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The situation in Japan for the country’s automobile industry appears to be much worse than originally believed with many carmakers struggling to resume domestic output following the magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami on March 11 that killed thousands of people and damaged factories as well as infrastructure.
Following yesterday’s announcement from Toyota, Subaru said today that it will extend closures at all five of its automobile assembly plants in Japan until Monday, March 28. The automaker’s parent company Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI) had previously announced its production suspension until March 24.
On a separate note, the company said that it restarted production of parts for overseas production on Wednesday, March 23 and production of spare parts on Thursday, March 24, with some components available for production.
The massive earthquake followed by the even more devastating tsunami that struck the north-east coasts of Japan last week has brought together the country’s biggest automakers including Honda, Nissan and Toyota, which announced today that they will donate $3.75 million each for relief and recovery efforts in communities affected by the disaster.
In addition to the contribution in money, Nissan said it is also studying further relief efforts including complimentary provision of vehicles, such as trucks and forklifts, donation of medical supplies and daily commodities including blankets, antiseptics and masks, gift matching donation from Nissan employees, promotion, and support of blood donation activities.
Honda announced that it will donate a total of 1,000 power generators along with 5,000 gas canisters to the people left without electricity, while Toyota is considering the provision of goods and services as needed.
The three automakers have also announced the closure of some of their factories in Japan. From March 14 through March 20, Honda will suspend all production activities at its plants in Sayama, Saitama, Ogawa, Tochigi, Hamamatsu and Suzuka, plus all facilities in the Tochigi area, where damage was more serious. From March 15 through 20, Honda will also suspend production at the Kumamoto factory.
Nissan announced that operations at the Tochigi and Iwaki plants are suspended until March 18, while the Oppama, Kyushu, Shatai and Yokohama plants will be closed until March 16. As for Toyota, officials announced that the Hokkaido, Tohoku, Miyagi and Iwate plants are closed, with all employees having been evacuated to safe areas. The factories will remain closed at least until March 16.
Other automakers affected by the earthquake include Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Suzuki, which have either suspended or slowed down production because of supply shortages.
There was a special guest at Manchester Subaru in New Hampshire last week, and it wasn’t some B-list celebrity slumming it for a free car. No sir, it was a one of a kind 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STi convertible. You read that correctly, and we have the gallery to back it up.
And all I can say is wow. Remember when the boys over at Top Gear UK converted an old Renault Espace into a convertible? This is like that, but better. It’s somewhere between the ASC Helios (nee Chrysler 300C) and the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet in the, “so crazy it’s just might be cool” category.
I don’t know what’s better: that ‘80s style convertible row bar or the whopping big spoiler on the back. It’s the car you never knew you wanted! We don’t have any information on who built it or why; just this neat-o image gallery to sate your WRX STi convertible craving ways.
Check it out, and don’t forget to leave your bit in the comments section below!
Daihatsu isn't the only Japanese brand to add a rebadged Toyota model to its European lineup as Subaru did the same with the Trezia which is nothing more than a Toyota Verso-S with different logos. With a length of just under four meters, the small MPV is Subaru's newest proposal in the European minivan B-segment.
Subaru's designers only made a few changes to the front of the car, adding the brand's signature grille, a revised bumper and rounding up the headlights. As for the rest, it is virtually identical to Toyota's Verso-S. On the inside, changes are hard to spot too, with only the logos differentiating the two models.
The Trezia offers 429 liters of boot space, which can be extended if the rear bench is folded (60/40). With all seats in place, the car can accommodate five passengers plus “three large suitcases” (Subaru's claim). Buyers have a choice of two engines, none of which being a boxer - a 1.3-liter petrol and a 1.4-liter diesel unit. Both are sourced from Toyota and offer 99 and 90 horsepower respectively.
The naturally aspirated gasoline engine is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox which enables it to post an average fuel consumption of 5,5 liters/100 km (42.7 mpg) and CO2 emissions of 127 g/km.
As expected, the turbo diesel is even more fuel-efficient, returning 4.3 liters/100 km (54.7 mpg) and 113 g/km. In base trim, the diesel is also linked to a six-speed manual, but on higher trim levels it gets the Toyota six-speed multi-mode automated manual gearbox (M-MT) which has the clutch operated by an electric motor fitted to the transmission. In manual mode, the driver can change gears from paddle shifters.
The Trezia will not replace the similarly-sized Justy, as Subaru says the two models target different customers.
If you were waiting to see a concept of the Subaru flavored version of the rear-wheel drive Toyota FT-86 at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, tough luck because the Japanese automaker simply displayed the car's chassis in a clear plastic body. Subaru didn't comment on exterior wrap, though there's a good chance that the shape may hint at the styling of the production coupe.
As for the "Boxer Sports Car Architecture" as Subaru has named the rear-wheel drive platform, there's not much to say other than that compared to the firm's production AWD models, the boxer engine in the coupe is positioned lower and further back.
"The RWD Sports Car’s platform technology adds a completely new package to complement Subaru’s existing AWD platform," the company said in a statement. "This package will open Subaru’s renowned on-road performance to a broader range of customers. At the heart of this drivability lies Subaru’s engineering philosophy that constantly provides enjoyment and peace of mind.".
We'll remind you that Subaru and Toyota have combined forces to develop the boxer-powered and rear-wheel drive sports car architecture, with each company set to introduce its own version within the next year or so.
