The ongoing disaster in Japan caused by Friday’s massive earthquake and tsunami is forcing many automakers to extend production halts on domestic plants well into next week. Today, Toyota announced that it has decided to continue the vehicle-production halt started on March 14 at all of its plants in Japan, including all subsidiary vehicle manufacturers, through March 22. According to reports, the suspension of production has already cost Toyota some 40,000 vehicles up until now. “A decision on when vehicle production will resume in Japan has yet to be made,” the company said in a written statement. However, the world’s largest automaker noted that it will resume production of replacement parts for vehicles already on market beginning on Thursday, March 17, adding that it also plans to restart manufacturing parts for overseas production on Monday, March 21.
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.
Porsche will mark its return to this year’s edition of the Nürburgring 24 hour race on June 25 with a newer version of its 911 GT3 R Hybrid that is more powerful yet lighter and more fuel efficient than its predecessor. The 2011 edition of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid carries the geeky ‘Version 2.0’ moniker, and keeps the general layout of the 2010 model. The racer’s hybrid powertrain comprises of a 470HP 4.0-liter six-cylinder boxer engine at the rear and two electric motors driving the front wheels.
In the Version 2.0, the output of both electric motors has increased from 60kW (80HP) to 75 kilowatts (100HP) each, meaning that seconds at a time, pilots will now have an additional 200HP at their disposal. According to Porsche, the extra power is automatically activated through use of the throttle pedal and can be very useful when overtaking. Porsche has also optimized the hybrid system with the electric flywheel accumulator that stores energy now housed with the other hybrid components in a carbon fibre safety cell on the passenger’s side.
In addition, thanks to the optimisation of the hybrid system’s high voltage components, the large louvres in front of the rear fenders were no longer necessary. The Germany company claims that these changes help reduce drag and lowers fuel consumption. All in all, Porsche’s engineers managed to reduce the weight of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid from 1,350kg (2,976 lbs) to 1,300 kilograms (2,866 lbs). “The emphasis of our work was on improving efficiency,” says Hartmut Kristen, head of Porsche motorsport. “That means we want to keep the lap times consis-tent with 2010 but use less energy, hence less fuel. In this way, we support future developments of road-going, sporting hybrid vehicles.” Other changes for the 2011 model include the thoroughly updated cockpit as most of the displays and controls have moved to the steering wheel. According to Porsche, drivers can operate the rest of the functions via backlit buttons now situated on the centre console.
The first ever touring race car version of the all-new Ford Focus will make its world premiere at this week's 2011 Geneva Motor Show, ahead of it is scheduled track debut in the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch towards the end of March. The BTCC Focus was developed by Arena Motorsport with technical support from Ford, and it's the first car to come out from a global initiative by Ford to support private teams around the globe in developing one common race car to S2000 specification. To meet current local regulations, Arena Motorsport's UK-based Team Aon has opted for a 2.0-litre turbocharged Ford engine, instead of the 1.6-litre Ford EcoBoost engine other teams will use in Championships in line with international FIA regulations. "There has been tremendous interest in new Focus from the racing community and it's the perfect fit for a global touring car," said Jost Capito, director of Ford Global Performance Vehicles and Motorsport Business Development. "This new BTCC Focus is the first result of a collaborative effort between Ford and race teams around the world that have already built and raced successful Focus race cars. The teamwork has resulted in a global technical platform for racing using a common Focus with a safety cage built to FIA regulations – a competitive platform that can be tailored for regional competition, based on different rules," Capito added. Ford said that the new Team Aon Focus touring car is expected to compete in all 10 rounds of this year's British Touring Car Championship .
As we're nearing closer to the 2011 Geneva Salon, automakers are providing us with more details about their plans. Today, Ford announced that it will display a number of new production and concept cars including what the company simply described as a "groundbreaking new vehicle" without getting into any specifics. “Ford of Europe Chairman and CEO Stephen T. Odell will unveil a groundbreaking new vehicle during a Ford news conference at 14:30 on March 1 at the Ford stand,” the company said in a statement. What Ford did reveal is that it plans to showcase an all-new version of the 2011 Ranger pickup-truck called Wildtrak, the Vertrek SUV concept that hints at the next-generation Kuga, the Fiesta RS WRC, the C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid that will be joined by a C-MAX HEV when they both go on sale in Europe in 2013, and a conceptual all-electric version of the Transit Connect. Furthermore, the company will display its latest powertrain enhancements including a new 114g/km CO2 Mondeo ECOnetic that combines 115HP 1.6-liter turbo diesel with start-stop technology, as well as the new Ka Metal created through Ford’s Individual programme. “Today Ford has its strongest product line-up ever and we’ve got an aggressive plan to keep our vehicle portfolio the freshest in the industry," said Odell. “We have at least 20 new models and derivatives coming across our entire European range – from small cars to commercial vehicles – and at Geneva we will be introducing some of these.
