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Camaro SS facelift and dune-riding the new Mercedes-Benz GLS | Autoblog Podcast #579

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Road Test Editor Reese Counts and Associate Editor Joel Stocksdale. First, they talk about the newly refreshed Chevy Camaro SS. Then they dish on the cars they've been driving, including the Lexus UX, Lexus GS F and Volvo V90, as well as riding in the new Mercedes-Benz GLS. After that, they ask the question, how many AMG cars is too many? Finally they turn to car buying, and suggest potential vehicles for a shopper on Reddit for the "Spend My Money" segment. Autoblog Podcast #579 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 Camaro SS facelift Cars we're driving: 2019 Lexus UX 2019 Lexus GS F 2019 Volvo V90 Cross Country 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLS ride How many AMGs is too many? Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

Junkyard Gem: 2002 Lexus GS 300

Toyota finally killed off the Lexus GS last year, after nearly 20 years of earning respect but not nearly as many yen as the Toyota City overlords had hoped. American car buyers came to prefer truck-shaped machinery during the production life of the GS, and those who wanted sedans didn't see the advantages of the rear-wheel-drive GS over the similarly-sized-but-cheaper ES. From 1993 through 2005, American Lexus shoppers could buy a new GS with the magnificent 2JZ straight-six engine, which achieved international gearhead immortality thanks to a certain movie franchise, and these cars have been very difficult for me to find during my junkyard travels. Here is a rare example of the final generation of 2JZ-equipped GS 300s, found in a Northern California boneyard last summer. V8 versions of the GS (the 400 and, later, 430) could be bought here, equipped with the bulletproof-but-heavy 1UZ/3UZ V8 engine out of the LS. Those cars were quicker and faster than the GS 300 but handled in more ponderous fashion. This engine was rated at 220 horsepower, but you could get scary multiples of that amount with the addition of aftermarket boost. In Japan, this car's Aristo counterpart got 276 horses out of its turbocharged 2JZ. No manual transmission could be had in the 2002 GS (nor in the JDM Aristo and its Crown cousin), but at least the enforced automatic came with five forward speeds. This car looked and felt like a smaller LS 430 inside, but the rear-wheel-drive layout made the rear seat space smaller than that of the Camry-based ES 300. Finding the keys in a new-ish junkyard car means that it was most likely an insurance total or dealership trade-in. Maybe someone will rescue that 2JZ before The Crusher eats it. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. As always with Toyota products, the Japanese-market ads were more dramatic than those from elsewhere. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The V8-equipped GS forces the BMW 540i to drive over a cliff, Wile E. Coyote-style.

Toyota cuts production target by 300,000 vehicles due to parts and chips shortages

TOKYO - Toyota cut its annual production target by 300,000 vehicles on Friday as rising COVID-19 infections slowed output at parts factories in Vietnam and Malaysia, compounding a global shortage of auto chips. "It's a combination of the coronavirus and semiconductors, but at the moment it is the coronavirus that is having the overwhelming impact," Kazunari Kumakura, an executive at the world's biggest car maker, said after the company revised its production target. Unlike other big global automakers that were forced earlier to scale back production plans, Toyota had managed to avoid cuts to output because it had stockpiled key components along a supply chain hardened against disruption following northeast Japan's devastating earthquake in 2011. Toyota's announcement on Friday is a further sign that no part of the global car industry has escaped the affects of a pandemic that has sapped sales and is hobbling its ability to take advantage of the recovery in demand that followed the initial waves of COVID-19. Car sales in China in August fell by almost a fifth from a year earlier because there were fewer vehicles for people to buy. Toyota now expects to build 9 million vehicles in the year to March 31, rather than 9.3 million. It did not revise its 2.5 trillion yen ($22.7 billion) operating profit forecast for the business year. Adding to a 360,000-vehicle cut in worldwide production in September, Toyota said on Friday it will reduce output by a further 70,000 this month and by 330,000 in October. It hopes to make up some of that lost production before its year-end. Demand for chips has soared during the pandemic as consumer electronic companies rush to meet stay-at-home demand for their smartphones, tablets and other devices. A heavy reliance on Southeast Asian factories for parts is a headache for Toyota, but its also a problem for its rivals that have struggled with what Volkswagen has described as "very volatile and tight" chip supplies. The German carmaker has warned it may need to cut production further as a result. Ford last month shut down production at a plant in Kansas that builds its best-selling F-150 pick up because of parts supply woes, with Renault extending partial stoppages at factories in Spain. Mercedes this month said it expects chip shortages to significantly lower third quarter sales. (Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Kim Coghill) Plants/Manufacturing Lexus Toyota