Toyota said that recovery after the Japan earthquake would take the rest of 2011 and that full production wouldn’t resume until 2012. Amazingly, Toyota achieved full production capacity within 7 months of the disaster. How did they do that?

Bounce Forward

Here’s How They Did It:

1. Free labor for suppliers.Many autoworkers were told to stay home in the days following the devastating earthquake. Toyota offered their workers the opportunity to collect their full salary while helping hard-hit suppliers get back to production. By paying their workers to help their suppliers, Toyota helped get the ball rolling much faster. Plus, building relationships with suppliers will pay dividends for years to come. Very shrewd move on Toyota’s part.

2. Using less electricity. One of Japan’s biggest problems following the earthquake was diminished national power production. Helping reduce electricity demand, Toyota:

Curtailed or eliminated use of air conditioning. Toyota’s workers assembled cars at 84F through the summer.

Toyota cleverly moved their “weekend” to Thursday and Friday, thus reducing electrical demand on those peak days, then opened on Saturday and worked through Wednesday.

Minimized Lighting as much as possible. A policy was implemented of no lit hallways in Toyota office buildings or factories in Japan. Most offices are maintained half-lit.

Workers encouraged to take the stairs. To save on electricity use, workers were asked to take the stairs instead of the elevator whenever possible.

3. Parts Chain Re-engineering. Toyota engineers worked diligently to reduce the number of parts bottlenecks, using a wide array of techniques. Some suppliers with fully-operational plants were given temporary contracts to produce parts that a competitor couldn’t build. Some suppliers were given engineering and disaster recover assistance to help solve problems at the plant. Some vehicle options were temporarily eliminated to reduce demand for critical parts.

4. People Rising To The Occasion. When a disaster strikes, the tendency is to assume the worst. Yet disasters provide people with extraordinary motivation and subsequent effort to do extraordinary things. Toyota workers accepted the challenge giving his or her all to get Japan back on track.

Congratulations to Toyota, Toyota suppliers, and the people of Japan for getting the company (and their country) back on track so quickly.

Toyota for 2012 has taken home Kelly Blue Book’s Best Resale Value Award for Best Brand for a second time in three years.

Not surprising, considering Toyota is still shortcode for “Extremely Reliable Transportation.” The 2012 Toyota is a brand new version of the best-selling car in the country and the Camry midsize sedan received one of the five individual Best Resale Value Awards claimed by Toyota vehicles for the 2012 model year.

Toyota’s hasn”t tried to be the flashiest or sportiest showroom in the auto mall, but it continues to be the busiest, demonstrating the importance of quality and long term reliability when it comes to the second-largest purchase in most buyers’ lifetimes.

Kelley Blue Book resale value projections are based on current vehicle data, sales data, market conditions for each vehicle, competition within vehicle segments, expectations of the future economy, past performance of vehicles, and the combined experience of Kelley Blue Book’s team of market and pricing analysts. It’s not something someone wants to try at home. The Best Resale Value Awards combine the expertise of Kelley Blue Book’s market analysis with a proud history of trusted accuracy in reporting vehicle values.

Toyota’s Scion FR-S  high-performance Sports Car with 200 HP will go on sale in the Spring of 2012.

Toyota Scion FR=S

 

The FR-S, which stands for Front-engine, Rear-wheel drive, Sport; is an afforable authentic rear-wheel-drive sports car that has emotional balance and handling, performance, persuasive styling, utility and surprising MPG.

PURE BALANCE- The FR-S is designed around a core goal of achieving, “Pure Balance.”   Toyota’s decision to use the world’s only flat boxer engine in a front-engine, rear-wheel drive configuration provides the strategic basis for “Pure Balence”. The engine’s compact size and flat shape allow it to be mounted mid-ship and extremely low, giving the car a dynamically favorable front-to-rear weight ratio of 53:47 and a low center of gravity found only on some exotic sports cars.

HORSEPOWER TORQUE MPG- The FR-S’s fierce 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, a joint development between Toyota and Subaru, combines Subaru’s newly developed horizontally opposed engine and Toyota’s cutting edge D-4S injection system that incorporates both direct and port injection.  The D-4S system, partnered with a high 12.5:1 compression ratio, results in 200 Horsepower and 151 pound-feet of torque. Very Impressive!

It’s not hard to make horsepower and torque, but it’s very hard to do all that and still achieve impressive MPG. The Scion FR-S Does All Three.

You can have 200 HP with either a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic transmission. The manual offers quick, precise shifts and a short-gear box. The automatic features aggressive up shifts and sporty rev-matched down shifts that are initiated by steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters. Power hits the pavement via a limited-slip differential.  

LEAN FIERCE FAST- The FR-S’s combination of lightweight design and compact size provides Emotional Balance. The combination allows the car to be quick and nimble in and out of corners, with dynamic maneuverability and confident handling.  The sports car’s weight is kept lean by utilizing an aluminum hood, a solid roof, and a hatchback rear design. A dynamically tuned suspension setup consisting of MacPherson struts up front and a double wishbone system in the rear mirrors the FR-S’s lean weight. Plus, Lightweight 17-inch alloy wheels and ventilated disc brakes are on all four corners.

