Auto Parts Blog

People charge the batteries of their mobile phones and MP3 players at home and then use the gadgets throughout the day. How well, then, would the same concept apply to cars? Sophisticated firms are working to find out.

In Korea, Hyundai Mobis is spearheading the push to develop such cars, dubbed plug-in hybrid vehicles, together with its sister corporations at Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors.

“By 2012, we plan to invest a total of 100 billion won in developing components for hybrid vehicles. We are also striving to increase the number of related research staff members from the current 60 to 200,’’ Hyundai Mobis Senior Executive Vice President Kim Soon-hwa said.

“In order to meet the rising demand for hybrid vehicle parts, we’re mulling the possibility of building facilities specifically dedicated to this endeavor.’’ Indeed, the annual production of hybrid cars is expected to jump from the current 500,000 to 14 million by 2020.

Hyundai Mobis has a two-phase scheme to prepare for the full-fledged advent of the hybrid era, which is burgeoning both at home and abroad, spurred by global automakers.

The first step is to come up with components, which are provided to first-generation hybrid models such as Avante of Hyundai Motor and Forte of Kia Motors, which basically rely on fossil fuels rather than electricity.

The second phase is to upgrade all the associated components so that they can be used for plug-in electric vehicles, which will dramatically crank up their dependence on electricity to reduce carbon emissions.

They are expected to commercially debut in just a couple of years ― Hyundai Motor looks to take the wraps off its plug-in vehicles later this year.

“The two main components of presently-available hybrid vehicles are electric motors and integrated package modules, areas in which we have technological competitiveness,’’ Kim said.

“Both are also used in plug-in models, which will come to town in the not-so-distant future. By sharpening our technological edge in these areas, we plan to churn out parts suitable for plug-in vehicles by 2013.’’

The integrated package module is located in the trunk, under the floor, in a hybrid car. It accommodates rechargeable fuel cells made of lithium ion polymer batteries and an inverter and converter.

Hydrogen vehicles

Whether they are current models or plug-ins, hybrid cars have many advantages and prominent among these is that they are cleaner than conventional vehicles powered by fossil fuels.

Greenhouse gases and the resultant global warming have prompted a flurry of governments and automakers turn their attention to eco-friendly cars such as the hybrid models.

As far as eco-friendliness is concerned, there is a much better option available ― fuel cell electric vehicles that employ hydrogen as its onboard fuel without banking on petroleum or gasoline.

“Our technologies for electric motors and integrated package modules can also be used for hydrogen cars. We are ready to engage in the up-and-coming hydrogen economy,’’ said Kim, who is in charge of the firm’s module business division.

Hyundai Motor has already showcased a few hydrogen car prototypes during the past few years. The firm is ready to commercially market them when the demand for such cars sprouts up.

Hydrogen cars are equipped with a fuel cell, the electrochemical energy conversion device that produces electricity. Water is the only emission from the exhaust pipe of a hydrogen-powered car.

Competition ahead of the prospective swelling of the hydrogen economy is taking place across the board, and Hyundai Mobis is jockeying to remain ahead of the pack under its alliance with its sister firms at Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors.

Organic growth

On the back of such maneuvering, Hyundai Mobis seeks to double its sales from the current 15 trillion won ($12.5 billion) to 30 trillion won over the second decade of the new millennium.

The Seoul-headquartered company is well aware that the outfit has no choice but to substantially crank up investment in research to attain the grandiose scheme during the next 10 years.

“In order to be better prepared for the exploding market of highly advanced and eco-friendly cars, we are set to generate a blueprint involving as much as 550 technologies including those for plug-in hybrids and fuel cell electric cars, to name a few,’’ Hyundai Mobis spokesman Park Se-hwan said.

“To achieve this, we aim to jack up our investment in research and development from 35 billion won to 65 billion won by 2015. We also plan to separate the centralized research center into three entities.’’

The country’s largest auto parts manufacturer predicts that the doubled sales would be enough to help the firm to join the ranks of the world’s top five players.

