. Ralph’s Cressida lookin’ as amazing as ever!
This one’s for Freddy. A lot of the cars in the lot were just as amazing, if not more amazing than those in the show. Shame about the SportMaxes though. The car itself is super fresh.
Another parking lot picture. The late, great, NSX rockin’ some Project Mu brakes and what looks like polished Advan F7’s. Hopefully, we’re gonna set up a shoot with this car soon.
The amazing Levin that always makes it’s way to the different meets and shows that I attend.
Ovaj stari vic je toliko dobar (i trenutno aktuelan) , da bar deo moram ovde da citiram:
Bill Gates je svojevremeno, na COMDEX sajmu, uporedio računarsku industriju sa auto industrijom i izjavio: “Da je GM držao korak sa tehnologijom, kao što je to učinila računarska industrija, svi bi vozili automobile od dvadeset pet dolara, koji prelaze 1.600 kilometara sa manje od 4 litra goriva”. U odgovoru na njegov komentar, GM je objavio saopštenje za javnost navodeći: “Da je GM razvijao svoju tehnologiju kao što je svoju razvijao Microsoft, svi bi vozili automobile sledećih karakteristika:
• Morali bi da pritisnete “Start” dugme da bi isključili motor.
• Vaš automobil bi dva puta dnevno bez ikakvog razloga doživeo havariju.
• Povremeno bi vaš automobil jednostavno stao na sred puta, bez ikakvog razloga. Vi bi morali da ga odgurate do bankine, zatvorite sve prozore, ugasite motor, upalite motor i otvorite sve prozore pre nego što bi mogli da nastavite put. I vi bi to smatrali potpuno normalnim…
• Povremeno bi neka jednostavna aktivnost, kao što je npr. skretanje u levo, dovela do toga da se vaš automobil ugasi i odbije da se ponovo upali, u kom slučaju bi morali ponovo da instalirate motor.
• Samo jedna osoba u jednom trenutku bi mogla da koristi automobil, ukoliko ne kupite “Car95″ ili “CarNT” (vic je ipak s kraja prošlog veka ). Ali onda bi morali da dokupite sedišta.
• Macintosh bi napravio automobil koji pokreće Sunce, pouzdan, pet puta brži i dva puta lakši za vožnju, ali bi mogao da se vozi na samo 5% puteva.
• Lampice za upozorenje na nivo ulja, temperaturu vode i rad alternatora, bile bi zamenjene jednom lampicom za “opšte upozorenje”.
• Povremeno, bez ikakvog razloga, vaš automobil bi se zaključao i odbijao da vas pusti unutra, sve dok istovremeno ne povučete ručicu na vratima, okrenete ključ u bravi i uhvatite se za antenu.
• Vazdušni jastuk bi vas upitao: “Are you sure?” pre nego što bi se aktivirao.”…
• itd.
Zašto mi je baš sad ovaj vic pao na pamet? Pa, zbog Toyote i svega onog što joj se dešava već izvesno vreme. Kompanija koja je svoj brend gradila na pouzdanosti i kvalitetu, doživljava crne dane i to baš zbog problema sa softverom! Kao da se gornji vic ušunjao u Toyotine proizvodne hale…
Softver je već uveliko postao sastavni deo automobila. U modelima najviše klase implementirani su softveri sa skoro 100 miliona linija koda koji kontrolišu neke od najvitalnijih funkcija automobila (Air-bag, ABS, kočioni sistem, kontrola motora, ubrzanja, upravljački sistem itd.). Čak i u automobilima najniže klase (po svetskim merilima) implementirani su softveri dugački više desetina miliona kodnih linija…
Postoje mišljenja da vozači ne bi trebalo da budu zabrinuti zbog problema sa automobilskim softverom, jer se on uvek može nadograditi i „zakrpiti“, baš kao i svaki PC softver. Međutim, ljudi ne koriste automobil na isti način kao računar. Oni ne žele da imaju vozilo koje zahteva „krpljenje“ softvera na mesečnom nivou, da bi se odstranile sve (detektovane) softverske greške. Ljudi vole da se u automobilu osećaju sigurno i da ga imaju pod svojom kontrolom. A upravo to vlasnici Toyotinih automobila trenutno nemaju…
Interesantno je razmišljanje Toyotinog menadžmenta u takvom trenutku krize – problem treba definisati kao mehanički, ne softverski. Zašto? Zato što se pogrešno skrojena podna prostirka ili papučica gasa koja se zaglavljuje mogu lako zameniti. I korisnici to vide kao manji problem (ne manje opasan, ali manje kompleksan). Ako je problem u elektronici automobila, on postaje vrlo komplikovan za otklanjanje, kako iz vozila, tako i iz svesti korisnika…
Jer, niko ne želi da ga u odsudnom trenutku vazdušni jastuk upita “Are you sure?“, zar ne?
