July 9, 2010

Toyota Adds U.S. Field Offices
Toyota Motor Corp. is adding U.S. field offices to keep closer tabs on how its vehicles perform in a variety of climates and driving conditions as part of a broader effort to improve quality. The Detroit News reports that Toyota, which opened the first U.S. product quality field office in New York late last year, said Thursday that it would open another one in San Francisco this month. It expects to add five more field offices, three in the United States, and two in Canada, for a total of seven across North America. The expansion of the field office program is part of a broad review of Toyota's operations ordered by Toyota President Akio Toyoda. This week, senior Toyota executives in Japan detailed some of the measures the company is taking to ensure the quality of its vehicles. The new U.S. field offices will be staffed by technical and engineering specialists who will focus on specific conditions, ranging from corrosion in cold northern regions to problems affecting hybrids in California, where they're popular, and the effects of heat and humidity in southern states. The field offices also will provide technical support to dealers and regional field staff. Click here to read more on Toyota's decision to add U.S. field offices.

Can Tesla Defy Gravity? Musk Hopes So
What goes up must come down, as internet entrepreneur Elon Musk has been finding out lately. According to MSNBC, last week, the visionary celebrated a belated 39th birthday by launching an IPO for his latest venture, Silicon Valley-based Tesla Motors. Though the electric vehicle maker has so far produced only one low-volume product and lost more than $230 million since its founding, it generated a significant charge among Wall Street investors. By the end of the first day of trading they'd snapped up 13.3 million shares, netting $226.1 million for Tesla, and had driven the closing price for the day to $23.89, a 40.5 percent gain on the IPO's strike price of $17. Click here to watch CNBC's coverage of Tesla going public. There's no question the automotive market is showing signs of accepting electric vehicles, but as Musk himself acknowledged, there's no guarantee his little start-up will be around to enjoy that acceptance. To get there, Tesla will have to switch from what is little more than a kit car - the Roadster is a modified Lotus Elise - to more conventional automotive manufacturing. For more of MSNBC's take on what Elon Musk and Tesla must do to successfully navigate and lead the electric vehicle market, click here.

Mazda Banks on Small-Car Surge
Mazda is banking on its 2011 Mazda2 being a key player in a subcompact surge over the next two years. According to Automotive News, the automaker said it expects subcompact sales in the United States to double by 2012 to 1 million annually. The segment includes vehicles such as the Honda Fit, Kia Soul, Mini, Nissan Versa, Scion tC, and Toyota Yaris. Mazda expects most of the sales to be fueled by Generation Y, which it defines as an estimated 73 million people between the ages of 16 and 32. "We expect that for 25 percent of our buyers, this will be their first new-car purchase," said Robert Davis, senior vice president of product development and quality at Mazda North American Operations. A comfortable ride, good handling characteristics, and a solid feel to the vehicle were priorities during development. The new Mazda2 is a five-door hatchback, the smallest and lowest-priced vehicle the automaker will sell in the United States. Sales begin in August. Click here for a photo gallery. It shares the same vehicle architecture with the 2011 Ford Fiesta. Although it is the third generation Mazda2, it is the first to be sold in North America. After the U.S. launch this summer, the redesigned Mazda2 will go on sale in Europe, Asia, and Japan. Click here for more on the U.S. launch of the Mazda2.

A New Detroit Rises in India's South
Chennai, India - a port city built around a former British fort - in many ways resembles Detroit circa 1910. According to the Wall Street Journal, the metropolis of about five million people is booming as scores of international car makers and suppliers have set up shop. Ford Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co, Nissan Motor Co., Renault SA, Daimler AG, and BMW AG all have converged here. They are spending billions of dollars to make Chennai one of the world's biggest hubs of small cars for export as well as for increasingly affluent Indians. Soon, the city will turn out close to 1.5 million vehicles a year, more than any one U.S. state made last year. Hyundai has invested $2 billion here, and recently expanded to be able to produce 650,000 cars a year. It is not only cheap factory-floor labor that attracted the South Korean company, but also an abundance of low-wage engineers to program the robots that help churn out vehicles. Nissan also just started making cars here in May after investing close to $1 billion, and it plans to ramp up to more than 400,000 cars a year. Its Indian-made subcompact, the Micra, will hit global roads in October. Click here for photos of Chennai's auto industry expansion. For video coverage of the booming Indian city, click here. To read the Wall Street Journal's entire report, click here.

Renault Offers Sneak Peek at Its DeZir Concept Car
Renault has provided a sneak preview of its new concept car, due to be unveiled at the Paris auto show at the end of September. According to the New York Times, the bright red coupe is called DeZir. The name is pronounced something like "desire," and the Z comes from zero, as in zero emissions, thanks to its electric drive. Renault and Nissan have committed to offering multiple models of electric vehicles, and this is one. Click here for the sneak peek photo released by Renault. Renault says the car offers hints of the new face of Renault design and a first statement of the philosophy behind it. The front presents Renault's diamond logo in a larger, chromed version, set inside a dark grille with horizontal accents. The rear is a cave of more inset horizontals, like a bizarre topographic map of some sort. There is no rear window; video cameras take its place. Renault's news release said the company's new design philosophy was about marking the stages of life: "This vision also builds on the bonds that are gradually forged between the brand and its customers at watershed moments of their lives, such as when they fall in love, start to explore the world, found a family, begin to work, take time to play, and attain wisdom." Click here to read more on Renault's latest concept.

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