“Recently, U.S. magazine Automotive News ranked Hyundai Mobis 12th among global components producers in terms of 2009 turnover,’’ Park said. “In my view, this bodes well for reaching our 2020 target of becoming one of the top five global auto parts makers.’’

Another focus of Hyundai Mobis, which was set up 33 years ago as Hyundai Precision Industry, is the development of high-tech components as the proportion of advanced electronic components continues to rise.

Included in such cutting-edge technologies of the corporation are motor driven power steering, smart cruise control, lane-keeping assist systems and tire-pressure monitoring systems.

These technologies help motorists remain alert and ensure safety even when drivers make minor mistakes.

“All the-top-end systems are already featured in upscale vehicles based on foreign platforms. Since most of them are expected to become the norm for all the cars down the road, we are working on developing indigenous models,’’ Park said.

“To climb the ladder in the saturated auto parts industry, we are required to have a firm grip on the fast-changing trends and be fully prepared. Under such a mindset, we’re going all-out to nudge past our rivals in the potential-loaded eco-friendly electronic parts sector.’’

Hyundai Mobis currently supplies after-service parts for a total of 166 models of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors worldwide. It has 18 supply hubs to offer its products to over 10,000 dealerships in 201 countries.

Included on its customers’ list are such global behemoths as BMW and Daimler on top of Hyundai and Kia. Recently, it provides chassis modules, the semi-assembled main frame of cars that are cranked out at its Michigan factories, to Chrysler.

Carmakers are developing materials that are less harmful to humans and the environment.

The interior of the Volvo XC 60 aims to minimize allergy-causing substances or toxic materials.

The idea that cars are just good looking pieces of steel may start to fade as the growing pan-industrial focus on health and the environment boosts efforts to create cars that are better for humans and nature.

Carmakers are developing technologies to create lighter and stronger metal frames, with some introducing cars made of 100 percent aluminum. They are also trying to develop auto parts that are recyclable and less harmful to humans and the environment.

The inside of the hood of the Renault Samsung New SM5 is made of aluminum to reduce carbon emissions and improve fuel efficiency.

To bolster its image as an eco-friendly brand, Toyota is making efforts to reduce waste throughout the entire life of a vehicle, from development and production to customer use and disposal. The Japanese carmaker is incorporating recyclable materials into key auto parts such as the bumper, dashboard and doors. Floor mats are also part of efforts to make auto parts recyclable. The Prius uses a carbon-neutral plastic, extracted from plants, in seats and floor mats. The automaker’s plan is to make 95 percent of Prius’ auto parts recyclable in several years.

Peugeot, from France, is also using environment-friendly materials such as wood and cotton in its cars. The Peugeot 207 has side mirrors and door panels made of such materials. One Peugeot vehicle has an average of 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of eco-friendly materials. The Ademe, or Environment and Energy Management Agency of France, ranked some Peugeot vehicles as emitting the lowest carbon dioxide levels in the world.

Aluminum ASF is applied to the frame of the Audi A8. The frame is 120 to 140 kilograms (265 to 309 pounds) lighter than that of other vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicles are made of 27 different types of environmentally-friendly materials. They have seats made of a renewable material called natural latex and a door made of coconut fiber.

Carmakers are also trying to make their cars lighter. A lighter car has higher fuel efficiency, which reduces carbon emissions.

The frames of some Audi vehicles are made of an aluminum material called ASF, developed by the German carmaker. The Audi TT, equipped with an ASF frame, can save at least 16 percent of fuel compared with the models not equipped with an ASF frame.

Jaguar’s all-new XJ is also covered with an aluminum material developed by the British carmaker. It has reduced the weight of the car by 150 kilograms, compared to cars of the same class made by other carmakers.

Mitsubishi made the roof of its new vehicle, the New Outlander, out of aluminum. And BMW is using aluminum frames and suspension in all of its cars.

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class has seats made of natural latex and doors made of coconut fiber. Provided by the companies

The new materials used by some carmakers are designed for safety. Volkswagen created a multilayered bumper made of special materials such as foam rubber to minimize the impact on pedestrians in a collision.

