2010 Silver! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Canada names former Toyota exec as new car czar

The governments of the Canada and the province of Ontario have jointly named a new car czar to advise them on how to attract more business from the automotive industry. Automotive News reports that the new role will fall to Ray Tanguay (pictured above at center), an Ontario native who used to head Toyota's Canadian operations and currently chairs the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council. In announcing the appointment, the Canadian federal minister of industry and the Ontario provincial economic minister highlighted the roles played by their governments in bailing out General Motors and Chrysler during the financial crisis, and their country's place in the North American automotive industry. The announcement was made against the backdrop of a shifting industry, however, which has been growing in the southern United States and in Mexico, but has been shrinking by contrast in Canada. With the Canadian dollar and labor costs both rising, automakers have been closing and downsizing their plants in the country. AN points out that the only new plant built in Canada in the past two decades was the Toyota facility in Woodstock, Ontario – which Tanguay spearheaded. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Rogelio V. Solis/AP Government/Legal Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Plants/Manufacturing Toyota car czar

J.D. Power study sees new car dependability problems increase for first time since 1998

For the first time since 1998, J.D. Power and Associates says its data shows that the average number of problems per 100 cars has increased. The finding is the result of the firm's much-touted annual Vehicle Dependability Study, which charts incidents of problems in new vehicle purchases over three years from 41,000 respondents.
Looking at first-owner cars from the 2011 model year, the study found an average of 133 problems per 100 cars (PP100, for short), up 6 percent from 126 PP100 in last year's study, which covered 2010 model-year vehicles. Disturbingly, the bulk of the increase is being attributed to engine and transmission problems, with a 6 PP100 boost.
Interestingly, JDP notes that "the decline in quality is particularly acute for vehicles with four-cylinder engines, where problem levels increase by nearly 10 PP100." Its findings also noticed that large diesel engines also tended to be more problematic than most five- and six-cylinder engines.

Toyota Camry could lose No. 1 sedan spot next year [w/video]

Eleven months after Toyota claimed the 2012 sales crown a couple of months early thanks to the Camry, the headlines this year have been quite a bit different to last. Even though the Camry remains the best selling car so far in 2013 and its volume has increased year-on-year, it has lost market share due to the 20-percent sales explosion in the midsize segment. That means people are buying more of the competitor offerings like the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima and Ford Fusion - the Altima, in fact, outsold the Camry by 100 units in March.
In July it was reported that Toyota was upping Camry incentives and fleet sales to keep its lead and that dealer inventory was climbing as, again, competitors got better at fighting the champion. In August Ford doubled down on production of the Fusion, adding a line in Flat Rock, MI to keep up with demand.
Bloomberg has a report looking at the numbers behind the Camry's dominance, as well as what appears to be a recorded group interview with Toyota USA CEO Jim Lentz, and wonders aloud whether the Camry will be able to hold its top spot in 2014. Barring catastrophe it has this year locked up, being more than 30,000 sales ahead of the next-best seller as of the end of August, but it has done so with higher incentives and lower transaction prices than its competitors. According to Strategic Vision the Camry's consideration rate among consumers has also declined by a percentage point, while the consideration rate for the Accord and Fusion has increased by one point and two points, respectively.