Writing From Tokyo – Toyota has built a strong presence in the United States by serving its consumers well and doing what the U.S. government has wanted. Now it has stumbled badly largely because its greatest strength — the Toyota way of “accumulation of small improvements,” or kaizenkaizen philosophy — has turned out to be a weakness in the age of complex electronic engines.
There is every reason to believe Toyota will fix its technical and management problems. The question is whether, panicking in the very un-Japanese glare of the American media and political spotlight, it will dig a deeper hole by losing the trust and reputation for competence among its customers. That would be bad for Toyota, and for America.
Most auto companies in the past, including Ford and GM, have had recall problems. They all seem to try to hide the early evidence of flaws, even if they affect safety. Recall General Motors’ Chevrolet Corvair and consumer advocate Ralph Nader’s “Unsafe at Any Speed” campaign against it in the 1960s.
Today, however, with electronic programming of cars, many of the problems emerging — such as the braking system of the Prius — are of a new nature. They are judgmental engineering calls. If they can be corrected by readjusting the setting on recalled cars, Toyota can handle that quickly.
But what we are seeing may be a more fundamental problem that has to do with the engine control unit as a whole. In an average Toyota, there are about 24,000 inputs and outputs, with as many as 70 computer chips processing information and sending it on to other chips to operate the engine control units. It is a very complex system.
Such complex systems are a problem these days for all auto manufacturers — Germans and Americans as well as Japanese — because about 60% of a modern automobile is electronics. Toyota is the canary in the coal mine, so to speak, because it is the world’s largest manufacturer of cars, with more than 50 plants around the globe outside of Japan. Toyota has more models on the road than any other carmaker.
What we see with Toyota in particular is that this new electronic complexity has overwhelmed its concept of kaizen — continuous improvements — that has made Toyota such a high-quality brand worldwide. This company has so perfected the practice of kaizen from the assembly line on up that it has lost the big picture of how the whole electronic engine — and thus overall safety — works.
If Toyota does not recognize this and tries to chalk up all of its problems to floor mats touching the accelerator or a computer glitch, it will miss the real issue. Where Toyota has failed is that rather than review the overall safety of the engine operating unit, it has focused on diagnosing the function of many thousands of pieces of an electronic engine.
What this company is missing is the human factor — a single person who has a comprehensive understanding of the details of the engine and how the parts interact and work as a whole.
In the old days, one chief engineer designed everything. This was also true with ships and airplanes. Now, design and production are broken down into so many details that there is no one in the current generation of Toyota engineers who seems to have the whole picture. A 45-year-old engineer at Toyota today would have spent the last 25 years working on “the accumulation of small improvements.”
What this suggests is that Toyota has to come up with a new organizational ethos beyond kaizen that can oversee the crucial safety features that may have been compromised by so much incremental improvement over the years. This is a philosophical problem of management, not a technical issue. A new system of “man and machine interface” needs to supplement the kaizen philosophy.
I believe Toyota can meet this challenge. The challenge I fear it will fail to meet is the psychological one, enveloped as the company’s leaders seem to be in a sense of panic at being attacked politically and in the media in their most lucrative market, the United States.