Other materials are designed for comfort. Nissan is using materials to complement the senses. Nissan’s 370Z sports car has silky smooth fabrics that are placed on the center panels and arm rest.

Volvo said it is minimizing allergy-causing substances or toxic materials in the interior of its vehicles. Associations for people suffering from asthma and allergies have since recommended Volvo’s S80, V70, XC70 and XC60 to its members.

Local carmakers are trying to catch up. Hyundai’s Eco-Technology Research Center, opened in 2005, is tasked with developing eco-friendly and recyclable car materials. Its i-flow concept car, revealed early this year, features a polyamide material that consists of up to 60 percent renewable raw materials.

Renault Samsung was the first among local carmakers to put an aluminum hood on a midsized car. The hood is designed to make the vehicle lighter, improve fuel economy and reduce carbon emissions.

Advance Auto Parts, Inc.,  a leading automotive aftermarket retailer of parts, batteries, accessories, and maintenance items, today announced the launch of a suite of new online service features as part of the fully enhanced “Your Garage” area on AdvanceAutoParts.com. Advance offers the broadest set of features integrated to the site experience in the industry.

“Your Garage” now includes the following features:

– Service alerts — Based on your vehicle’s mileage, you can receive e-mail notifications when your car needs a tune-up, brakes, tire rotations and tire replacements.

– Diagnose problems — Get on-line help to figure out what’s wrong with any vehicle in your garage.

– Get an estimate of the approximate cost of the service needed.

– Find a mechanic if you would rather have a professional perform the maintenance for you in your locale. The recommendations will include local Advance Commercial customers and feature Commercial partners.

– Recall notifications — Receive e-mail notifications to make sure you don’t miss a recall on your vehicle.

– Service history — Keep track of all service work on your car in one online location.

– Vehicle prices and values — Time for a new car? Find out what your current vehicle is worth.

– Cost of ownership — Find out how much you can expect to pay to maintain your vehicle.

“Advance is working hard to create customers for life by providing them the best experience in our industry, whether they are shopping in our stores, calling us on the phone or visiting our website,” said Scott Bauhofer, SVP and General Manager, E-Commerce. “These free enhancements are giving our customers even more reasons to only shop online with Advance Auto Parts and to visit us more often.”

Registered users who currently have an Online Garage on the Advance website will be upgraded automatically to the new functionality. Registered users can save multiple cars in their garage and can use this functionality with any car they have saved in the system. Visit www.AdvanceAutoParts.com and click on “Your Account” to get started.

About Advance Auto Parts

Headquartered in Roanoke, Va., Advance Auto Parts, Inc., a leading automotive aftermarket retailer of parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items in the United States, serves both the do-it-yourself and professional installer markets. As of April 24, 2010, the Company operated 3,462 stores in 39 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Additional information about the Company, employment opportunities, customer services and online shopping for parts and accessories can be found on the Company’s website at www.AdvanceAutoParts.com.

SOURCE: Advance Auto Parts, Inc.

Has over the iPhone can support multiple software to start the car, and now more compatible car brand has launched iPhone activation process of the software interface, as long as the phone into the car, open the software can start the car, and so car keys and one-button start function afraid to say goodbye.

Since then, Chevrolet , BMW and so has introduced the corresponding software.

As early as 2007, the Land Rover LRX concept car designed specifically to connect iPhone to the slot, when its connection with the car, there is a dedicated automotive electronics software used to start the car. 

Now more compatible software in this appears to open the program interface is displayed after the first set a good variety of vehicles, if a family has more than two cars and a separate memory, start the software can be used. And the iPhone and the car connection, the software is also compatible with central locking, alarm, remote trunk and so on. Of course, need to pay to use the software.

 American called Dave and a more old mobile phone linked to the vehicle vibration chips, invented a similar function. Perhaps the near future, the mobile phone will replace the car keys, vehicle accessories and more remote, so driving more convenient.

Wholesale trade fell an unexpected 1.2% in February following three months of surging sales, according to government data released Wednesday.

