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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.

Lexus boots up 2014 IS configurator

Throw away those scraps of paper and pull yourself up to a keyboard, as Lexus has launched the online configurator for its all-new 2014 IS sedan. The base price for the entry-level IS 250 RWD is $36,845 (all listed prices include the $895 delivery fee), delivering a 2.5-liter V6 rated at 204 horsepower that provides enough thrust for a 0-60 sprint in 7.7 seconds. The range-topping IS 350 AWD starts at $42,595, packed with a 3.5-liter V6 rated at 306 horsepower that will deliver 60 mph in just 5.7 seconds.
After choosing an engine and driveline, the configurator will offer eight exterior colors and five interior upholstery shades (some combinations, such as selecting Obsidian over Rioja Red NuLuxe leather, require upgrades such as the F Sport package). Consumers are then offered four different bundled option packages as enhancements. The least expensive is Navigation ($4,670), followed by the aforementioned F Sport ($5,800) and a choice between two luxury packages ($7,195) with light or dark wood trim.
Last to come are the accessories and dealer-installed options such as remote engine start, glass-break sensor, wheel locks and a cargo net. Go crazy with your choices, as we did, and the price will exceed $50,000. Head over to the Lexus IS configurator, and check it out for yourself.

2014 Lexus CT 200h gains familial hourglass figure

Following reports from last week that a refreshed Lexus CT 200h would arrive in dealers for the 2014 model year, we've gotten our first glimpse of what said refresh entails, and well, at first glance, it's not much. Lexus has fitted its familial spindle-style grille and a new set of headlamps to the hybridized hatchback.
Out back, the CT 200h has gotten a set of slightly slimmer taillights, while the F-Sport model shown here sports a revised rear bumper, with what looks like a subtle diffuser and some vertical vents. All told, the exterior refinements are nice, if not subtle, additions to the five-door hatchback.
It's unclear if anything has changed inside the CT 200h, although we'd expect a similarly light refreshening in line with what's been done outside. As for the hybrid powertrain, we wouldn't expect a wholesale change in that department - at least until the next-generation CT arrives around 2016.