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Earthquake causes most of Toyota's Japan operations to shut down

Toyota is idling a large portion of its Japanese assembly plants as a result of the devastating earthquake in Hokkaido, Japan. The earthquake had such a big effect on the carmaker's supply chain that a number of its plants will have to be shut down for an undisclosed period, starting on Saturday. The 6.7 magnitude earthquake occurred early on September 6 th, resulting in more than dozen casualties and hundreds of injuries, cutting power to the entire island; the powerplant supplying half of the island's power was located so close to the earthquake's epicenter that it shut down automatically, bringing down the rest of the island's grid with it. Tens of people were also reported missing, as reported by Reuters. The affected factories are the Kyushu, Tahara and Toyota Auto Body plants, according to Automotive News, and they manufacture vehicles such as different Lexus models and the Toyota Land Cruiser. Some of the models produced in these factories are exported to the United States, but a Toyota spokesman said that North American operations are not likely to be significantly affected by the plant closures. As well as the automobile assembly plants in Hokkaido, Toyota also has a facility there that manufactures transmissions and transfer cases. As it was also without power, Toyota could not confirm when the plant would be back online. Out of Hokkaido's 2.95 million households, 1.54 million had regained power by Friday afternoon. All in all, Toyota has 18 manufacturing facilities in Japan; spokeswoman Akito Kita said that from Monday on, the shutdown will affect all Japanese Toyota and Lexus lines — not including two Daihatsu facilities that are also used for Toyota products. The shutdowns come directly after Toyota also announced a recall for Japanese-built hybrid models, mainly Prius. Related Video:

Canada names former Toyota exec as new car czar

The governments of the Canada and the province of Ontario have jointly named a new car czar to advise them on how to attract more business from the automotive industry. Automotive News reports that the new role will fall to Ray Tanguay (pictured above at center), an Ontario native who used to head Toyota's Canadian operations and currently chairs the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council. In announcing the appointment, the Canadian federal minister of industry and the Ontario provincial economic minister highlighted the roles played by their governments in bailing out General Motors and Chrysler during the financial crisis, and their country's place in the North American automotive industry. The announcement was made against the backdrop of a shifting industry, however, which has been growing in the southern United States and in Mexico, but has been shrinking by contrast in Canada. With the Canadian dollar and labor costs both rising, automakers have been closing and downsizing their plants in the country. AN points out that the only new plant built in Canada in the past two decades was the Toyota facility in Woodstock, Ontario – which Tanguay spearheaded. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Rogelio V. Solis/AP Government/Legal Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Plants/Manufacturing Toyota car czar

Bentley Continental GT V8 and Toyota 4Runner | Autoblog Podcast #604

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski and Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. First, they talk about driving the 2020 Bentley Continental GT V8 First Edition, followed by the 2020 Toyota 4Runner TRD Off-Road. Then they revive a format called "This or That," discussing the Jeep Wrangler vs. Gladiator, Subaru Forester vs. Outback, Mustang vs. Camaro vs. Challenger, and whether they'd rather spend $25,000 on a new or vintage car. They've got an update on a previous Spend My Money segment, and, finally, they help another listener pick a daily driver. Autoblog Podcast #604 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown 2020 Bentley Continental GT V8 2020 Toyota 4Runner This or That: Jeep Gladiator or Jeep Wrangler Subaru Forester or Subaru Outback Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro or Dodge Challenger Vintage car or new car Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: Podcasts Bentley Chevrolet Dodge Jeep Subaru Toyota Truck Coupe SUV Luxury Off-Road Vehicles Performance Classics