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European car sales up 8% in February

Three weeks ago an analyst increased projections for European car sales this year, expecting them to climb three percent compared to last year instead of 2.7 percent. That number is a postive sign after years of hard times but it turns out February was especially good, overall European sales climbing eight percent on a wave of southern European recovery and discounts - and this comes after five months of gains including January's 7.2-percent jump over the year before.
The only country of Europe's five largest markets to post a decline was France, just as it did in January, Germany, the UK and Italy posting solid double-digit numbers, Spain rocking the charts with an 18-percent increase because of a government program to encourage trade-ins.
The only brand to miss the wave was Volkswagen, dropping 0.8 percent as it watched the double-digit growth at sister brands Audi, Seat and Skoda lift the Volkswagen Group sales up by seven-percent. Peugeot overcame flat sales at Citroën to improve the group by 3.5 percent, BMW and the Mercedes-Benz/Smart combo rose by four percent, the Fiat group jumped 5.8 percent, Ford was up 11 percent, the Renault Group 11.5 percent, General Motors 12 percent and the Toyota clan by 14 percent.

Toyota cuts global production in April by 17%

TOKYO — Toyota is cutting its global production target in April to 750,000 vehicles, down 150,000 from an earlier plan, the automaker said on Thursday, as a semiconductor shortage and the COVID-19 pandemic bite into its plans. The news comes about a week after Toyota said it would scale back domestic production by up to 20% during the months of April, May and June to ease the strain on suppliers battling shortages of chips and other parts. "It is still difficult to foresee the situation several months ahead, and there is a possibility the current plan will be revised downward," the company said in a statement. Average monthly global production for the period from April to June would be about 800,000, Toyota added. Its global vehicle production will be down 10% in May and 5% in June from previous estimates at the beginning of the year, said Toyota executive Kazunari Kumakura. The shortages have led the automaker to repeatedly change its production plan, frustrating suppliers and prompting President Akio Toyoda to call the interval from April through June an "intentional cooling off" period. Apart from the persistent chips shortage, Toyota faces a number of challenges. Curbs against COVID-19 forced it to suspend a joint venture with China's FAW Group in the northeastern city of Changchun. The automaker also cited logistical hurdles for suspension at a plant in Russia amid political uncertainty sparked by the Ukraine invasion, which Russia calls a special operation. These factors were not reflected in the April-June global production plan, Kumakura said, adding that while Toyota had not yet suffered specific impacts from the Ukraine crisis, it would look into short- and long-term risks. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Plants/Manufacturing Lexus Toyota coronavirus chip shortage

Toyota headed to New York with 2014 Highlander, revised Scion tC

Toyota has given us a look at what the company will bring to the 2013 New York Auto Show. Visitors will get to set their eyes upon the all-new 2014 Highlander, and while the automaker isn't saying much in the way of details, we do get the teaser you see above (click to enlarge) to ponder on until next week. The image shows little more than a headlamp and a bit of grille, but gives us the flavor of what the crossover will bring to the table.
Scion, meanwhile, says it plans to dust off the "new 2014 tC sports coupe." While we don't imagine the two door will have undergone a major surgery, we're interested to see what the automaker has cooked up. The tC last endured a redesign in 2011. Check out the brief press release below and look for the vehicles to bow on March 28.Y