For the modest and taciturn Akio Toyoda, whose English is only passable and who has difficulty finding the right words, to testify in front of the U.S. Congress invites the wrong impression: There is such a clash between aggressive American political and media culture and reserved Japanese ways.
As America brings Toyota to account on safety, it must also put the company in the right perspective. Toyota has also always done what the American market and politicians demanded without losing quality or productivity. The U.S. asked Toyota to come to the U.S. to produce cars instead of export them from Japan, and use up to 50% local content.
Today, 2.5 million cars are produced annually in the U.S. at several plants; this has created thousands of jobs. Toyota’s annual spending on parts, goods and services from hundreds of U.S. suppliers totals more than $22 billion. Ninety-five Japanese component companies were transplanted from Japan to supply Toyota through its “just in time” manufacturing process, building a supply network along the Mississippi Valley that didn’t exist before.
Toyota is on the hot seat today. But everyone should understand that the issue at hand is the trade-off between complexity and safety in an age in which electronics and computers dominate the vehicles we all use on a daily basis.
Kenichi Ohmae is a prominent management consultant in Japan and the author of numerous books, including “The Mind of the Strategist” and “The Borderless World.” His comments are adapted from an interview with Global Viewpoint Network editor Nathan Gardels.
Washington—Worried over the public safety of millions of Americans, President Barack Obama has plans to invade Japan in order to fix the rampant incompetence found at Toyota. With no answers coming from the Senate Commerce Committee investigations, Obama has ramped up his unprecedented efforts to keep the American driver safe behind the wheel.
The crisis at Toyota has affected thousands of Americans. These Americans, many of whom can’t seem to find the turn signal indicator, demand that the federal government “do something” to prevent them from having future accidents. According to many of these Toyota victims, the government hasn’t acted swiftly enough, and their once, peaceful life, has been scarred from a “sticky” accelerator pedal.
One such person is Shirley Birmingham, a 24-year old waitress from Bilioxi, MS. She has driven a Toyota Corolla for years. Because of her claims of a “sticky accelerator pedal,” she has received 10 speeding tickets, been involved in 5 accidents and had her license suspended twice. She is optimistic, though, that Obama can fix her problem.
With a Kleenex, she gently dries the tears from her eyes. “I am confident that my days of Toyota terror are over,” Shirley sobs. “I haven’t been able to afford anything but a Toyota. And now, Obama has given me hope that I can drive with confidence.”
Shirley is just one of the millions of people that Obama must protect, and his swift and decisive action to invade Japan is just the kind of leadership they need. Experts, however, argue that there simply isn’t enough troops to accomplish the mission. But Obama’s plan is simple, pull all of the troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq, and send them into Japan.
“What we’re going to do here,” stated Barack Obama, “is withdraw from both Iraq and Afghanistan, put the troops on a boat, and hit Japan hard and fast. We’ll be in Tokyo Bay in a heart beat. We’ll take over the Toyota plant, and have things done right. No more outsourcing. Just like my healthcare plan. There’s nothing I won’t do to…I mean for the American people.”
Washington — Toyota Motor Corp. executives worried last summer about what it perceived as an emerging uneven playing field in the United States, and said new fuel requirements could cost it up to $600 million annually.
The concerns were included in the release by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee of what appears to be the complete, 28-page version of a now infamous memo prepared for the company’s new North American president Yoshi Inaba in July 2009 — on his second day on the job.
Other parts of that presentation became public earlier this week, and revealed the automaker as bragging about its success in avoiding or delaying costly regulatory actions, including widespread safety recalls.
The newly released pages reveal the depth of Toyota’s concern over flexible-fuel vehicle mandates. Flexible-fuel vehicles can run on traditional fuel blends or E85, which is made of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
Toyota said flex-fuel mandates could cost the company $200 to $300 per vehicle — or $400 million to $600 million annually.