Sales drops in the motor vehicle and parts, and machinery, equipment and supplies subsectors accounted for most of the month’s shortcomings, Statistics Canada said.

The largest decrease came in the auto sector, which slowed 4.4%, marking the first negative month for the industry since August 2009.

“To be certain, any disappointment in February is tempered by the sheer strength of the number set in the past months,” HSBC Securities Canada economist Stewart Hall said in a morning note. HSBC had projected a wholesale trade gain of 0.6% for the month.

The best performing subsector, in dollar terms, was the building material and supplies industry, which saw sales rise 1.5% in February.

In terms of volume, wholesale trade dropped 1.8%. Inventories edged up for the first time since November 2008 and by 0.1%.

But Hall says the month’s soft results won’t change the Bank of Canada’s monetary policy going forward. The central bank is widely expected to introduce a 25 basis point rate hike in June.

“Most, including ourselves will be inclined to chalk today’s softness in the wholesale number set to some overdue moderation in what has been a frenetic pace of activity for many months now,” Hall said.

After posting increases in January, Ontario and Quebec fell short in February. Ontario, which accounts for roughly half of all of Canada’s wholesale trade, saw sales drop 1.7%. In British Columbia, sales fell 4.3%. Sales in Saskatchewan rose, however, thanks in part to demand for agricultural supplies.

Canadian wholesale sales declined 1.2 percent in February after three months of advances, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday from Ottawa.

Declines were seen in four of the seven wholesale sectors, accounting for two-thirds of total sales, the agency said.

The major contributors to the sales decline were in motor vehicles and parts, down 4.4 percent, and the machinery, equipment and supplies sector, which was down by 2.8 percent, StatsCan said.

The building material and supplies sector was the largest gainer, up 1.5 percent with increases in all three of its component industries, continuing an upward trend that began in mid-2009, the agency said.

Regionally, the provinces of Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia accounted for the bulk of the wholesale sales declines. Ontario accounts for about half of Canada’s total wholesale sales and saw a decrease of 1.7 percent in February.

Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Corp., standing, speaks at headquarters last month. Mr. Toyoda, a member of the Toyota founding family, is at odds with nonfamily managers over the company’s direction.

TOYOTA CITY, Japan—Toyota Motor Corp.’s quality crisis is exposing—and exacerbating—a long-simmering internal feud. The battle pits the founding Toyoda family against a group of professional managers, each blaming the other for the auto maker’s woes.

Behind the scenes in recent weeks, the skirmishing has grown intense. President Akio Toyoda, the 53-year-old grandson of the founder, has tried to push out one of the nonfamily executives: his predecessor as president, Katsuaki Watanabe, now vice chairman.

Not long after the company made one of its massive safety recalls in mid-January, Mr. Toyoda suggested to Mr. Watanabe, through an intermediary, that the former president leave the auto giant and instead run a Toyota affiliate, according to an executive who says he was told about the move by Mr. Toyoda.

Mr. Watanabe refused.

The standoff, which hasn’t been reported before, is a dramatic example of how the old split between the two camps is bubbling to the surface amid Toyota’s crisis. The feud is a distraction for a divided leadership as officials struggle to regain their footing after three months of attacks unprecedented in the company’s 75-year history.

Mr. Toyoda and his allies have been saying openly that when he took the top job last year after a 15-year hiatus for the Toyoda clan, he inherited a company weakened by nonfamily predecessors who sacrificed quality for faster growth and fatter margins.

The problems arose when “some people just got too big-headed and focused too excessively on profit,” Mr. Toyoda said at a Beijing news conference in March. He acknowledged the “ultimate responsibility for mistakes… lies in me.”

A week earlier, Jim Press—once the top Toyota executive in the U.S. before he jumped to a rival auto maker—issued a statement declaring: “The root cause of their problems is that the company was hijacked, some years ago, by anti-family, financially oriented pirates.”

Those executives “didn’t have the character to maintain a customer-first focus. Akio does,” said Mr. Press, who had a run-in with nonfamily Japanese bosses several years ago.

