Marking the 20th anniversary of Mazda‘s victory in the world’s most demanding endurace race, the 24 Hour of Le Mans, Mazda has brought the winning Mazda 787B back from the dead. Since winning in 1991, the Mazda 787B has been on display at the Mazda Museum in Horishima, Japan. The car has been carefully restored...
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Nissan is looking to strengthen some key plants in an effort to minimize damage from future earthquakes starting with the heavily damaged Iwaki engine plant in the Fukushima prefecture. The Iwaki plant is being repaired ahead of schedule, receiving a reinforced foundation costing $37 million USD. Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Nissan, stated that the...
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The Earthquake disaster in Japan may prompt European car makers to seek suppliers closer to them, the chief of Europe’s automobile association said. Ivan Hodac, secretary general of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, said that some car makers are still being affected by the disaster that caused several Japanese auto manufacturers to suspend operations. Hodac also...
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Back in the 1980’s the FIA World Rally Championship had the infamous Group B class, which featured some of the fastest cars to ever enter professional rallying. Rallying rules at the time dictated that at least 200 road-going examples had to be made, and hence the era saw many wild, road-legal versions of cars like...
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JDM fanboys and Honda lovers everywhere are sure to wince at the above photo, showing yet another side to the devastating Japanese tsunami. Were it not for info provided by Ichishima-san of Spoon Sports, we might not be able to guess that this blue and yellow liveried heap was once an RSX Type R race...
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Toyota Canada has cut its sales projections by a third and warned dealers that the supply of new vehicles is starting to be choked off as the company feels the effects of the March 11th earthquake that rocked northern Japan. While Toyota sent two memos to dealers regarding the revised sales forecast, the company refused...
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Like other Japanese automakers, Toyota continues to be affected deeply by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Now the company is saying that it will be at least 6 months before they can resume production at levels before the disasters. By November, Toyota is hoping that production, both overseas and American, will return to normal—with...
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Nearly 5 months in to the calendar year, Lexus has admitted that it will not be able to sustain its lead in the luxury car sales race, due to tight supplies of vehicles and parts from Japan. With dealers down to a 30 day supply of cars (compared to a usual 60 or 90 day...
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General Motors is set to become the world’s largest automaker yet again, reclaiming the title from Toyota, whose operations have been hit hard by a production slowdown brought on by Japan’s natural disasters. With only a 30,000 vehicle gap in sales between the two companies at the end of 2010, GM should easily reclaim the...
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Dealers may be in for an arduous summer as Japan’s auto parts shortage is on track to choke off new vehicle deliveries for months, with dealers potentially receiving no new vehicles until September. The best case scenario will be a resumption of production on May 9th, after Japan’s traditional holiday break. But manufacturers are still unable to...
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Mere days after the world’s largest automotive microchip producer struggled to avert a production crisis due to their factory being disabled by the March 11th earthquake in Japan, the second largest producer of automotive microchips is now said to be abandoning their own factory in the area and is looking to add capacity at other...
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Labeled as perhaps the worst natural disaster to ever hit a nation, the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the nation of Japan last month, is still causing an effect on its people and industry. Many car companies have suffered and Toyota, the largest car company in Japan is no exception. Their production delays will have...
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While much of the automotive industry is watching what car manufacturers have to say about production shortages in Japan, a key supplier of microchips is transferring production from their battered facility in Japan’s earthquake zone, to seperate facilities in Japan and Singapore – but the move could cause months long delays of crucial components, halting...
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Toyota is the latest automaker to adjust their North American production schedules, with plants idling on April 15, 18, 21, 22, and 25. Toyota’s engine and component factories will follow a similar schedule, while their Georgetown, Kentucky facility will remain open on April 21. Employees at the plants will have the option of report to work...
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General Motors will idle their Arlington, Texas plant due to a parts shortage, although details were not given as to what the specific issue was. The factory builds vehicles like the Chevrolet Tahoe and Cadillac Escalade. A UAW representative told Automotive News that two 10-hour overtime shifts would be cancelled. So far, the standard 10-hour...
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The world of racing is often only focused on getting to the podium, but at the this weekend’s Grand Am series race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., three Mazda race teams will be doing their part to help raise funds for American Red Cross for Japan relief. The teams in question are Dempsey...
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While Ford and General Motors have both seen plants shut down due to the natural disasters in Japan, and the resulting impact on the country’s auto parts industry, Chrysler‘s vehicle production has remained unaffected by these events. “We have not experienced any disruptions to regularly scheduled production as a result of the issues in Japan,”...
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As part of an effort to raise money for the Red Cross’ Japanese disaster relief fund , artists affiliated with the EMI record label are auctioning off various knick-knacks, with everything from stereo equipment to handbags to vacations up for grabs. If you’re reading this, then you’re probably most interested in the 1987 Ferrari 412...
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Subaru will re-start their large car production plant, nearly a month after an earthquake caused parent company Fuji Heavy Industries to shut the factory down. The factory builds the Legacy, Impreza and Forester, which comprise the bulk of Subaru’s U.S. lineup. The plant will only be running at 50 percent capacity initially. Subaru claims that...
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After a brief announcement on March 23rd stating that the natural disasters in Japan may affect North American production, Toyota has announced that it is still “too early to predict” whether plants in Canada and the United States, which build both Toyota and Lexus cars, will face shutdowns due to a shortage of parts from...
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A Japanese factory that makes batteries for the Chevrolet Volt is back online today after being temporarily shut down since the March 11th earthquake. Hitachi Automotive operates the three plants, one of which produces batteries for the Volt. GM has apparently ordered 100,000 battery packs for the Volt. The other two produce various vehicle components,...
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The increase is blamed partly on supply issues in Japan, resulting from the earthquake and Tsunami, as well as the increasing cost of rare earth metals like copper and aluminum, used in component manufacturing for stereo systems.
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Having left Japan just one day before the tsunami-inducing earthquake wreaked havoc, a large shipment of Nissan LEAF Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) has just arrived in Long Beach, Calif. Nissan’s Luna Spirit vehicle-carrying transport ship was safely on the open ocean when a 500 MPH wave passed under it, at about 3-inches high. About a...
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While we won’t have final March sales numbers until Thursday evening, but for the first time since February of 2010, Ford looks set to beat GM in sales figures, with 210,000 units sold. GM won’t fare so badly, with a projected 208,000 cars and trucks moved in March. GM’s slump – and Ford’s success –...
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