2009 Toyota Matrix Base Wagon 4-door 1.8l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Toyota buys Daihatsu for small-car development

Toyota is getting serious about small cars, but it's not going at it alone. Instead it's turning to its subsidiary Daihatsu, with which it will now share more resources and expertise. And in the process, it's acquiring the remaining stake in the smaller automaker. Daihatsu is a Japanese carmaker founded in its present form in 1951, but with roots that trace back as far as 1907. Toyota acquired a controlling interest of 51 percent in Daihatsu in 1988, bringing the company under its umbrella. But now it is raising its stake to 100 percent by a reciprocal share-swap agreement that will see Daihatsu's other shareholders take 0.27 shares in the larger company for each share in the smaller. As part of the new arrangement, the Daihatsu division will take the lead in developing new small cars, both for itself and for its parent company. Toyota in turn will also share key technologies with Daihatsu, and both will share each other's networks in emerging markets. The bottom line is that we can expect to see more small Toyotas and Scions developed and built by Daihatsu in the near future. The Daihatsu name may not be as familiar to Americans as some of Toyota's other brands. It briefly sold models like the Charade and Rocky in the United States under its own name in the late 1980s and early 90s. However US customers may be more familiar with those it built for the Scion brand, such as the Scion xB that was based on the Daihatsu Materia. While the realistic part of our brains force us to admit it's unlikely, the dreamer within us will hold out hope that the new arrangement could see a Scion version of the nimble little Daihatsu Kopen roadster make its way to our shores in the coming years. Toyota and Daihatsu to Strengthen Small Car Operations through Unified Global Strategy Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) and its subsidiary Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. (Daihatsu) have reached an agreement whereby Daihatsu will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota by way of a share exchange (expected to be completed in August 2016). The purpose of the agreement is to develop of ever-better cars by adopting a unified strategy for the small car segment, under which both companies will be free to focus on their core competencies. Ultimately, this will help Daihatsu and Toyota to attain their joint goal of achieving sustainable growth. Additionally, the aim of the share exchange is to enhance the value of both brands.

Airbag recall adds 85k Pontiac Vibes to tally

The repairs needed for the faulty airbag inflators supplied by Takata continue to expand. Toyota initially announced a recall of 766,300 vehicles equipped with the bad part on June 11 as a followup to a campaign from 2013. Soon after, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a preliminary evaluation into five automakers who also used the component in their models. Now, NHTSA has released the official announcement of the latest Toyota recall listing 844,277 affected cars, including the newly added 2003-2004 Pontiac Vibe.
While NHTSA's document didn't include a model-by-model breakdown, General Motors spokesperson Alan Adler estimated to Autoblog that roughly 85,000 Vibes in the US would be covered under the latest recall. Like the rest of the affected models, the airbag inflator could rupture in a crash causing the bag not to work correctly, possibly spraying metal fragments at the occupant.
Toyota spokesperson Cindy Knight told Autoblog that the reason for the disparity between the earlier press release and NHTSA document was that Toyota was continuing to comb through VINs to create a list of affected vehicles. The original number was an estimate of that process at the time. Scroll down to the recall report from NHTSA.

Toyota to suspend 18 assembly lines as production restarts post-quake

TOKYO - Japanese manufacturers began restarting production at plants in the country's quake-hit northeast, but Toyota Motor Corp said it plans to idle 18 assembly lines for a few days next week due to a shortage of parts from suppliers. It had suspended operations at three factories due to the quake and sees lost production of 20,000 units due to the stoppages. Toyota has already cut its global production target due to the ongoing chip shortage. The suspension will cut heavily into Toyota's domestic production. Impacted product lines include the Toyota RAV4, Land Cruiser, Harrier and Yaris and virtually every Lexus. Toyota did not say whether these shutdowns could extend to U.S.-based production lines, but the possibility exists if they receive parts from the same suppliers.  On one hand, the limited damage caused by the magnitude 7.4 temblor has highlighted Japan's success in building resilience against the frequent tremors that shake the archipelago. But the quake has sparked concerns of further disruptions to a pandemic-hit supply chain for precision components vital to electronics and autos production and in which Japanese manufacturers play a leading role. Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd, the top global supplier of ceramic capacitors used in smartphones and cars, said it restarted production on Friday at two stopped plants with the remaining two idled plants to restart next week. A fire that broke out at a factory which produces chip inductors caused some damage to equipment. Renesas Electronics Corp, which makes nearly a third of the microcontroller chips used in cars globally, said it has restarted production after stopping it at two factories with a partial stop at a third. All three factories, including the Naka factory where fire broke out last year, are expected to return to pre-quake capacity by Wednesday, Renesas said. Power has mostly been restored across the northeast, which suffered Japan's biggest earthquake 11 years ago. Areas of Tokyo lost power for nearly three hours after the latest quake, in which three people died and 183 were injured. The blackout has forced the disposal of some COVID-19 vaccines held in cool storage, the Yomiuri newspaper reported. Tech conglomerate Sony Group Corp is in the process of gradually restarting production at three factories in the quake-hit area, a spokesperson said.