Toyota Motor Corp.’s quality reputation got dinged in the latest Consumer Reports survey of new-vehicle buyers, as glitches in new models pushed the company from the top of the magazine’s rankings and canceled the automatic “recommended” rating bestowed on new Toyota, Scion and Lexus models.

The magazine’s closely watched survey released Tuesday also gave high marks to Ford Motor Co.’s lineup, and offered some encouraging news to General Motors, with Buick becoming the first Detroit brand to crack the top 10 for reliability.

The overall pattern of foreign automakers dominating the rankings held firm. But, despite Ford’s strides, Detroit failed to make many inroads among the top tier of most reliable models. Detroit automakers have long complained that the Consumer Reports surveys of more than 1 million owners understated their quality improvements. Thanks to a base of 6 million subscribers, the magazine has made itself into the highest-profile critic of new cars and trucks, with recommendations that carry more sway than any other publication.

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Renault is considering putting the name Alpine to a premium sports car it plans to introduce in 2010. The name Alpine comes from the iconic French manufacturer, known for its rear-engined sports cars. According to Automotive news, Renault’s top management discussed reviving the name two weeks ago, as Renault own the rights to Alpine from its 1973 purchase of the brand. CEO Carlos Ghosn wants Renault to use its Formula One racing technology and expertise to develop a sporty high-performance product. Although the layout of the new sports car has not yet been decided, sources say Renault aim to position the Alpine above partner Nissan’s 350Z coupe.

Source : Reuter

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TOKYO (MarketWatch) — Nissan Motor Co. (7203.TO) said Wednesday that it will provide staff in Japan with special training to improve their automobile maintenance skills in order to deal with more advanced devices used in cars.

In a bid to enhance its sales operations, the Tokyo-based auto maker will launch “Nissan High Performance Center,” a new sales and technical service center, when it introduces its flagship Nissan GT-R in December in the domestic market.

Takao Katagiri, a Nissan corporate vice president said at a press conference for the service that inspections and maintenance work for the advanced sports car require special skills and knowledge because of its new technology.

“The accuracy required (for technical support for the GT-R) is high. We need technical staff who can do that,” Katagiri said.

Yoshimitsu Kaji, a Nissan marketing director, said sales staff will also need to be trained to better accommodate customers for the sports car that sells for prices starting from around Y7.8 million.

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Mitsubishi Motors (Thailand) Co (MMTC), which pioneered Thai-built vehicle exports, hopes to ship its two millionth pickup truck in seven to eight years after taking 18 years to reach the one-million mark, setting the pace for Thailand’s automobile industry exports. The expectation was based on the company’s average shipments of 140,000 pickup trucks per year, said a senior executive.

The Japanese automobile company announced the successful export of its first one million pickup truck this month after hitting its million-unit milestone for all vehicle types in June.

The company spent 18 years achieving the one-million-pickup goal and the exports were expected to gather pace to complete the next one million goal due to higher export volume, said the executive.

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Thai Honda Manufacturing Co Ltd, Honda’s motorcycle and power product manufacturing facility in Thailand, celebrated its new milestone in power product production reaching 10 million units.
Currently, Thai Honda Manufacturing is the world’s No.1 exporter of power products. It was also confident that power product exports this year are still going strong.

Reaching 10 million units of power products marks another proud achievement of Honda in Thailand, which has existed for over 20 years, said Toshio Kawatsu, president of Thai Honda Manufacturing Co Ltd.

Kawatsu said “The production and human resources potential in Thailand were the key factors that drove Honda to establish our power product plant here. Then, beginning in 1987, Honda began exporting power products to more than 80 countries worldwide. Our key markets include the United States of America and Europe. This year, we expect the sales of power products combining the domestic market and exports to reach 1,900,730 units or around Bt11.64 billion in value. In addition, by the end of 2007 the total value of power product sales is expected to be nearly Bt50 billion.”

Currently, Honda’s power products are employed in various types of household and agricultural products, offering a better quality of life for people. These products include water pumps, lawnmowers, generators and boat engines among others.

Thai Honda Manufacturing is the largest for-export power product manufacturing facility of Honda globally. The plant has an annual power production capacity of 2 million units, more than 95 per cent of the parts used in production are manufactured locally. In addition, the facility also has the fastest power product production capacity in the world by being able to manufacture 1 unit in 12 seconds.

- The Nation

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