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Toyota To Stop Building Cars In Australia

Toyota said Monday it will stop making cars in Australia by the end of 2017, spelling a final blow to auto manufacturing in the country, where car companies say high production costs and tough competition have crippled business conditions. Toyota's announcement, which will result in the loss of around 2,500 jobs, was widely anticipated, coming just two months after General Motors Co. said it would end production in Australia by 2017. Ford Motor Co. announced in May that it would cease Australian production in 2016. All told, some 6,600 manufacturing jobs will be lost between the three companies. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. stopped manufacturing in Australia in 2008. Toyota Motor Corp. said its decision was based on a combination of factors including the high Australian dollar, the high cost of manufacturing and competition. "We did everything that we could to transform our business," Toyota Australia CEO Max Yasuda said in a statement. "But the reality is that there are too many factors beyond our control that make it unviable to build cars in Australia." Toyota President Akio Toyoda delivered the news to workers at the company's Altona plant near Melbourne, where he paid tribute to 50 years of Toyota cars being built in Australia. "To now have to deliver this news to the very people we have worked so hard with, to the many people who have supported our production for so many years, is most regretful for Toyota and, for me personally, simply heartbreaking," he said. Toyota, which has been manufacturing cars in Australia since 1963, currently makes the Camry, Camry Hybrid and Aurion in the country. It will become a sales company. Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said Toyota had not asked the government for any financial assistance in the lead-up to its decision. The government had subsidized auto manufacturing, hoping to keep the industry alive as it supports tens of thousands of jobs in other areas including auto parts. Holden, which is the Australian arm of GM, received 1.8 billion Australian dollars ($1.6 billion) in federal government assistance in the past 11 years. Auto makers in Australia produced about 178,000 cars in 2012, according to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers. Related Gallery AOL Autos Test Drive: 2014 Toyota Highlander Plants/Manufacturing Toyota

Toyota expands Takata airbag inflator recall

The Basics: Toyota will recall 198,000 examples of the 2008 Corolla and Matrix and the 2008-2010 Lexus SC430. The Problem: The vehicles contain Takata's dual-stage inflators in their front passenger airbags, which could rupture in a crash. Injuries/Deaths: None reported in this population of vehicles. However, experts believe Takata's inflators have links to at least ten fatalities. The Fix: Dealers will replace the part with a newly manufactured one. If You Own One: Toyota will notify owners about the recall by first-class mail in March and will send a remedy letter in June when the parts are ready. TOYOTA EXPANDS TAKATA AIRBAG SAFETY RECALL TORRANCE, Calif., March 2, 2016 – Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. today announced that it is expanding two of its recalls involving Takata front passenger airbag inflators. This will add model years of certain vehicles previously recalled and will cover all remaining dual-stage front passenger inflators of a particular type, as a precautionary measure. Approximately 198,000 Model Year 2008 Corolla and Corolla Matrix and Model Year 2008-2010 Lexus SC430 vehicles will be added to the recalls. The involved vehicles are equipped with a Takata-produced dual-stage front passenger airbag inflator which could potentially be susceptible to rupture when deployed in a crash. All known owners of the affected Toyota / Lexus vehicles will be notified by first class mail. Dealers will replace the airbag inflator or the airbag assembly with a newly manufactured one at no cost. Information about automotive recalls, including but not limited to the list of involved vehicles, is subject to change over time. For the most up-do-date Safety Recall information on Toyota, Lexus or Scion vehicles, customers should check their vehicle's status by visiting toyota.com/recall and entering the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). Safety Recall inquiry by individual VIN is also available at the NHTSA site: safercar.gov/vin. For any additional questions, customer support is also available by calling Toyota Customer Service at 1-800-331-4331, or Lexus Customer Service at 1-800-255-3987. ###

Unintended acceleration settlement hits Toyota's Q4 bottom line

Depending on how you want to look at things, the US Attorney's Office $1.2-billion dollar settlement with Toyota in March over its unintended acceleration recall was either a big blow to the company or completely inconsequential. From January to March, net income fell five percent to 297 billion yen ($2.89 billion), compared to 313.9 billion yen ($3.05 billion) a year ago. However, the automaker still posted record full-year profits worldwide.
Operating profit also fell in the US by 9 percent to $498.1 million for the quarter, but sales were up by 6 percent to 581,261 vehicles. According to Automotive News, global revenue was still up from January to March by about 13 percent and vehicle sales were up 6 percent to 2.58 million units.
However, the payment to the feds did little to hold the company back last year. For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014, Toyota had net income of 1.82 trillion yen ($17.7 billion), compared to 962.1 billion yen ($9.5 billion) in the last fiscal year. Total vehicle sales were also up.