A Toyota spokeswoman declined to comment on the infighting, saying: “We do not discuss executive changes unless they are formally decided.” She declined to comment on the statements by Messrs. Toyoda and Press, or to make Mr. Watanabe available for comment.

Privately, the nonfamily managers have been waging their own campaign within the Toyota group. They say Mr. Toyoda never publicly opposed their profit-growth strategy when the company was widely praised for making big money and surpassing General Motors Corp. to become the world’s No. 1 auto maker. They say Toyota’s current troubles are less a quality crisis and more a management and public-relations crisis of Mr. Toyoda’s making, reflecting their longstanding warnings that he wasn’t ready to run a global corporation.

“Is Akio ducking criticism of being a beneficiary of nepotism by accusing us and trying to justify his ascendancy to the top job?” one of Mr. Watanabe’s top aides said. “One of our biggest social responsibilities is to generate profits and pay taxes. To criticize the company’s effort to maximize profits and thus taxes is just complete nonsense.”

Hiroshi Okuda, a nonfamily president who ran the company from 1995 through 1999, has told at least two associates since the recalls of cars involved in sudden acceleration incidents earlier this year: “Akio needs to go.” The 77-year-old remains a key company adviser even though he gave up his board seat last year.

Toyota declined to make Mr. Okuda available for comment. The Toyota spokeswoman declined to comment.

Takahiro Fujimoto, a professor of economics at Tokyo University who has studied Toyota extensively, says airing problems openly is very much part of Toyota’s corporate culture focused on kaizen, or continuous improvement. “But it’s highly unusual for anybody inside Toyota to publicly criticize certain individuals by name,” or to criticize in a way that it’s easy for anybody to identify the targets.

The feud dates to the mid-1990s, when the family relinquished control of the chief executive’s office for the first time since Eiji Toyoda, the cousin of the founder, became president in 1967. Non-Toyodas also ran the company from 1950-67.

By the time Akio’s uncle, Tatsuro, stepped down as president in 1995, after a stroke, the company was losing market share and risked posting its first loss since 1950. It was vulnerable to a weak Japanese economy, trade friction with the U.S., and a strong Japanese currency that crimped exports.

A series of non-Toyodas took the helm, beginning with Mr. Okuda in 1995 and ending with Mr. Watanabe in 2009. During their terms, the company revived financially and emerged as one of the most admired and studied companies in the world.

The gist of the Okuda-Watanabe strategy was to take Toyota’s globalization efforts, launched under the previous generation of family management, to new levels. Even though the company had begun to build factories in the U.S. and other markets in the 1980s, it still was seen as largely insular and Japan-focused.

In 1996, Mr. Okuda and aides unveiled a new strategy dubbed the “2005 Vision.” They aimed to retool the auto maker over the coming decade, growing rapidly while relying less on exports and more on factories producing locally in target markets, from Argentina to Thailand to the U.S. Mr. Watanabe was one of the authors of the plan.

To realize this 10-year vision, the executives devised interim “global master plans” to assign resources efficiently to different divisions, along with “global profit management” plans that required sales executives around the world to attain certain profitability goals.

The 2005 Vision also pushed Toyota to implement kakushin, or revolutionary innovations, in vehicle design and manufacturing. That included efficiency drives to reduce costs, not only through conventional means, such as simplifying designs and using cheaper materials, but also by changing the way cars are engineered. For example, engineers were pushed to combine functions into fewer parts and systems. Their aim: cut the number of components in a car by half.

In 2002, the plan morphed into the “2010 Vision,” aiming for 15% global market share by the early 2010s, an ambitious jump from the 10% mark Toyota had at the time. Toyota has yet to achieve this goal. Its consolidated group market share rose to as high as about 13% in 2008, according to CSM Worldwide, a consulting firm that tracks auto makers.

The effects of those measures were phenomenal. Starting around 2000, the company’s global sales began growing by up to 600,000 vehicles a year, more than the annual overall volume achieved by Volvo.

During this 15-year non-family reign, Toyota achieved other milestones: operating profit margins zoomed to an industry-leading high of 8.6%. In 2008, Toyota displaced GM as the world’s biggest auto maker by unit sales.