The presentation featured a photograph of President Barack Obama and included a quote from his campaign literature:
“Barack Obama and Joe Biden will work with Congress and auto companies to ensure that all new vehicles have FFV capability.”
The presentation noted that Toyota had avoided the requirements so far.
One recommendation
made by Toyota’s Washington office, to accelerate decision-making in the United States, appeared to go unheeded. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was critical of the inability of Toyota officials in the United States to make decisions, saying it often took too long to get decisions from Japan on recalls and other issues.
The Toyota internal presentation urged establishment of a “small senior exec. group in U.S. to make timely decisions,” and initiate action on legislative and regulatory issues. It also noted the benefit of having engineers in Washington.
“Many issues require immediate (or near immediate) response,” the presentation said. “Provide quick response based on daily communication with (Toyota in Japan) and … to educate lawmakers to have reasonable legislation and regulation.”
Toyota said this week it is adding more engineers in the United States and at least three new engineering centers.
Other newly revealed parts of the internal presentation explain the company’s concerns about the $85 billion auto industry bailout.
“Government $ for GM/Chrysler,” the presentation read. “Not a level playing field.”
The presentation said there were “adverse implications” for Toyota of government support for bankrupt GM and Chrysler.
Ironically, Japan is considered one of the world’s most closed markets for non-Japanese automakers.
The presentation noted that Ford Motor Co, Tesla Motors Inc. and Nissan Motor Co had received $7 billion in Energy Department retooling loans.
Toyota executives also were worried about “Buy American” attitudes being “on the rise,” as well as import taxes, border tariffs and support for auto suppliers.
The company fretted over the impact of new consumer financial regulation on its lending arm, Toyota Motor Credit.
dshepardson@detnews.com (202) 662-8735
From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100225/AUTO01/2250447/1148/Toyota-concerned-flex-fuel-mandates-could-cost-it-$600M-yearly#ixzz0gZ6suGEq
Telling the Truth, what at a New Concept. While taking a break yesterday afternoon I saw a Class Act on TV. It was the President of Toyota, Mr. Toyoda, grandson to the founder of the company. He came to the United States to speak to Congress about the 3 recalls Toyota is in the middle of. No one forced him to come here; he could have sent someone from his company. Yet, he chose to come and speak on behalf of himself and his company.
He started his speech in English, and though I would have thought with the money his family has had and his upbringing that his English would have been better. But I soon realized that the fact that he didn’t speak English really well didn’t matter at all. It was what he said that made all of the difference.
He first introduced himself as the grandson of the founder of the company. He went on to say that he wanted to apologize for any deaths caused by any car that his company made. He was genuinely sincere. You could actually see the concern, on his face and that he was sad for the victims and their families. He took complete responsibility.
He continued on about how his company has always stood for quality, and he felt that because the company expanded at too fast of a pace in the last couple of years, and that they did not keep up with the training of employees, concerned with customer service. He again asked for forgiveness. He said this was being addressed right now.
He went on to say that his company has the same name as his and if they do something wrong it is as though he did something wrong.
He then continued his speech addressing what his company, Toyota has already done to correct the situation, and what they are planning on doing in the future. Toyota has already set a date next month for a Meeting, inviting a representative of the US to participate. They will discuss how the recall will be handled going forward and what the company will do to basically make sure these things don’t happen again.
All in all by the time this man, Mr. Toyoda finished his speech, there was hardly anything for Congress to ask him. He covered everything, and quite satisfactorily, before they had a chance to basically attack and devour him.
Smart man this guy is, not only did he come to the US on his own, he anticipated everything Congress would ask him, and answered the questions before they were asked.
But he didn’t just give us a bunch of half-baked excuses; there was no doubt on my part that this guy meant everything he said. He basically took the wind right out of Congresses sails.
The Japanese have always had a sense of Dignity, which seems to be a part of their inner being. This Mr. Toyoda, came across as a man with so much Class, so much Honor, that not only was it believable it was amazing to see such a site in the halls of Congress much less Washington DC. By the time My Toyoda was finished with his speech, he had taken complete control of the situation.