Scion FR-S… Front-Engine, Rear-Wheel Drive, Sports Car, Horsepower, Torque, MPG…Pure Emotional Balance!

Toyota used strategy to breath new life into idled robotics that now build the 2012 Camry with lower costs and a very competitive price structure.

Toyota Robots Building Camry

With false accusations, an erroneous government onslaught, earthquakes, tsunamis, and economic turmoil chipping away at sales and brand loyalty, Toyota knew when approaching a redesigned for the 2012 Camry that a priceincrease wasn’t an option. While Camry remains the best selling car in America, its lead has diminished  and competitors such as the Hyundai Sonata and the Ford Fusion have seen double-digit sales increases over the last year. Pricing the Camry over its competition, and in the midst of a recession, could positionthe car to customer push-back before it even hit the market.

One of Toyota’s primary production goals for the new Camry was cost containment. Wherever possible, the automaker looked to boost production efficiencies, and one way was to reuse existing production assets from idled facilities.

Building the 2012 Camry in Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky, plant are the same robots once used by NUMMI, the former Toyota-GM project facility in Fremont, Calif. The robots once welded up Toyota Matrix hatchbacks, but with fresh tooling and reprogramming, they’re now building the mid-size Camry sedan, cutting costs and keeping the pricing structure down.

Toyota won’t say how much it saved by repurposing the robots. Yet the new Camry is priced at an average of two percent less than the model it replaces. On higher-end models, the savings are even more significant.

The Toyota Engine Plant located in Huntsville, Alabama should have its own National Championship Honor along with The Auburn University and University of Alabama Football Programs.

Toyota Engine Team National Champions

The Factory has a team of 1000 employees who have worked, trained, overcome adversity , and fought to become the leading and only Toyota plant to produce 4-cylinder, V-6 and V-8 engines worldwide.

Beginning September 2011, the Huntsville factory production includes not only the V-6 and V-8 engines used in the Tundra and Tacoma trucks as well as the Sequoia SUV, but also the 4-cylinder engine used in the Rav4, Highlander, Venza, and the new 2012 Camry. The plant will supply nearly every auto factory in North America.

This year is the 10th anniversary of the plant’s beginning which now has an annual capacity to turn out 500,000 engines. The factory is running wide open.

It hasn’t always been that way. The Toyota Huntsville plant suffered greatly during the economic downturn in 2008 and 2009 when gas also reached $4.00 per gallon. No sooner had the factory moved past adjustments made due to the downturn when Toyota faced a mass global recall and governmental onslaught that caused even more sales and production distress.

Then, this past spring, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan damaged Toyota’s supplier operations creating parts shortages in America.

The Huntsville. Alabama facility waas included in a companywide production cutback and just last spring was operating only a day and a half a week.

Through it all, Huntsville team employees maintained optimism. Instead of layoffs, the company concentrated on learning, crosstraining, maintaining a steady schedule on non-production days, and something more…Last spring Toyota sent employees out into the community as a “Dreamteam” to help victims of the April 27 tornadoes that severly damaged areas of Alabama.

When the Huntsville. Alabama plant competed for the 4-cylinder engine project, it went against facilities in Japan, China, and Australia. the Huntsville team was ready though, thanks to learning, training, consistency, and optimism.

The Toyota Engine Team in Huntsville, Alabama  demonstrates that they can produce high quality, low cost engines of high reliability, QDR, as Toyota calls it and that gives the State of Alabama another National Championship Team!

NEW 2012 TOYOTA TACOMA

Outside, the 2012 Toyota Tacoma displays a relatively minor revision that is mostly cosmetic allowing Toyota to go with “If It Ain”t Broke, Don’t Fix It”. Inside the Cab are more substantial changes.

Toyota says the 2012 Toyota Camry is “revolutionary”. We believe the 2012 Toyota Camry is new starting more from the ”Inside Out”.

2012 Camry New Inside Out

Toyota has a tough task addressing new changes to Camry, the top selling car 13 out of the past 14 years. When evaluating the 2012 Toyota Camry it’s helpful to understand where the car is coming from. Camry is a leading seller with significant long lasting appeal and it has been awarded best car awards and most reliable used car awards many many times. Ninety percent of all Camry automobiles sold since 1995 are still on the road today.

The question behind the question is what is the basis of Toyota Camry appeal. Camry has never been a styling magnet. It has never been the fastest, the best-handling, nor the car with all the gadgets in its segment. So what is the Camry appeal? The answer is what Toyota calls QDR; Quality, Durability, and Reliability. QDR is where it has won its loyal fan base and QDR is what can be seen in its routine ranking at the top of the charts that matter to most American motorists: initial quality, durability, and long-term reliability, as well as routinely best-in-class trade-in values. 

So Toyota’s recipe for continuous Camry significance has evolved into making enough outside appearance tweeks to entice a loyal repeat owner base while refining and upgrading Quality, Durability, Reliability, and Economy.

