January 24, 2012

Toyota, Beset by Earthquake, Posts N.A. Production Decline
Toyota Motor Corp. last year experienced its second-worst annual North American production loss – a 14 percent decline spurred by natural disasters overseas. Overall, Toyota and its joint ventures built around 1.26 million units in North America in 2011 compared with 1.46 million in 2010, according to a company statement and the Automotive News Data Center. Asian automakers Hyundai-Kia and Nissan increased their North American production rates 35 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Honda Motor Co. was the only other automaker to see a significant drop in North American production last year, falling 14 percent to 1.1 million units from nearly 1.3 million units in 2010. Toyota and Honda, and other automakers to a lesser extent, were beset by production delays and parts shortages linked to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Autumn floods in Thailand contributed to some additional production problems. Toyota produces 12 models in North America: the Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Highlander, Matrix, RAV4, Sequoia, Sienna, Tacoma, Tundra, Lexus RX 350, and Venza. The only Toyota plant in the United States to see a production increase last year was Princeton, Ind., which builds the Sequoia, Sienna, and Highlander. Click here for the full report on 2011 North American automotive production figures.

Audi’s Future Vision: Self-Driving Cars
The car of the future seems best suited for people who don’t like driving. From the annual Digital Life Design conference in Munich, Audi AG Chairman Rupert Stadler described the future car as one that drives itself and parks itself, though unfortunately it doesn’t wash itself. Stadler’s vision of the future, which included the stereotypical 1980s “Knight Rider” reference, sees connectivity in cars as becoming so advanced, they’ll be able to speak to each other on the road. Stadler wasn’t talking about trading Facebook messages or emails, but instead he spoke of cars that could drive so efficiently that drivers could see traffic lights and even the concept of traffic disappear. According to The Wall Street Journal, Audi is already quite advanced in the race to connect the car. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month, it announced it would be outfitting its cars with 4G, allowing passengers to download and play high-definition video while driving. He cautioned that to move forward in this area, car makers will have to speed up their development cycles to more closely match tech companies such as Apple Inc., which launches a new iPhone every year. For more on the future of Audi innovation, click here.

Social Media Trumps Driving Among Today's Teens
Automakers, who are currently pouring money into high-tech connectivity systems and fanciful designs to help lure younger buyers into dealers’ showrooms, should pay heed to the results of a recent study about the next generation of drivers. There’s a message to be found there, and that message could well be, “We’re not that into you.” More specifically, teenagers are becoming increasingly ambivalent about driving in the first place. According to Forbes, a recent study published in the journal, Traffic Injury Prevention, found that only about 22 percent of all licensed drivers are teenagers or twentysomethings. By comparison a third of all licensed drivers in 1983 were under the age of 30. “It is possible that the availability of virtual contact through electronic means reduces the need for actual contact among young people,” says University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute research professor Michael Sivak, who co-authored the report. Forbes says it can’t help but wonder to what extent this burgeoning lack of enthusiasm for driving, let alone for cars themselves will affect the kind of rampant enthusiasm that some automakers seem to trade on so heavily. For more on the attitude of today’s young generation of drivers, click here.

Insurance Study: Women are Better Drivers than Men
In the proverbial battle of the sexes, women are better drivers than men. Or so says a new study by an online auto insurance group that hopes to dispel the long-standing notion that women are bad drivers. Some 80 percent of all fatal and serious car crashes are caused by male drivers, the study says. It says women are 27 percent less likely than men to cause auto accidents. In 2007, statistics reveal men were involved in 6.1 million car accidents while women were involved in 4.4 million. Male drivers outnumber females 3 to 1 for DUI violations, according to the study. The study "Women are Bad Drivers – Fact or Fiction?" compares traffic violation, accident, and insurance price statistics between men and women. According to MSNBC, the study shows how traffic violations are higher for male drivers in almost every single category from reckless driving, failure to yield, seat belt violations, or speeding. The study confirms information that has long been known, said Pete Moraga, a spokesman with the Insurance Information Network of California. But he said that the gap between male and female driving habits is quickly closing. Read more on statistics comparing male and female driving safety here.

KBB Forecasts 13.3 Million, Saying Sales Improvement Will Continue
While announcing that its January new-sales projection is coming in at 30 percent below the December high, Kelley Blue Book also revealed that the monthly total is likely to beat January 2011 by 10 percent. In total, reports Auto Remarketing, the company is forecasting January new-vehicle sales to reach 900,000, coming in at a 13.2 million seasonally adjusted annual sales rate. And the company expects the annual trend in sales improvement to continue. “Our analysts have produced a regression model that explores unemployment, housing, consumer confidence, and seasonal patterns to assist with our sales forecast for the year,” explained Alec Gutierrez, senior market analyst of automotive insights for Kelley Blue Book. “Given current market conditions and our expectations for 2012, we believe sales will continue to improve at a conservative pace in 2012,” he added. Explaining their predications, officials said sales will continue to improve in 2012 due to heightened demand stemming from the increasing age of vehicles on the road today; currently 10.8 years on average. Improving unemployment conditions will also lend a hand. In December 2011, the unemployment rate dropped to 8.5 percent, as the economy added 200,000 non-farm payroll jobs. For more on KBB’s predictions, click here.

Safeguard your Customers from “Shaky” Service Contract Programs
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Around the Web 
Honda Delivers First Fit EV to Torrance, Calif. [Autoblog]
BMW to Use Touch Sensitive Fabric in Cars [CNET]
Million Dollar Cars from Scottsdale Auctions [CNN Money]
Teens Waiting Longer to Get Driver's Licenses [DriveOn]