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Toyota donates engineers, not money, to country's largest anti-hunger charity

Key to production of any kind is efficiency - the ability to achieve maximum productivity with minimal effort or waste. Toyota has become a master of efficiency, with streamlined manufacturing operations around the world. In fact, the Japanese brand has become so well known for efficient operations that it now offers consulting services for organizations and companies outside the auto industry.
It also offers the same consulting for non-profits, free of charge. The New York Times took an in-depth look at the transformative impact that Toyota's engineers had on the city's charities, including The Food Bank, the country's largest anti-hunger charity. The auto manufacturer helped revolutionize the way these organizations served the community, showing that there's more to corporate philanthropy than just donating money.
Head on over to the Times' website and give the story a read.

Toyota sees profit slip but beat earlier forecasts

TOKYO — ToyotaÂ’s July-September profit fell 11% from a year earlier as the coronavirus pandemic slammed global demand, but JapanÂ’s top automaker appeared to be holding up better than weaker rivals that have sunk into the red. Toyota reported Friday a quarterly profit of 470.5 billion yen ($4.5 billion), down from 530 billion yen a year ago. Quarterly sales slipped to 6.77 trillion yen ($65 billion) from 7.64 trillion yen. Its president, Akio Toyoda, told reporters Toyota employees worked extremely hard, including making masks and face shields and boosting efficiency at factories to achieve results despite the pandemic. “Toyota has become gradually stronger,” he said, offering gratitude and praise for how resilient Toyota has proven itself to be. “This shows how each individual worked so hard,” said Toyoda, the grandson of the automakerÂ’s founder, vowing that each of its employees will keep thinking about contributing to a better world. Toyota raised its global sales forecast to 9.4 million vehicles for the fiscal year through March 2021, better than its earlier forecast for 9.1 million vehicles. ThatÂ’s still lagging behind the more than 10.5 million vehicles sold in the last fiscal year. Toyota, based in Toyota city in Aichi, central Japan, said it expects to record a 1.4 trillion yen ($13.5 billion) profit for the fiscal year. It earlier projected 730 billion yen ($7 billion) in profit. Toyota, which makes Lexus luxury models and the Prius hybrid, recorded 2 trillion yen ($19 billion) in profit the previous fiscal year. ToyotaÂ’s operating income fell in most regions, including Japan and other Asian markets, but improved in North America. Operating Officer Kenta Kon expressed caution about the U.S. outlook, given the rising coronavirus cases. But he said ToyotaÂ’s latest models were popular, and dealers were adjusting incentives to get good results. All the worldÂ’s automakers have been slammed by shrinking demand as COVID-19 squelches economic activity. Some nations, including Japan, have sunk into recession. Although uncertainties persist about further outbreaks and when a vaccine might be available, there are signs of recovery in some parts of the world. Japan has managed to keep pandemic-related deaths at fewer than 2,000. It has reported about 105,000 cases nationwide.

Lexus LFA prototype spied lapping the Nurburgring with new bodywork

The Lexus LFA was a real engineering tour de force. Sure, it was stuck in development hell for years, and the 4.8-liter V10's 552-horsepower output wasn't super impressive when it came out, but it integrated a ton of expertise Toyota gained from its F1 team in the early to mid 2000s. Unfortunately, it didn't sell well. Last year, we found there were a few new models sitting on dealer lots, five years after the 500-model run ended. Still, it looks like Toyota may not have given up on the idea of a race-derived flagship for Lexus, at least based on this prototype running around the Nurburgring this week. At first glance, the car pictured here looks like an LFA with the Nurburgring Package and some camouflage on the front and rear fenders. If you look closely, you can see that the fenders are significantly wider than on the standard LFA. Based on the license plate, this appears to be the same car with two different sets of wheels. Lexus may simply be swapping out worn tires, or they may be testing different wheel and tire combinations to fit the wider wheel wells. Anything beyond this is just speculation. There have been rumors of a new flagship Lexus sports car that sits atop the LC 500 and LC 500h. We saw the Toyota GR Super Sport Concept back in January, though that car looks nothing like what we see here. As much as we would love that sweet Yamaha co-developed V10 to carry over, we're not holding our breath. Some sort of hybrid powertrain is almost a certainty. Maybe Lexus and Toyota could pull some tech from its Le Mans-winning TS050 Hybrid race car. Related Video: