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Toyota raises Japanese base wages for first time since 2008

Toyota is on track for record profits, and in return, its Japanese workers are receiving their first increase in base wages since 2008, plus higher pay based on seniority and a larger bonus for 2014. The Japanese automaker predicts the average laborer will net a 2.9 percent income gain.
The average Toyota employee will earn 2,700 yen ($26.28) more each month, a 0.8 percent increase from last year. Workers will also receive about 7,300 yen ($71.09) more monthly based on seniority and promotions. Finally, the company's union pushed through a median bonus of 2.44 million yen ($23,768) for 2014, the highest in 6 years.
The pay boost comes as Toyota forecasts a record 1.9-trillion yen ($18.5 billion) profit for the fiscal year ending on March 31, according to Bloomberg. It has been helped by the Japanese government's efforts to weaken the yen on international markets and expand inflation. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been asking businesses to increase compensation to end years of deflation and offset upcoming higher sales taxes. Honda and Nissan have also raised their wages there in recent months.

Red Bull may seek engines from Ferrari after Mercedes snub

Red Bull and Renault's fractured relationship is pushing the Austrian F1 team to find a new engine provider. But after a trip across the German border to chat with Mercedes-Benz proved fruitless, the team is apparently set to head across its home country's southern border, and into Italy. Yep, Red Bull Ferrari could be a thing next season. According to RBR boss Christian Horner, the company is just doing "necessary due diligence" in contacting other engine suppliers, although he's willfully admitted to Germany's Bild newspaper that the "idea of Mercedes is finished," BBC Sport reports. It wasn't so much that Mercedes and Red Bull couldn't come to financial agreement – Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz views throwing money into F1 in much the same way you or I toss pennies into the mall fountain – but rather that the Germans had no interest in supplying the best engines on the grid to the factory team's perennial rival. BBC Sport seems to think that fact, along with what the outlet calls Red Bull's "antagonistic" relationship with engine suppliers, killed the Mercedes deal. Honda and RBR aren't likely to happen either, thanks to McLaren (not that we think Red Bull would approach the Japanese, which have struggled mightily all season long). By process of elimination, that just leaves Ferrari. Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene confirmed that his team can accommodate Red Bull's engine needs, and that he wasn't concerned with the idea of a Ferrari engine in an Adrian Newey-designed body. "In theory they have big names, with Newey as chief designer and it is easy to think that if you give them the engine they will build a scary chassis, which means they will be really competitive," Arrivabene told BBC Sport. "Concerning my team, my engineers and aerodynamicists know their own jobs. For that reason I don't have a problem, and competition is nice when you have a stronger competitor." "This doesn't mean tomorrow morning we will give our engines to Red Bull or Toro Rosso," Arrivabene added. And it's that statement we'd suggest remembering. There are, after all, still seven races left in the 2015 season, which is quite a lot of time for new and different developments within the sport's notoriously gruesome political process. In other words, don't count on an announcement from any team or manufacturer for at least a few more races. Related Video:

Junkyard Gem: 1981 Honda Accord LX Hatchback

The first-generation Honda Accord was the kind of sales success that vehicle manufacturers dream of but almost never attain: a car so far superior to its competition that buyers had to shell out big markups and sit on waiting lists if they wanted to take one home. Nothing could touch the value-per-dollar you got with one of these cars back then, and they soldiered on for decade after decade. Most of them are gone now, worn out and thrown away, without much of an enthusiast community to restore them (with notable exceptions, of course). Here's an Amal Blue '81 LX hatchback I spotted in a Denver-area self-service yard last week. This one is pretty well loaded, with air conditioning, automatic transmission, AM/FM mono radio, clock, the works. Under the hood is the 1.8-liter CVCC engine in "49-state" emission-control configuration (California had stricter emissions standards than the rest of the country during this era). The vacuum-hose diagram for this car is a bit complex, but nowhere near as bad as the terrifying nightmare that CVCC owners faced a few years later. 1981 was the last model year in which all Accords sold in the United States were shipped over from Japan. The Voluntary Export Restraint agreement of 1980 resulted in Honda building its Marysville, Ohio, assembly plant, and second-gen Accords were American-made. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Because life isn't always a simple Sunday drive. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. In Japan, the CVCC Accord got action-movie music in its ads. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1981 Honda Accord LX View 19 Photos Auto News Honda