Even though 90% of the 2012 Toyota Camry parts have been “re-engineered”, the Camry continues to ride on the same platform as the outgoing model and you won’t have any trouble knowing the new 2012 model is a Camry.

The profile of the new 2012 Camry is very much like the outgoing model, substituting the current car’s rounded edges with more squared off corners. Other new exterior details include the headlamp corners and slight rear spoiler that were reworked to improve aerodynamics.

Working from the “inside out”, Toyota has engineered more “revolutionary” changes to the interior of the new 2012 Camry rather than the exterior. A new “floating” instrument panel design with detailed stitching that you’d find in a more expensive product has been incorporated into Camry. 

The layout of gauges and controls is a strong point in the new Camry. Toyota engineers have taken great pains to make sure drivers don’t have to take their eyes off the road for very long. Plus, unlike competitive models that have too many switches and dials on their touchscreen monitors, Toyota continues to feature plenty of easy to use knobs and switches for the functions motorists use most often.

The 2012 Camry has a more spacious feel with rear passengers getting an extra 2 inches of legroom comfort and trunk area is increased over the outgoing model. In addition, thanks to more high-strength steel and some creative engineering, the 2012 Toyota Camry is on average 150 to 200 pounds lighter, depending upon model.  This is increasing powertrain gas mileage across the board for the new 2012 Camry.

New Larger 2012 Camry Backseat

There are three powertrain choices for the 2012 Camry. 

• The base car is standard with a 2.5-liter inline-four with 178 horsepower and mileage ratings of 25 mpg City, 35 Highway and 28 Combined, according to the EPA.
• An optional 3.5-liter V-6 provides quite a bit more pep, at 268-hp and ratings on this powertrain at 21/30/25.
• The single most impressive element of both of these powertrains is the 6-speed automatic transmission.  It is smooth with instant shift quality and is absolutely world-class.
• The Hybrid powertrain scheduled to account for 11% of new Camry sales for 2012 has undergone extensive updating for 2012, downsizing key systems enough to carve out an additional 2.5 cubic feet of trunk space eliminating a frequent criticism of the previous Camry Hybrid. Mileage, for the LE hybrid model is 43 City, 39 Highway and 41 Combined. The XLE drops slightly to 41/38/40.  The LE provides as much as 650 miles range between fill-ups.There

There is high-tech gadgetry available. A 6.1-inch LCD screen for navigation and other systems is available and a 7-inch upgrade is offered on the Camry XLE.  Niceties like Bluetooth hands-free calling and USB connectivity are standard across the board on all models.

The new 2012 Camry will come with Toyota’s new infotainment system, Entune, which was named best-in-class at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show held in January.  Entune features an easy-to-use voice control, with redundant controls on the steering wheel.  The system links to a variety of smartphone apps, including Pandora Radio and OpenTable, which makes it easy to snag a restaurant reservation.

Safety systems include anti-whiplash seats, 10 standard airbags, larger 4-wheel disk brakes and brake-based systems such as electronic stability control.

Oh, There’s More…Toyota plans to sell 360,000 2012 Camrys in the United States and they have chosen to enhance the 2012 Toyota Camry’s appeal by cutting prices as much as $2,000, depending on the model. 

Look closely at the new 2012 Toyota Camry when it hits the Dealer Showroom in October. Our guess is that it will continue as the Number One Selling Car in America. It’s also our guess that the car will have enough enticement and heritage appeal to overcome any short term style fad itches you might have.

The 2012 Toyota Camry is new from the “Inside Out”  with enough outside appearance tweeks to entice a loyal repeat owner base while refining and upgrading Quality, Durability, Reliability, and Economy.

The 2012 Camry, This is the real car driven off the assembly line today.

2012 Camry The Real Car

The new Camry is much like we showed back in May and dimensionally is very much as it has been for quite a while. There are new entertainment technologies, smarter looking interior appointments, and just enough outer flare to entice.

Selecting your new 2012 Camry will be easier with 36 build configurations, down from some 1200 previously.

Despite earthquakes, tsunamis, recalls with false accusations, parts shortages, and a current recession Toyota Camry has continued to be the best selling car for nine years including 2011. The new 2012 Camry with a distinguished history of quality, reliability, and value is expected to continued the distinction.

There are 6.8 million Toyota Camry automobiles on the road today and 90% of all Camrys built since 1995 are still going strong.

We’ll have more on the 2012 Camry. It hits Dealer showrooms in October and most of the models will have a lower sticker price than their 2011 counterparts.

It gets even better. The new 2012 Camry will be the Host Pace Car for the 2012 Daytona Five Hundred coming up in February!

2012 Camry Flys By

A Tesla built electric powered Toyota Rav4 will be built at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Inc. (TMMC) in Woodstock, Ontario beginning in 2012. A joint development team has agreed that building the vehicle at the Woodstock plant on the same line as the gasoline-powered RAV4 will streamline and simplify the production process and guarantee the highest level of quality control. Officials stated that this is a great example of Toyota’s determination to collaborate with companies with leading edge technology.