As part of his strategy, Mr. Okuda sought to diminish the family’s role. According to executives close to him, Mr. Okuda said founding-family dominance was an outdated concept—especially when the family controlled less than 2% of the stock in the publicly traded company.

At the peak of his power, Mr. Okuda publicly was frank about that belief. “The Toyoda family will eventually become a ’shrine’ to the company’s foundation, to which we will pay respect once a year,” he told The Wall Street Journal in a 2000 interview.

Asked then about future prospects for Mr. Toyoda, then a 43-year-old general manager, Mr. Okuda said: “Nepotism just doesn’t belong in our future.” He elaborated: “Akio-class talents are rolling around all over Toyota, like so many potatoes.”

At the time, Mr. Toyoda seemed to have been sidelined. When he was assigned to lead Toyota’s Chinese operations in 2001, China was still a backwater in Toyota’s global strategy. Mr. Okuda, by then Toyota chairman, likened the job to “mopping the floors”—a safe place for grooming a scion with more ambition than experience, according to a separate Journal interview in 2003.

But Mr. Toyoda fixed the troubled Chinese subsidiary and put it on a path for growth. He was then promoted in 2005 to the position of executive vice president, where he had broad responsibilities, including quality, product management, purchasing and global sales.

Even as he climbed the ladder, Mr. Toyoda said little in top management meetings, according to some nonfamily executives. As Toyota made progress, the non-family executives began dismissing Mr. Toyoda and treated him as a not-so-bright spoiled rich kid, say several non-family managers.

Executives close to Mr. Toyoda dispute the notion that he was overpowered by top management. While the company’s financial reports were improving, a number of vehicle recalls signalled that its famed quality was slipping, and Mr. Toyoda began to sound the warning bell. On Dec. 2, 2005, the end of the year when Mr. Okuda’s 10-year vision was coming to fruition, Mr. Toyoda gave an unpublicized, internal speech questioning the new direction.

Talking to engineers and mid-level executives, Mr. Toyoda said the rapid expansion exceeded the company’s ability to assure the quality and reliability of each model. He called on the engineers, seated inside an auditorium at Toyota’s global headquarters, to shift their mindset and attain the “resolve to make a big turn from emphasizing volume to quality,” according to a summary of the speech reviewed by the Journal.

Top executives at the time say Mr. Toyoda never took such complaints directly to them.

In 2008, the question of family vs. nonfamily management came to a head as Mr. Watanabe was preparing to retire as chief executive. Mr. Okuda, then a board member, angled for a close aide, another nonfamily executive, to take the job. Shoichiro Toyoda, a former president who remained an influential adviser, weighed in for Akio, his son, according to senior Toyota executives.

In January 2009, the company announced Akio Toyoda would replace Mr. Watanabe as president in June. Taking charge at 53 years old, Mr. Toyoda became Toyota’s youngest chief executive since his grandfather became president in 1941 at age 47.

The younger Mr. Toyoda declared as one of his first priorities undoing many of his predecessor’s policies. He began by signaling to underlings that he didn’t share Mr. Watanabe’s informal goal of hitting two trillion yen or more in annual operating income. He immediately killed the “global profit management” plan, associates say.

The reality of Toyota’s quality problems—the main battleground inside the company today—is a bit ambiguous.

Two separate surveys conducted by J.D. Power & Associates show the Toyota brand quality has actually improved over the past decade, measured by a decline in the rate of owner complaints. This occurred even as the number of vehicles the company recalled around the world skyrocketed in that time.

The surveys also show that Toyota rivals improved faster. In 2000, Toyota’s luxury brand Lexus placed first in quality rankings for used-car owners, while the Toyota brand ranked fourth. By 2009, Lexus fell from the top spot, ranking behind Buick and Jaguar, while the Toyota brand again placed fourth. In quality rankings for new-car owners, the Toyota brand in 2000 tied with BMW for fourth. In 2009, Toyota ranked sixth.

