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Toyota retires robots in favor of humans to improve automaking process

Mitsuru Kawai is overseeing a return to the old ways at Toyota factories throughout Japan. Having spent 50 years at the Japanese automaker, Kawai remembers when manual skills were prized at the company and "experienced masters used to be called gods, and they could make anything." Company CEO Akio Toyoda personally chose Kawai to develop programs to teach workers metalcraft such as how to forge a crankshaft from scratch, and 100 workstations that formerly housed machines have been set aside for human training.
The idea is that when employees personally understand the fabrication of components, they will understand how to make better machines. Said Kawai, "To be the master of the machine, you have to have the knowledge and the skills to teach the machine." Lessons learned by the newly skilled workers have led to shorter production lines - in one case, 96percent shorter - improved parts production and less scrap.
Taking time to give workers the knowledge to solve problems instead of merely having them "feed parts into a machine and call somebody for help when it breaks down," Kawai's initiative is akin to that of Toyota's Operations Management Consulting Division, where new managers are given a length of time to finish a project but not given any help - they have to learn on their own. It's not a step back from Toyota's quest to build more than ten million cars a year; it's an effort to make sure that this time they don't sacrifice quality while making the effort. Said Kawai, "We need to become more solid and get back to basics."

Toyota Harrier gets a whale of a facelift [w/video]

Historically, the Toyota Harrier has been a doppelgänger for North America's Lexus RX - at some points, it was little more than a badge-swap and a few options away, at least aesthetically. That appears to be changing with this just-revealed new generation at the Tokyo Motor Show.
That's because this two-row, five-seat Toyota is in possession of a bold new look, dominated by a jutting, baleen-like grille edged in chrome, along with new headlamps and fascia. The greenhouse has likewise been revamped and gotten more pointed at the rump, which has new taillights, a resurfaced tailgate and a faux rear diffuser. Were it to be ported over to North American Lexus dealers intact, the Harrier's look would be jarring in light of the brand's spindle-grille-based design language, so we suspect that if the RX gets any of these updates (it was just refreshed for 2013), it will strike out on a different path visually.
Unlike the US RX, the new Harrier will rely on smaller-displacement four-cylinder engines, namely a 2.0-liter paired with a continuously variable transmission or a 2.5-liter four backed up by an electric motor. We'd like to see a smaller-displacement option for the US RX (it presently runs with 3.5-liter V6 engines in both gas-only and hybrid guise), but suspect it won't arrive until the next all-new model.

Audi S4 drivers are the most accident-prone, insurance report says

Culling data from more than 4.6 million automobile insurance applications, researchers at the Insurify insurance comparison marketplace picked a winner — or more to the point, a loser — in its determination of the car model with the most accidents so far in 2023: the Audi S4. Why does the sporty, luxury-class German sedan rank so high (or so low)? The organization found that S4 drivers, piloting a car with almost 350 horsepower, are among those who collect the most speeding tickets, and that they get into accidents at a rate 54 percent higher than the national average. If the S4 isnÂ’t a surprise with an at-fault accident rate of 11.7 percent, consider the “family friendly” brand that appears three times on the Insurity list: Subaru. It is represented by three models, including the turbocharged WRX and XV Crosstrek, and at the better-performing bottom of the list, the Subaru Impreza, with an accident rate of 10.3 percent.  In 2023, 7.6 percent of U.S. drivers were involved in at least one at-fault accident in the prior seven years. For drivers of cars on this list, the average at-fault accident rate was 10.5 percent, meaning these drivers are 1.4 times as likely to have an at-fault accident on record. According to its statement, the Insurity data science team explored key safety features, driver behavior, and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) evaluations to pinpoint possible reasons behind these carsÂ’ high accident rates. Following is the list, counting down to the models with most reported accidents: 10. Subaru Impreza (percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident on record: 10.3 percent; MSRP base model): $19,795) 9. Kia Niro (percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident on record: 10.4 percent; MSRP base model): $26,590) 8. Chevrolet Silverado LD (percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident on record: 10.4%, MSRP base model): $34,500) 7. Subaru XV Crosstrek (percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident on record: 10.5 percent, MSRP 6. Subaru WRX.(percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident on record: 10.7% MSRP base model): $29,605) 5. Toyota GR86 (percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident on record: 10.8 percent MSRP base model): $29,900) 4. Hyundai Veloster N (percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident on record: 10.9 percent; MSRP base model): $32,500) 3.