Lexus - automotive industry company news

BELGIUM: New Lexus IS comes with real-time parking and navigation service

21 May 2013

Lexus has announced the launch of a real-time parking and traffic navigation service in the new Lexus IS. Lexus says the Lexus IS is the first vehicle to feature such a service as standard on its premium navigation multimedia system.

Q&A with Lear Corporation: Review of vehicle seating

10 May 2013

Back in the 1970s, a car seat was a functional component with few or no added value features. Nowadays, with drivers spending more time in their car on longer commutes, they expect a comfortable ride. Matthew Beecham caught up with three top executives of Lear Corp to hear how the seat has become an integral part of the car’s overall design and appeal in the showroom. Here, Ryan Burns, Lear’s Vice President of Global Seat Engineering led the discussion with contributions from Karl Henn, Director of Seating Engineering and R&D and Mandy Sarotte, Vice President of Global Trim Sales.

US: Tesla Model S gets top CR rating

9 May 2013

Tesla has been given a boost by the influential Consumer Reports (CR) organisation in the US, with its Model S receiving the highest score in ratings: 99 out of 100, a tally rarely achieved.

TOKYO PREVIEW: Global debuts list [Toyota fuel cell vehicle added]

2 May 2013

The media days for the Tokyo motor show are 20 & 21 November (the same as those for the LA show). Each time a vehicle or concept world premiere is confirmed for this biennial event, our preview list is updated.

JAPAN: Toyota Kyushu to add new model late 2014

24 April 2013

Toyota Motor (TMC) has announced that its vehicle and engine production subsidiary in Kyushu, Toyota Motor Kyushu (TMK), will start producing a new model in late 2014. No details of the model were announced.

SHANGHAI: Toyota considers Chinese Lexus production

22 April 2013

Toyota could make Lexus luxury models in China, senior managing officer Hiroji Onishi, told Kyodo News at the Shanghai show.

SHANGHAI: Global debuts list [Final version with additional cars & updated descriptions]

22 April 2013

Details of concepts and new models which made their global debuts on Saturday 20 April at Auto Shanghai's media preview day.

US: Toyota confirms US Lexus ES350 build from 2015

19 April 2013

Toyota and Kentucky state representatives confirmed what president Akio Toyoda - after a moment of silence for the tragedy in Boston where he went to graduate school - termed "one of our worst kept secrets" - Lexus 350 assembly in 2015.

US: Kentucky incentivises Lexus addition at Toyota Georgetown

18 April 2013

Toyota Motor has been offered US$146.5m in tax breaks by the state of Kentucky to add production capacity at its Georgetown plant where, a company source told Reuters, it will build the Lexus ES from 2015.

JAPAN/US: Toyota sells 5m hybrids

17 April 2013

Toyota has now sold 5m hybrid vehicles worldwide and almost 2m (1,951,243) Toyota and Lexus hybrid vehicles have been sold in the United States, significantly reducing CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.

JAPAN: No further airbag recalls to its knowledge: Takata

12 April 2013

Takata says there are no further recalls to its knowledge outside the four Japanese manufacturers, who yesterday (12 April) announced a massive global recall of more than three million vehicles following defects car producers say were found in its passenger airbags.

JAPAN: Japanese makers announce recall on Takata airbag inflators

11 April 2013

Japanese carmakers are recalling over three million cars globally over a defect in passenger airbags.

COMMENT: Latest big recall on airbags not good for Toyota or Takata

11 April 2013

Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and Mazda are recalling a combined 3.39m vehicles globally, all traced back to an identical problem with the passenger-side airbag supplied by Takata. IHS Automotive analyst Paul Newton considers the implications.

US: Car sales continue to rise

3 April 2013

US light vehicle sales continue to grow last month. Automakers delivered better than 1.4m cars and trucks, a 3.5% improvement over March 2012. This translated into a seasonally adjusted annualised rate (SAAR) of 15.27m sales, slightly below analysts’ expectation of 15.4m, but more than 1m sales higher than the mark from last March. March 2013 was the fifth consecutive month the SAAR was above 15m.

INTERVIEW: Keno Kato, Corporate VP of Product Planning for Nissan & Infiniti

2 April 2013

Keno Kato is corporate vice president of Global Product Strategy and Product Planning for Nissan and Infiniti. Glenn Brooks recently met him and took the opportunity to ask a variety of questions concerning future model plans.