There was no blaming anyone else. I thought to myself, “Oh my God, when is the last time I saw anyone testifying in front of any Congressional committee and actually sound so sincere and truthful”? Then I answered myself, “Ollie North”, and that’s it.
I think the people who attended this planned witch hunt, which did not happen, were in shock and probably a little angry because Mr. Toyoda was more than one step ahead of
these guys. There would be no yelling, ranting or raving. He gave them all the answers they would have been asking him and looking for, without letting them, humiliate, belittle and embarrass him for the sake of the TV camera’s and some votes back home.
As you all know, I have been in D.C. this week with Farm Bureau. I had a lot of exciting opportunities while I was up there. This was my third trip to D.C., but it was much different than before. First off, I toured everything once again.. but got quite the shocker on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. As I was making my way down the front steps, I saw a huge group of Asian people.. probably 300 or more.. and they were taking a picture on the steps, directly in front of Lincoln. Well, when I stepped in front of them, I noticed they were holding a huge flag from the People’s Republic of China! I seriously bet Lincoln rolled over in his grave! I couldn’t believe it. But anyway.. that is my first story. Okay, so.. in the days after that incident, I attended a lot of hearings.. and listened to KY’s Senators and Reps speak about the different issues plaguing our country right now. I am terrified of what is in store for America if this health care bill passes, as well as Cap and Trade. Asia isn’t backing down.. and it seems like our country is. I’m afraid that if Americans don’t wise up and gain their previous spirit, China and India will surpass us.
Anyway, today I visited the Capitol Building. It was quite interesting. As I was walking into one of the side buildings as an entrance to the Capitol, I stepped by a white van, as two or three Japanese men were getting out. I stopped and stood beside the van, as Luke and I noticed they were the Toyota guys! After being rushed into the Capitol and through security, I got to see tons of Japanese reporters waiting for Toyoda to come in.. and when he came in, I got to see him! I watched him be escorted into the room that I was standing by. I’m pretty sure that I was on national new tonight lol. I looked pretty darn professional too, in my new pant suit
Aside from that, my trip to D.C. was the same as previous ones. I’m not entirely sure that I still want to go into politics. It’s a rough, greedy, dirty game. I know most people have good intentions, but they’re sending our country down the wrong path right now. Who knows.. maybe if I do go into politics, I can fix some of the problems facing our country right now.
On another note.. I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of thinking within these past few days. I feel the need to apologize to some people who were once dear to me. I let them down, majorily.. in the short time I knew them. I regret what happened, and I need to make amends. Therefore, I will be starting on a few letters tomorrow. Hopefully in time, they can forgive me.
Toyota has been recently under fire due to its recalls and quality issues. It is drawing additional attention because Toyota brand used to represent quality. What happened? Quality and industry experts suggest that Toyota management veered away from its own corporate culture based on respect for people and continuous improvement – the Toyota Way – and it’s now paying the price.
Organization culture is such a nebulous concept. The visible parts are quite obvious for the new comer, such as the dress code, how punctually meetings start, or how fast paced the work is. But the invisible norms and values you have to learn over time, e.g. how people work together, how they share information, and what the level of trust is between people and departments.
Every organization has a culture, whether it’s stated or not. Sometimes the articulated culture in printed brochures can be in conflict with the actual informal culture. When this happens, the leadership efforts to manage the culture lose credibility. It’s fine to be aspirational in culture statements, but it’s not OK to be totally clueless.
The steps to manage organization culture are these:
1. Assess the current culture. Know the baseline. A combination of focus groups and surveys typically accomplish this task most efficiently.
2. Articulate the desired culture. This should have a connection with the organization’s vision, with respect for its past. The desired culture is often a mixture between realistic description of the actual culture and the description of the ideal culture where the organization is striving for.
