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China's largest dealer body pushes back against foreign automakers over huge inventories

Do not think for a second that automakers forcing inventory on dealers in order to pad the numbers is a ruse known only in the US. Stories of individual brands have hinted at the trouble Chinese dealerships are having trying to move units as the country's economic growth remains hot but comes off the boil, like the one revealing that 95 percent of Toyota-FAW showrooms are losing money. Yet Toyota isn't the only culprit, and the issue has become so dire that the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), the largest dealer body in the country, has written to the government to complain. Chinese car sales are expected to close out the year with an annualized growth of six-percent, down from last year's 14 percent when targets were set, while in the background the pace of overall economic expansion is the slowest its been since the early nineties. Automakers, shipping cars on schedule to make their earlier targets, have blown up inventories such that they are an average of 1.8 times monthly sales, when the preferred multiplier is from 0.9 to 1.2. According to the CADA, the price wars and necessary incentives mean that only 30 percent of dealers are operating in the black. That number is down a whopping forty percent since 2010. In response, Toyota has already said it will not make its 2014 target of 1.1 million cars sold. We're a long way from 2012, when Toyota planned on selling 1.8 million cars in China in 2015, a target that's now as realistic as a manticore. BMW, Honda and Nissan have erased numbers on their spreadsheets, too; BMW growth dropped from 20 percent to 8 percent midyear after it began "reducing wholesale supplies," and Honda has been reworking its plans as sales have decreased each of the past six months. It's a big deal for Chinese dealers to begin protesting publicly, the CADA saying, "In the past, dealers were angry, but dared not speak out. But now, they have to shout because the situation is getting so unbearable." With six-percent growth forecast for next year and dealers unwilling to remain underwater, The Year of the Sheep coming in 2015 could portend meaning beyond the zodiac. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: AP Photo/Andy Wong BMW Honda Nissan Toyota Car Buying Car Dealers

Are you the facelifted Toyota Yaris?

As basic transportation goes, there's not a lot to complain about with the Toyota Yaris. The five-door hatch (not to mention its JDM cousin, the Vitz) are due for upgrades, though, having toddled along in its current form since the 2011 model year. Now, we have what looks to be leaked images of the new Yaris, straight from a Japanese brochure.
The next-gen Yaris was previewed in Frankfurt by the Yaris Hybrid-R Concept. Surprisingly, both the standard version and the RS (shown above) share a strong resemblance with the Frankfurt concept. That gaping lower intake remains, while a pointy, sharp front end shares a resemblance with the new Aygo city car (though the Yaris won't have a giant X on its face like its smaller cousin). The lower intake is flanked by a pair of what we're guessing are non-functional grilles, which house the fog lights. There are only a few small images of the rear of the car, which looks more like an evolution of the current five-door hatch.
The interior looks rather racy, with a small, thick-rimmed, leather-wrapped steering wheel and black cloth seats with red contrast stitching. There's a bright red button to the right of the steering wheel on this right-hand-drive JDM model, which could indicate the arrival of pushbutton start. Under hood of this Mazda-built Toyota should be a Mazda Skyactiv engine. That gives us hope that this latest Toyota compact will be imbued with some sense of driving fun.

Toyota plotting WRC-inspired Yaris hot hatch

The emergence of the new Honda Civic Type R goes to show that the Japanese can make hot hatches every bit as good as the Europeans. But though it's been a while since Toyota had a serious contender in the game, word has it that it's about to jump back in. The impetus for Toyota's (re-)entry into the hot hatch segment is its impending return to the World Rally Championship. The company announced just a couple of months ago its intention to run a Yaris-based (or at least -styled) rally machine in the WRC by 2017, and now the latest reports indicate a road-going version won't be too far behind. Though the competition-spec model is expected to pack a 1.6-liter turbo four built by Toyota Motorsport GmbH specifically to comply with FIA regulations, the street-legal Yaris hot hatch is tipped to carry the 2.0-liter turbo four from the Lexus NX 200t. Though the jury's still out, it'd likely stick with front-drive instead of a more complex all-wheel drive system, but with a six-speed manual and a limited slip differential, it has all the potential to be a real firecracker. Only a limited number will likely be offered, ostensibly to meet FIA homologation requirement – in the same vein as the Citroen DS3 Racing or the Volkswagen Polo WRC Street – and likely to carry a similarly premium price tag in the neighborhood of 34,000 euros. We'd be pleasantly surprised if any of them were to make it to North American showrooms, though.