Mr. Toyoda’s supporters blame the slippage in relative quality rankings—as well as the sharp rise in recalls—on the company’s previous non-family managers. It takes two to three years to develop a new car, so the models experiencing problems were developed before Akio Toyoda took the helm last June.

The nonfamily executives acknowledge they made some mistakes. One says a large number of inexperienced contract engineers hired from outside agencies—an effort to save money as they tried to boost engineering capacity—led to at least some of the increase in quality glitches.

But the non-family managers blame Mr. Toyoda’s management style—both external and internal—as much as anything for letting the defects turn from a fixable problem into a full crisis.

Mr. Toyoda’s in-house detractors say the president has created an informal team of loyalists, making it tough for managers trying to communicate through the formal channels. One nonfamily manager says the current executive structure operates like a “shadow management team,” doubling up information and management.

In terms of handling the American public, politicians and press, they say Mr. Toyoda was slow to address publicly the controversy. And when he did finally speak out, they say, his statements were widely criticized as vague and halting.

Mr. Toyoda’s supporters say, on the contrary, he’s been clear and direct about the direction he wants to follow. At a press conference last month, Mr. Toyoda said the previous expansion push may have caused it to scrimp on quality, compromising its just-in-time production system, for example. “I would like to make sure we re-embrace those basics and rebuild the foundation of Toyota and its production system,” he said.

Volkswagen has unveiled the Final Editions of the New Beetle and the New Beetle convertible at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The Final Editions will be limited to only 1,500 units each. The Final Editions come in special Aquarius Blue paint with a painted black roof on the coupe, and a two-tone Aquarius Blue and Campanella White paint scheme with a white top on the convertible.

Under the hood of both models is Volkswagen’s 2.5-liter inline five-cylinder gasoline engine, with its ready-to-go 150 horsepower, and 170 lbs.-ft. of torque. A six-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic® puts the power to the pavement, and can change gears on its own, or let the driver select each gear by tapping the selector up or down. With the automatic transmission, the New Beetle can achieve an EPA-estimated 20 mpg in the city, and 29 mpg on the highway.

The 2010 New Beetle Coupe and New Beetle Convertible Final Editions will be available for $20,240 and $27,170 respectively

Today, even as India stands on the cusp of another auto revolution as a global hub of small cars, there are signs that local manufacturing of car components will no longer enjoy a smooth ride

Nearly three decades ago, MarutiSuzuki India Ltd ushered in an automobile revolution in the country that led to the domestic auto parts industry.

Today, even as India stands on the cusp of another auto revolution as a global hub of small cars, there are signs that local manufacturing of car components will no longer enjoy a smooth ride.

In December 1983, when the first Maruti 800 car rolled out of its factory in Gurgaon, then a sleepy suburb of New Delhi, its only made-in-India parts were the battery and tyres.

In those days, the government had strict curbs on foreign exchange spending. The company was forced to localize under a phased manufacturing programme, which granted an import licence as long as it made more parts in India every year.

Graphic: Paras Jain/Mint

In the next decade, a robust local components industry came up which, in turn, helped smoothen the entry of global car makers in the 1990s. Today, 95% of the parts of small cars such as the Maruti 800 are made in India.

“If we were not forced in those days, we would have gotten away with imports,” concedes R.C. Bhargava, chairman of Maruti. “But that would not have been beneficial to consumers.”

Maruti is now all set to roll out its millionth car this fiscal, on 23 March. It will become the first company to do so in a fiscal year. That’s just one illustration of how much the small-car market has grown in India to account for 75% of all car sales. Indeed, nowhere in the world is the auto market so heavily skewed, and that puts India on the verge of becoming the nucleus of the international small-car industry.

Yet, manufacturers and experts fear this second revolution won’t augur well for what is now a $19.8 billion (around Rs90,000 crore) auto parts industry.

The business environment, to begin with, is hardly as conducive to growth as it was in the 1980s. The car industry has been delicensed and the government can no longer ask manufacturers to source parts from India. Import duties on components have fallen from 60% in the 1980s to 10%. Foreign exchange controls for the industry have also been done away with.