3. Weave the culture into everyday actions and decisions. Start with the selection and promotion criteria. Reinforce it in all training and development. When people are recognized, it is done based on the cultural values. In any organization, employees note that resources are allocated on the most important priorities. Thus, resource allocation should also be true to the cultural values.
4. Measure the culture development. Do frequent checks on how your workforce perceives the culture. Annual surveys are a good yardstick to create trending data. At the launch, you may even measure the culture twice a year, as long as you are prepared to act on the survey feedback.
Equally important as strengthening the culture is to be aware of actions and decisions that are counterproductive. Every time a decision is made where the cultural values were not used, it puts into question the organization culture. For example, if a company declares that work life balance is one of its core values but frequently recognizes employees who put in long hours, it contradicts its own values. Or, if a company who promotes a customer-focused culture cuts customer service resources before touching other departments, it may have to rethink its priorities.
Usually, compromises and tough times bring out the true colors. Those that are true to their values will have a guiding star for their decision making and will be able to make consistent decisions and strengthen their external brand as well as their employment brand.
I’d like to thank those of you who have been loyal readers thus far. The blog has been doing quite well, and I’m often surprised to see the spikes in visitors even when I’m not posting.
I’d like to do more with the blog, and I think my title has limited me thus far. While GM has made some huge changes, there is so much going on in the auto industry right now, with the Toyota recall, Ford’s dramatic rebirth, and everyone else trying to stay afloat.
I’ll be launching a new site soon; both will be linked together so you can still access me from here, but my content will be going more general.
If you have any suggestions for the title of the new blog, please let me know.
Embattled Toyota Chief Agrees to Testify “Akio Toyoda, Toyota’s embattled chief executive, agreed on Thursday to appear before a US congressional committee investigating his company as lawmakers stepped up their scrutiny of the Japanese carmaker with a subpoena for documents held by one of its former attorneys.
Mr Toyoda accepted a formal request, issued by the Democratic chairman of the House oversight committee, Edolphus Towns, to appear at a hearing next Wednesday.
“I look forward to speaking directly with Congress and the American people,” Mr Toyoda said.” -more
When I was a kid, something that was “made in Japan” was shoddily built and unreliable …while American-made goods were reliable.
First of all, I think its pretty apparent at this point that the U.S. Government, and to a (slightly) lesser extent, Media, have taken this Recall thing way too far. As several outlets (that I’m far too lazy at the moment to collect/summarize) have pointed-out, virtually EVERY auto manufacturer has recalls EVERY year. While Toyota certainly could have been a little more proactive, compared to their peers’ responses to similar issues (some even worse, with less press!), I think the’ve done a pretty respectable job.
I’ve been hearing far-too-much that Americans should make a concerted effort to buy “American” cars (read: Chrysler, Ford, GM) to support their (er, our) unemployed countrymen and women. Combined with the actions taken by Congress (DoT, etc), summoning Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda to Washington to answer for his sins, I’m afraid this silliness may actually be gaining traction, if not widespread adoption.
The fact of the matter is that granted, it could be worse (*shudder*), lost on most observers is that Toyota makes more cars in America than Chrysler. That’s right. According to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, Toyota made 1,117,409 vehicles in the U.S. in 2008 to Chrysler’s 1,106,028. Ford (from what I can tell, including all domestic brands) makes 1,602,011 cars in the U.S., although the report suggests less than 100,000 of them are actually Ford branded. For even more of an idea how important domestic (U.S.) manufacturing by foreign Automakers is to our Nation’s economy, check out the Cars.com American-made Index. Half or more of their lists are dominated the likes of Toyota, Honda, etc.
The media and government need to slow their roll, because if several get their wish, and the populace truly does “buy American” in the traditional sense, it would be a classic case of cutting off our nose to spite our face. Sure, the Government’s investments in GM and Chrysler could benefit, however, the last thing we want is Toyota (etc) firing tons of workers when no one buys their cars anymore.
*I deserve a medal for using “The Situation” in the headline without a picture of “The Situation,” no?
