Green Car for lower emissions

In pictures: WhatGreenCar's top 10 green cars to watch in 2010 | Environment | guardian.co.uk

WhatGreenCar looks ahead at the greenest cars due to launch in 2010. This year's crop of models includes a range of technical innovations designed to maximise performance and lower emissions.

A number of these cars are on display at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit

Toyota Auris hybrid
Not only will the Auris hybrid be the smallest hybrid car on the market, it will also be Toyota’s first European hybrid based on a regular production car, and will use the same hybrid technology as Toyota’s latest Prius (the Hybrid Synergy Drive). The alloy wheels are designed to reduce air turbulence in the wheel arches, and the car is fitted with low rolling-resistance car tyres. The engine is able to operate in three modes: ECO for maximum fuel economy, POWER, which uses the electric motor to boost performance, and EV, switching the Auris to electric power alone – for up to 1.25 miles at speeds of to 31mph. Other innovations include solar panels on the roof to help power the ventilation system, while LED lights front and rear reduce energy consumption and improve economy

Toyota to first loss in 59 years

Slump to send Toyota to first loss in 59 years | The Japan Times Online

Slump to send Toyota to first loss in 59 years

NAGOYA (Kyodo) Toyota Motor Corp. is expected to report an unconsolidated operating loss in the fiscal year through March amid a widening slump in global auto sales and the yen's sharp appreciation against the dollar, sources said Friday.

It will be the first time Toyota has reported an unconsolidated loss on a full-year basis since fiscal 1949.

But Toyota, which has Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd. under its group, is likely to make a consolidated operating profit for fiscal 2008, although it will be reduced substantially from the year before, they said.

Toyota is expected to announce its downward revisions to consolidated and unconsolidated earnings projections next week.

In early November, Toyota revised downward its unconsolidated and consolidated earnings projections for fiscal 2008.

On an unconsolidated basis, Toyota forecast a net profit of ¥510 billion, down 55.2 percent from the year before, and an operating profit of ¥140 billion, down 87.4 percent, on sales of ¥10.6 trillion, down 12.2 percent.

On a group basis, Toyota projected a net profit of ¥550 billion, down 68.0 percent from the previous year, and an operating profit of ¥600 billion, down 73.6 percent, on sales of ¥23 trillion, down 12.5 percent.

Since then, Toyota has been experiencing a slump in sales of small vehicles, which had been relatively strong compared with those of larger vehicles, observers said. Auto sales in emerging economies, which had been robust, have also weakened.

Toyota assumed a foreign-exchange rate of ¥100 to the dollar for the October-March period, but the dollar has fallen to around ¥90 due partly to concern about the future of the troubled U.S. automakers.
¥4,000 pay hike eyed

NAGOYA (Kyodo) The 63,000-member Toyota Motor Workers' Union envisions demanding an average monthly base wage hike of more than ¥4,000 in next spring's annual "shunto" labor-management wage negotiations, union officials said Thursday.

The number would mark a sharp increase in the union's demand for an average ¥1,500 made to Toyota Motor Corp. management at the outset of this year's bargaining. The union eventually settled for a ¥1,000 increase.

Automakers, as well as home electronics appliance makers, are the pacesetters in annual wage talks. Talks at Toyota in particular act as a yardstick, influencing the course of action for many other companies' unions.

But the union officials said they are considering limiting the combined summer and winter bonus demand for the coming business year to some ¥2 million on average in view of the rapidly worsening business environment for the automaker.