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Japanese earthquakes send ripples through auto industry

The earthquakes since April 14 in Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu are having aftershocks on the US auto industry, particularly for Toyota. The company shut down most of its factories in the country due to parts shortages, and the plants will be closed at least through April 23. "Decisions regarding recommencement of operation at plants in Japan will be made on the basis of availability of parts," the company said in a statement. According to Automotive News, Toyota's closed factories include a vast range of popular models in the US, including the Toyota Prius, Mirai, RAV4, 4Runner, Land Cruiser, Lexus ES, LS, IS, GS, RC, NX, RX, GX, and LX. The company's only sites in Japan that are still open build Hino trucks, Daihatsu models, and the Toyota Century limo. Toyota isn't yet sure whether these shutdowns could lead to vehicle shortages in the US. "As you can imagine, we are still reviewing the situation and working to learn more," company spokesperson Aaron Fowles told Autoblog. "While we know that production will be suspended in stages at most of our vehicle assembly facilities in Japan between April 18th and the 23rd, we do not know if they will continue production suspensions. Also, any effects to our inventory and/or sales have yet to be determined." He expects the automaker to know more in the coming days. Many of the affected Toyota plants aren't even in Kumamoto Prefecture, but major suppliers have factories in the region. For example, Aisin Seiki and Renesas Electronics both had to shutdown operations at plants in the area, according to Automotive News. Toyota isn't the only automaker affected. Nissan experienced a brief slowdown but was back to work on Monday, and Honda has suspended a motorcycle plant in the region until Friday. Mitsubishi had to close a production line due to the parts shortage, according to The Japan Times, but it didn't affect US models. "A supplier to our Mizushima plant has been impacted but they only supply an engine part for our mini car line. That line has been temporarily shut down due to that situation," spokesperson Alex Fedorak told Autoblog. "That same plant builds the Lancer and i-MiEv and there has been no impact to that line and production continues uninterrupted." Two major quakes hit Kumamoto Prefecture around Kumamoto city in the past week. The first on April 14 measured 6.4 magnitude, and a second on April 16 measured 7.3.

Toyota GT86 CS-R3 ready to rally

Toyota is returning to the rally scene with the competition-spec version of the GT86. First announced over a year ago, the GT86 CS-R3 began testing this past summer, and is now just about ready for customer deliveries. Instead of contesting the top tier of the World Rally Championship, the GT86 CS-R3 was designed to compete in the R3 class. It's closely based on the road-going model (better known around these parts as the Scion FR-S), and retains its 2.0-liter boxer four, sending 238 horsepower and 170 pound-feet of torque through a Drenth six-speed sequential gearbox and limited slip differential to the rear wheels. Available in either tarmac or gravel specification, the GT86 CS-R3 comes complete with "body shell, powertrain and all mechanical components required to build the car." It's set to undergo final FIA certification in July, at which point it'll be ready to deliver to privateer rally teams to field in national and international rallies and in the HJS TMG CS-R3 Trophy that kicks off in Germany on July 4. The package sells for ˆ84,000 ($94k at today's rates) before taxes, but customers who place their orders before April 24 will get a ˆ5k discount. Related Video: 23 Jan 2015 GT86 CS-R3 NEARS COMPETITIVE DEBUT TOYOTA Motorsport GmbH is pleased to confirm the final details of the rear-wheel-drive GT86 CS-R3 rally car, which will make its competitive debut this year. Cologne, Germany - The CS-R3 prototype was launched last August and since then has completed an extensive test programme to optimise design and define the final specification of the kit which will be delivered to private competitors and teams. Detailed development has generated improved performance on both gravel and tarmac, while reliability and durability have been prioritised in order to deliver a car which allows cost-effective competition throughout the season and beyond. The CS-R3 has already proved immensely popular thanks to its rear-wheel drive powertrain, with 1,998cc, 238hp boxer engine and six-speed sequential transmission which combine to produce a spectacular driving experience. The first cars will be delivered to customers in May, later than originally forecast to allow improvements highlighted during testing to be implemented. As a consequence TMG has extended its introductory discount.

Fernando Alonso reportedly will race for Toyota at Le Mans

When it was recently announced that Fernando Alonso would race in the 24 Hours of Daytona in January, it was described as a warm-up for an eventual attempt to win Le Mans. "Eventual" may come pretty fast: It now looks like the Formula One champion will race in the Le Mans 24 Hours next season as well. Or so reports BBC Sport, which says he'll race for Toyota. But wait, there's more: The BBC also says he's in talks with Toyota to drive most of the entire World Endurance Championship — while keeping his day job driving for McLaren in F1. "Le Mans is agreed," a source close to Toyota told the BBC. "The rest of the season is still being negotiated, but it looks like he will do most of the races." BBC's sources say Alonso will drive a Toyota WEC car in the season's last race, in Bahrain on Nov. 19, to get his feet wet. The season's final Formula One race is the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Nov. 26. Neither Alonso nor Toyota would confirm an impending deal. Alonso said at practice for this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix: "So far, nothing to comment. We will see. Just rumors." What's motivating him is this: He's 36 years old and is intent on becoming only the second driver, after Briton Graham Hill, to win motorsport's Triple Crown. That entails winning the Formula One title (or just the Monaco Grand Prix according to one interpretation) as well as Indianapolis and Le Mans. He has won Monaco as well as the 2004 and 2005 world titles. He recently signed a contract extension keeping him at McLaren in 2018. As for the Indy piece of the Triple Crown, Alonso famously raced there this year and was running competitively when his Honda engine failed in the closing stages of the race. So expect to see him there again as well. Racing with Toyota at Le Mans and other endurance races should give him better luck than he had this season with McLaren-Honda in F1 and at Indy. Though Toyota has never won Le Mans, it is known to be developing a new WEC car. Traveling the globe to race in both the WEC and F1 in the same season sounds grueling, but it might be possible. The circuits have provisional schedules, and there's just one conflict — the U.S. Grand Prix and a WEC race in Japan are both penciled in for Oct. 21. But McLaren sounds none too keen on him doing the whole WEC schedule. McLaren racing director Eric Boullier told the BBC: "He has said he is keen to do some races outside. There is a case-by-case discussion. His main and first focus is F1, so that has to be the priority.