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Toyota, Mazda drop Takata as Mitsubishi, Subaru weigh options

It's not a very good time to be Takata right now. Fresh on the heels of longtime partner Honda ditching them, Toyota and Mazda have both come out and said they will not use the company's airbag inflators if they continue to rely on ammonium nitrate. Bloomberg reports that Subaru and Mitsubishi are also contemplating a divorce. "The inflator using ammonium nitrate produced by Takata will not be adopted by Toyota," President Akio Toyoda said during a briefing today. "What's most important above anything else is the safety and peace of mind of customers." Mazda echoed that position, simply saying it "will not use Takata airbag inflators which contain ammonium nitrate in our new cars." When you lose three huge OEM accounts in as many days, it's certainly going to have a deleterious effect on your fortunes. In Takata's case, that's meant a staggering 39-percent drop in their share price over the last three days. Yesterday alone, the company saw a 6.2-percent fall, Bloomberg reports. As the business publication reports, though, Takata isn't going down without a fight. The company is "considering some plans to survive," including a fundraising plan that will see it potentially offer up additional shares for sale. Still, at least one analyst doesn't see whatever company survives staying involved in the airbag inflator business. "I really don't see how they're going to be able to survive as an inflator manufacturer," Valient Market Research founder Scott Upham told Bloomberg. "When your major clients publicly come out and say that they're not going to use your products anymore, it makes this very difficult to sustain your business." News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Carlos Osorio / AP Honda Mazda Mitsubishi Subaru Toyota Safety supplier

Subaru mulls motorsports return, nixes small CUV plans

The Subaru WRX STI breaking the automotive lap record at the Isle of Man might be just the beginning of the headlines trumpeting a Subaru racecar. According to the latest rumors, the Japanese brand is looking at taking motorsports more seriously in the future. That could possibly even mean endurance racing at Le Mans.
According to Auto Express, the brand is mulling a greater participation in motorsport, but the big question is where. The World Rally Championship isn't a certainty because it now favors smaller cars like the Volkswagen Polo. Subaru still competes in series like Rally America and Global Rallycross, but there are bigger stages to play on.
What's interesting, is that this commitment to motorsports comes right as the automaker is denying plans to build a small CUV for its passenger car lineup. According to Auto Express, the company has no intention of developing a crossover smaller than the current XV Crosstrek. Even if the sales are there, it would just cost too much to develop. In the US, at least, the XV is doing great with sales up 42 percent in July.

2020 Subaru Legacy teased with luxurious interior before Chicago Auto Show reveal

The 2020 Subaru Legacy will be revealed at the 2019 Chicago Auto Show, and today we get a couple teasers for what to expect of the completely redesigned sedan. Both shots give us good looks at the exterior and interior, the latter indicates a move slightly upmarket. Plus we have spy photos from a little while back. Nothing about the Legacy's exterior comes as a surprise here. It's still a normally proportioned sedan with generic sedan styling. Spy shots from last year further indicate an evolution of the previous model's design language. Of course, with the proliferation of crossovers, simply being a sedan is becoming unique. New LED DRLs are striking as they surround nearly the entire headlight. Beyond that, we'll have to wait for the shadows to melt away to make any true judgements on styling changes. The interior has a bit more going on, specifically the vertical center screen that looks larger and fancier than any Subaru infotainment system we've seen yet. It reminds us of Ram's wonderful 12-inch vertical screen and its vertical banks of buttons. Each refreshed or new Subaru demonstrates marked improvement in the infotainment department, like the Forester and Ascent, but this appears to be on another level. The design and materials are nicer, too, with the brown stitched leather covering the dash leading to an elegant center console and gear shift area. In the darkened teaser photo, this looks like a luxury car interior. We'll be on the show floor ready to test out Subie's new infotainment after the official reveal next Thursday, and to see if the Legacy feels as luxurious as it looks right now. Related video: