2009 Toyota Camry Le Sedan 4-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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Weekly Recap: Toyota propels hydrogen fuel cells

Toyota is serious about hydrogen fuel cells, and it wants the auto industry to follow suit. The Japanese automaker said this week it's releasing 5,680 fuel cell patents from around the world, including technologies used on its upcoming sedan, the 2016 Mirai. The move is unusual, but not unprecedented, as Tesla similarly released its electric vehicle patents last year. The idea for Tesla, and now for Toyota, is to spur development of alternative propulsion. "By eliminating traditional corporate boundaries, we can speed the development of new technologies and move into the future of mobility more quickly, effectively and economically," said Bob Carter, Toyota Motor Sales senior vice president of automotive operations, in a statement. Toyota's fuel cell patents will be free to use through 2020, though patents related to producing and selling hydrogen will remain open forever. Toyota said it would like companies that use its patents to share their own hydrogen patents, but won't require it. "What Toyota's doing is really a logical move, and really a good move for the industry," Devin Lindsay, principal powertrain analyst with IHS Automotive, told Autoblog. The announcement was made at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It comes as Toyota prepares to launch the hydrogen-powered Mirai in a limited number late this year in California. The launch will be extended to the Northeastern United States next year. Toyota also has announced plans to support networks of fueling stations in each region to try to smooth consumer adoption. The Mirai has a 300-mile range on a tank of hydrogen, and it takes about five minutes to refill. Fuel cells have been receiving increased attention recently, and Audi and Volkswagen debuted hydrogen-powered cars at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show. Honda, another proponent of the technology, also showed its updated FCV concept in November in Japan. The company, however, has delayed its fuel cell sedan a year until 2016. Like Toyota, Honda says its hydrogen-powered car will have a range of 300 miles or more. Meanwhile, Hyundai currently offers leases for fuel-cell powered Tucsons, which have a 265-mile range, in Southern California. Despite the optimism some automakers have for fuel cells, the technology still faces barriers. A lack of filling stations has long held it back, and many consumers are not familiar with the potential benefits.

Toyota temporarily idles pair of Indian plants due to labor unrest

The Detroit News reported today that Toyota will restart production at two Indian plants, following a shutdown on Monday.
Factory labor, management and police in Asia engage in the kind of violent altercations that we're not used to, having almost entirely walked away from the overtly brutal relations epitomized by the Pinkerton Detective Agency and the Flint Sit-Down Strike. In India, a plant owned by a Ford transmission supplier plant was shut down in 2009 after incidents between workers and armed men around the same time as Ssangyong workers occupied a factory in South Korea, in 2012 Suzuki Maruti workers rioted over wages around the same time upset employees beat a ceramics factory president to death in retaliation for a labor leader's killing.
Toyota is the latest to company trying to avoid that road. The Detroit Free Press reported earlier this week that it shut down two plants in India after 11 months of acrimonious wage negotiations and arbitration have gone nowhere. Toyota said the plant workers in Bidadi, near Bangalore, had deliberately stopped production at times over the past 45 days and threatened management. The workers said they wanted their wages raised by an amount already agreed to by management, but that management had reneged; news reports weren't clear on the amount, some saying nearly 10,000 rupees ($165 US) more per month, another saying 4,000 rupees ($65 US), but reports agree that Toyota has said it will only go as high as 3,050 rupees ($50 US).

Cheap, honest transportation | 2017 Toyota Yaris iA

In The Love Bug, the main character (aside from Herbie) is a down-on-his-luck racing driver named Jim Douglas. Early on, he steps into an exotic car show room, and when the dealer asks him kind of car he's looking for, Douglas replies, "What do you have in the way of cheap, honest transportation?" The dealer quickly snatches his fancy liquor back from Douglas and soon after Herbie shows up from the back of the showroom. But if this happened today, you could easily replace the classic Beetle with a 2017 Toyota Yaris iA. The poor thing isn't nearly as endearing to look at as a classic Bug, as a result of the rather unattractive nose, and it's now using a second pseudonym (first Scion iA, then Toyota Yaris iA) to hide its Mazda heritage. However, everything else about it nails the description of cheap, honest transportation. And for that reason, it's a lovely little car. Let's start with honesty, and it begins from the minute you start equipping the car – the iA is a "what you see is what you get" proposition. You see, the iA moniker isn't the only holdover from the Scion era. The Toyota Yaris iA retains its "monospec" configuration, which means it comes with only one option: the transmission. Customers can choose from either a 6-speed manual like our test car, or a 6-speed automatic which costs $1,100. Everything else is standard, and "everything" includes some choice features. You get alloy wheels, air conditioning, cruise control, USB and Bluetooth integration, a rear-view camera, tilt and telescoping steering wheel with audio controls, and keyless entry with push-button start. Technically there are a number of dealer-installed accessories too, including your typical fare of mudguards, rear spoiler, cargo organizers, and such. However, none of them are really necessary, with one exception. For some odd reason, the Yaris iA does not come with a center armrest. It's a $195 accessory, and frankly it should be a standard feature because it's so useful. If you hadn't guessed, ours wasn't equipped with it. Everywhere else the iA is a thoroughly pleasant car, if not as sporty as the old Mazda2. The little 1.5-liter four-cylinder under the hood isn't particularly potent with 106 horsepower and 103 lb-ft of torque. But with a Miata-like 2,385-pound curb weight and our car's manual transmission, it manages to feel fairly sprightly, and never has any trouble dicing it up with traffic. That transmission is pretty decent, too.