Cars! Cars! Cars!

The Moment When Toyota Turns Into GM

Take a previously popular vehicle and continue to enhance it despite the fact that its time is over. Hey, Toyota, why not shove a V8 in there while you are at it. Oh, you did. Well, a V10 then! More! More! More!

We mentioned the Tundra was going to turn out to be a bad idea for Toyota, so why do they think the "more" 4Runner will do any better? Folks aren't interested in this sorta vehicle any longer, so why the spendy update?

Referenced articles
Autoblog: Despite market shift, Toyota confirms next 4Runner in development
Cars! Cars! Cars! Toyota's Albatross

Bigger

Toyota got some mo bigga!

Toyota Motor sold nearly 300,000 more vehicles than General Motors in the first half of 2008 and appears to be on its way to ending G.M.'s 77-year reign as the world's largest automaker.

Our guess is the rest of the year will play out the same way, regardless of how many incentives GM (and all of Detroit) offers up.

Referenced article

NY Times: Toyota Moves Ahead of G.M. in Auto Sales

Use The Sun!

Before you nay-sayers, uh, nay say on the whole idea of running the A/C via solar panels (i.e. what if it's hot and cloudy?), we say, "Rock on, Toyota!"

Great ideas often start small and this is the kind of movement forward we need. Yes, it's a start. Now let's see GM one-up Toyota.

Referenced articles
engadget: Prius to go (partially) solar

Who's Expecting A What In 2008?

Ford: We're gonna need a bigger boat!
GM: (crickets)
Chrysler: Hey, maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal!

Referenced articles
autoblog: Toyota expecting profit drop in 2008

Tundra Movin' On Up

We've been thinking a little more about Toyota becoming number two after we re-read these posts :

Kicking Tires reports: How Ford Lost The #2 Spot to Toyota.

Edmunds reports: 2007 Toyota Tundra: Best Year Ever.

We've speculated the Tundra was going to be Toyota's albatross and that still remains to be seen. According to that Edmunds link, Toyota was hoping to move 200k units of the Tundra (they sold 196k of 'em). That's a pretty significant number since these buyers had to come from the big three. In fact, let's take a look at the sales of trucks for 2007:

Ford F-series: 690,589 -13.2% over 2006
Chevy Fullsize pickups: 673,807 -2.8% over 2006
Dodge Ram: 358,295 -2% over 2006
Nissan Titan: 65,746 -9.2% over 2006
Toyota Tundra: 196,555 +54%

It looks like (with really no additional research) that Tundra sales are coming from Ford and Nissan folks. So, while Toyota has knocked Ford from the number two position, it sure seems like all big three should pretty concerned about the Tundra's movement upward.

Accord: 1, Others: Less Than 1

Well, Edmunds tested the family sedans (they missed the Altima, which is a little odd to us) and proclaim the all-new '08 Accord as the one that rules them all.

Edmunds reports: Revitalized Malibu Takes on Accord and Camry.

Surprisingly, the Camry came in third. Or is it surprising a Chevy beat a Toyota? In any event, neither of them were better than the Accord, so arguing who comes next is like (something funny here and make sure to link to Alison Krauss 'cause she's so purty).

We're still disappointed that cars seem to be getting bigger and bigger. The EPA's designation that the Accord is now a large car is a testiment to even green Honda getting sucked up in the bigger is better game. It's hard to argue, however, since the car, according to Edmunds, is still the best family sedan. Shame on Honda, however, since during the test Edmunds only saw 20 mpg from the 4-cylinder engine in the Accord.

That's a snap of the winner: 2008 Honda Accord LX-P.

Toyota: Say! That Ridgeline Is Purty Sweet

AutoWeek reports: Toyota brings A-BAT pickup to Detroit.

We don't have a lot to say since the thing is a truck and we're strickly a cars and Alison site, but, come on! Way to run of ideas, Toyota.

Shoulders make us swoon. And that's a snap of the Ridgeline -- the original funky truck.

Dudes, Seriously

AutoWeek reports: Feisty VW wants to surpass Toyota.

Feisty? How about "high"? How about "pissed that it's still working on that 50-state diesel engine"?

Don't get us wrong, we're chubbed to see that VW is going to be pushing hard to not only stay in the game, but to head for the top... But VW still has that reputation of being a problematic brand whereas Toyota does not*, so we're not sure this will happen. Meanwhile, VW, pass that over here so we's can have a toke.

*Toyota has been running into some reliability issues, so they could sink themselves. If we had to guess, however, Toyota will quickly correct the problems before its reputation is seriously affected. If Toyota doesn't, then we hope other manufacturers are prepared to pounce. Pounce!

And You're Ugly, Too

Can the domestic auto news get any crappier? Check these out -- and this is just within the last few days!

The Detroit News reports GM takes $39B charge in quarter.

The New York Times reports: Ford Warns of New Steps if Sales Decline.

AutoWeek reports: Chrysler cuts four models, five shifts.

What could be worse? Well, maybe if the competition was kicking arse that would be an issue. Let's just (shuffles the pages of the internets) see what we have here. Oh, crap. The Detroit Fress Press reports: Toyota reports record income.

The only way it could get worse (for us, you see) is if we read our court-delivered restraining order. There's no way Alison said that about us. And she too does like husky, bald dudes. With bad eyesight. And weak bladders.

She's smiling because she's thinking of the Cars! Cars! Cars! editorial staff.

Now With More Pounce!

Come on! GM's gotta be chomping at the bit (is that the correct expression?*) about all of this. See, Toyota's been doing a lot of whoopin' lately, but it seems the whoopin' has turned on the master! (How's that for barely making any sense?)

Anyway, what we're saying is that for a long time Toyota was kicking GM's arse (well, lots of arses, not just GM's) in terms of quality. But now something's changed over in Toyotaville and quality is slipping. Here's a few recent articles:

The New York Times reports: Toyota Loses Top Spot in Reliability Rankings.

CNN reports: Toyota skids in reliability rankings.

Autoblog reports: Toyota Tundra hit with two more quality issues.

This following piece is pretty interesting because a few should-be homeruns from GM have turned into solid singles. Here's one example:

CNN reports: Déjà vu for GM: 2008 Chevy Malibu.

So, with the Camry having some issues and now the Tundra having issues, GM has to be pretty excited with the timing of the all-new Chevy Malibu and equally excited to have the Silverado matched up against the problematic Tundra. The key question here is, "Can GM keep up the quality?" We're not so sure. But we hope so.

*We were going to use the expression "Foaming at the Alison" but it's still a bit obscure. Feel free to use it. Liberally. All over your body... There we go again, foaming at the Alison.