INTERVIEW: Agromash Holdings on PSA partnership in Kazakhstan

26 March 2013

PSA Peugeot Citroen recently inked a partnership with Agromash Holding, for the assembly and distribution of the French automaker's passenger cars and LCVs in Kazakhstan. Simon Warburton was in contact with the trailer and agricultural machinery manufacturer based in the huge country on Russia's southern border.

GENEVA 2013 PRESS PREVIEW DAYS REVIEW: Part Two (of two)

8 March 2013

Having peered under concepts to check for real engines and suspension systems, and gently interrogated multiple industry executives in the quest to slake readers' insatiable thirsts for knowledge, Glenn Brooks now reports his findings.

GENEVA 2013 PRESS PREVIEW DAYS REVIEW: Part One

7 March 2013

As our list of vehicle and concept world premieres attests, this year’s Geneva motor show media preview days saw a bumper crop of new models revealed. Glenn Brooks, our man at the Palais des Expositions, reports his observations.

JAPAN: Toyoda shakes up Toyota

6 March 2013

As heralded earlier, Toyota president Akio Toyoda has announced a major restructure of the company and management team that sees the old-order chairman take an 'honorary' role, gives lower level executives more local authority and autonomy and divides the company into four divisions.

CANADA: February sales down 3.3%

4 March 2013

Canadian car sales dropped a moderate 3.3% in February in a third straight monthly decline, as good demand for Detroit brands helped offset a setback for the Japanese.

JAPAN: Toyota aims for record global production in 2013

21 February 2013

Toyota Motor plans to make a record 8.79m vehicles under the Toyota and Lexus brands in 2013 and 9.5m in 2014, a member of the Toyota labour union federation said.

THE WEEK THAT WAS: Financial results: the good, the bad and the ugly

15 February 2013

There were more financial results out this week and it was another mixed bag. General Motors' latest black ink was, overall, good. It's still making big profits, mainly based on healthy North American business and continued progress in Asia (especially China where it sold, with its JVs, over 300,000 units in January). Europe's a problem for GM, but that's been the case for a while now, no easy solutions. Also in the good pile was Jaguar Land Rover.

KAZAKHSTAN: Toyota to assembly Fortuner locally

12 February 2013

Toyota has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Kazakhstan government to begin local knockdown production of the Fortuner from the spring of 2014 at a facility belonging to Saryarka AvtoProm in Kostanay.

UK: Car market up 11.5% in January

6 February 2013

UK new car registrations rose 11.5% to 143,643 units in January, another positive result to contrast with markets elsewhere in Europe.

US: Detroit surge drives US light vehicle sales in January

4 February 2013

The surge that provided a strong end to 2012 continued into January as US light vehicle sales rose 14.2% to about 1.04m. The seasonally adjusted annualised rate came in at 15.29m, off just slightly from December’s 15.37m, and well ahead of the 13.98m figure reported in January 2012.

THE WEEK THAT WAS: Ford nets billions, Toyota recalls another million...

1 February 2013

A mixed week of mostly good news, industry niggle in France and financial woes at PSA excepted. Ford booked a healthy US$5.7bn full year net profit for 2012 - our resident commentator weighed in on that here - and Toyota announced yet more recalls totalling about 1.3m units - mostly Corollas but also some Lexus IS. Airbag control modules and wiper bolt tightness.

JAPAN: Toyota announces 1.3m-car Corolla and Lexus recalls

30 January 2013

Toyota Motor is recalling almost 1.3m cars globally for two separate defects, including 752,000 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles in the US, to fix airbags that could be deployed inadvertently, the automaker said on Wednesday. The second recall is to check Lexus IS wipers.

SOUTH KOREA: Toyota car of the year victory upsets Hyundai

30 January 2013

An hour before the awards ceremony was set to begin, Toyota Korea was told that its Camry would be crowned the 2013 Korea Car of the Year, a stunning feat for a foreign brand.

DETROIT INTERVIEW: APMA president, Steve Rodgers

28 January 2013

APMA is Canada's national association representing OEM producers of parts, equipment, tools, supplies and services for the worldwide automotive industry. Its president, Steve Rodgers, talked to Simon Warburton at the recent Detroit Auto Show.