Compounding the matter are the recent free trade agreements with South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), a regional economic bloc, which makes it cheaper for car makers to buy components from these countries.

Import of components has grown faster than domestic production since the 2005-06 fiscal, according to a study released on Saturday by industry lobby group Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).

India then imported components worth $2.77 billion, or 22% of the size of the industry. In 2008-09, this grew to $6.12 billion, or 30.8% of the industry size.

Imports from South Korea, Asean and the European Union, with which India is negotiating a free trade pact, have grown rapidly and now form 70% of total component imports, the Ficci report said.

If imports continue to grow at this rate, India will find it tough to meet its automotive mission plan, said Ficci’s additional director Chetan Bijesure. The plan aims to increase component exports from India to $20-25 billion by 2015 from $2.76 billion at present.

Component suppliers for large cars, which have a limited market in India, have faced the brunt of the fall. Motor Co. Ltd’s India subsidiary, for instance, makes only 28% of the Accord sedan locally—even a decade after launching the car.

A spokesperson claimed the company is committed to increasing localization levels for its cars, but industry watchers said, on condition of anonymity, Honda had gone slow on this as it prefers to import from Thailand.

“For them to think of aggressive localization, they would need at least penetration of 15 cars per thousand,” said Kumar Kandaswami, senior director at professional services firm Deloitte. Currently, the penetration in India is nine cars per 1,000.

“Global models are becoming more important, and at the time of deciding the model, companies also decide the source,” said Krishan Kumar, director of the Maruti Centre for Excellence and former head of engineering at Maruti.

This means large-car component makers could be reduced to manufacturing technically less advanced products for small cars, defined as cars shorter than 4m with an engine capacity below 1,200cc.

The cushion of high sales, along with the price sensitivity of buyers of small cars, means their makers generally opt for local components. For instance, Ford India Pvt. Ltd’s small car Figo, which the firm plans to export in large numbers, will have 85% local components from Day 1.

But even small-car companies are becoming more comfortable with importing engines. Toyota plans to import the engine and transmission for its new offering Etios from Thailand or Japan, as it expects its initial sales to be around 70,000 units a year.

Toyota—which set up a regional facility to manufacture gearboxes in India in 2002 with an investment of Rs500 crore—also imports 50% of the components of the Corolla sedan, which it has been producing in India for over a decade.

“We would be encouraged to localize more, particularly if the tax policies with relation to transfer pricing are more friendly,” said Shekar Viswanathan, deputy managing director of Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd.

Component manufacturers also point to infrastructure bottlenecks, shortage of skilled labour and government restrictions as reasons for slowing growth. “The infrastructure deficit alone results in us losing 17% of our competitiveness,” said Surinder Kapur, chairman of auto component maker Sona Group.

As more car makers veer away from localization, component manufacturers could well decide to open operations in South-East Asia and export to India.

“There are indications of that,” said Vishnu Mathur, executive director of industry lobby Auto Component Manufacturers Association of India. “A number of investments that could have come to India have gone to Thailand.”

Here are a few snapshots of the Lexus IS F CCS (Circuit Club Sport) Concept car which was on display at the Tokyo auto salon this past weekend.

Dressed in a vibrant contrast of orange and black, the IS F CCS goes heavy on the carbon fiber. Or should we say “light”. Much of the body has been rendered so, including the roof, rear wing and diffuser, front spoiler lip, the hood as well as the side mirrors. The interior also gets a do-over in carbon fiber, such as the center and lower consoles, gear stick, steering wheel trim and door panels. The IS F CCS is also fitted with two-tone bucket seats.

The weight reduction helps boost the performance of this 5.0 liter V8 enabled Lexus. That engines produces 423 hp in its Japanese market iteration. Additional performance enhancement comes by way of forged magnesium wheels wrapped in performance tires, carbon brake disks, sports suspension and a sport exhaust system with a titanium muffler.

But weight and track time figures Lexus has not yet provide. Nor, for that matter, is there any news on what Lexus plans, if anything, to do in the future with this concept.