I will talk about two concepts in this post: social media etiquette and how novel is crowdsourcing- exploiting the groundswell for ideas (Groundswell, Li & Bernoff).
Social Media etiquette is not detached from other forms of etiquette, in fact closely related to email etiquette. Search engine optimization vendor, Digital Labz lists the top 11 rules of social media etiquette on its blog . The one that stuck with me most was ’stop pushing the envelope’. It’s true that organizations are trying to reach out to publics, requesting for connections (expecting fans on facebook) etc. However, if you ask for too much from your publics there is a potential for them to completely shut you off. The other extreme is when organizations dive into the groundswell but fail to keep up with their publics’ enthusiasm or simply get distracted by apparently more pressing projects. A particular case in sight is Toyota\’s USA Newsroom which was last updated by the company in December ‘09 clarifying its position regarding a media attack from Los Angeles Times. Over 200 comments have been posted by Toyota enthusiasts who strongly express their solidarity for the company till today but there are no acknowledgments or responses from the company! Clearly Toyota is not listening, preoccupied dealing the recent product recall crisis! This would surely not score high on a social media etiquette scale.
The other concept I want to discuss is crowdsourcing. Groundswell described how Credit Mutuel the French bank used crowdsourcing to establish its slogan – “the bank you can talk to” and harness ideas for improving its products/services. However, real success will be achieved if the bank can continually engage and respond to its customers who have enthusiastically providing ideas. I would argue though that crowdsourcing is not a completely novel idea, its just that this time around Web 2.0 is the tool for engagement. I remember as a child excitedly sending Kwality Walls survey forms to suggest how I would want my favorite ice cream to taste or a campaign by the popular cosmetic brand in India Lakme that seeked its customers to design the lip color they desire. The campaign was quite successful as shades suggested by customers were developed and launched in the market.
Outsourcing ideation to customers thus is not a novel concept it’s just that now its done via social media. However, crowdsourcing has its limitations as customers are not experts on product development, legal bindings, quality considerations and market norms. There can be only limited application of crowdsourcing.
Do you see crowdsourcing as a sustainable method of ideation?
If nearly 75% of tea party activists attended college, compared to 54% of Americans, how is it that we are the uneducated rubes that the liberal media keeps telling us that we are?
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Why don’t pro-choicers support school choice?
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Check out Stand to Reason’s new teen site — great stuff.
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Quote of the year, so far:
If I could create one job in the private sector by helping to grow a business, that’s one more than Congress has created in the last six months. Sen. Evan Bayh (D)
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Caught on Video: Obama Brazenly Lying About Relationship With ACORN – surprised?
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Unholy Trinity Guns for Toyota — good analysis on the overreaction of the government to Toyota as compared to similar safety issues with GM.
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Pro-Lifer Faces Knife, Saves Life of Unborn Child – did you catch that on the mainstream media? Not likely.
This link related to the issue of Toyota’s falling from grace is really worth a look. Interesting issue regarding the recall, but the more interesting issue to me (given my work in the cross-cultural training and consulting arena) is why there seems to be a lack of insight relative to the communication issues between a Japanese company,focused on the concept of “kaizen,” and the American consumer, focused on the concept of “transparency.” A quick consult with a cross-cultural specialist would have averted the trust issue by advising Toyota to “come clean” much earlier in the game, own up to a mistake which was a relatively easy fix, and move on as the squeaky clean, honest manufacturing protecting its customers.
Check the DOT number
, da bar deo moram ovde da citiram:
• Povremeno bi neka jednostavna aktivnost, kao što je npr. skretanje u levo, dovela do toga da se vaš automobil ugasi i odbije da se ponovo upali, u kom slučaju bi morali ponovo da instalirate motor.
Washington—Worried over the public safety of millions of Americans, President Barack Obama has plans to invade Japan in order to fix the rampant incompetence found at Toyota. With no answers coming from the Senate Commerce Committee investigations, Obama has ramped up his unprecedented efforts to keep the American driver safe behind the wheel.
The latest, according to the Financial Times: