Auto Moto

Toyota intends on building a new electric vehicle plant in Tianjin, China with its local partner FAW Group, Reuters reports.

The coronavirus that delivers the illness known as COVID-19 is affecting all parts of the automotive industry. For Toyota specifically, the outbreak has caused concern about the manufacturing and supply chain in Japan, and it's also put a spotlight on a dealership in Washington state. An employee at Toyota of Kirkland, in Seattle's Eastside suburbs, tested positive for the virus this week, according to the Kirkland Reporter. The dealership is closed until Monday, March 9, for cleaning.

Toyota of Kirkland is only 2.5 miles from the Life Care Center nursing home, where 10 residents have died from the virus and many more are ill. 

The Toyota GR Yaris is incredibly awesome. It's a specially designed version of the global Yaris with all-wheel drive, a whopping 257 horsepower from just a 1.6-liter three-cylinder engine, and it will be the basis for the upcoming rally car. While exciting, it also left us wondering how expensive it might be, since so much of it isn't shared with other models. Now we have pricing, and it starts at at 29,995 pounds in the U.K., and 33,200 Euros in Germany. Adding front and rear limited-slip differentials bumps the U.K. price to 33,495 pounds (German option pricing wasn't announced). Regardless, at current exchange rates that comes to about $37,000 to $38,000 for the base model and $43,355 for the high-performance variant.

Now that does sound pricey for such a tiny car, even with its wicked powertrain, but direct currency conversions don't tell the whole story. When compared to U.K. and European prices of other hot hatchbacks, it's actually a bit of a bargain. In fact, in the U.K. the 2020 VW GTI, only available with a dual-clutch transmission and performance package for this last year of the current model, starts at around 33,000 pounds. The Honda Civic Type R starts about 32,000 pounds. Only the Hyundai i30 N, comparable to our Veloster N, is priced under 26,000 pounds, but to get the high-output one with limited-slip differential you'll need about 29,000 pounds. In Germany, the gulf is even larger between the Yaris and the Civic Type R and i30 N, which start at 38,000 Euros and 35,000 Euros respectively.

Over the past two decades, the Honda CR-V has embodied Honda's reputation for building durable, comfortable and user-friendly family cars that don't require a ton of unscheduled attention (aside from a brief hiccup with transmission reliability). As it has slowly become the automaker's bread-and-butter model, Honda's product planners have put correspondingly increased effort and resources toward keeping the CR-V fresh and competitive.

For the 2020 Honda CR-V, Honda tweaked the styling, added features and simplified its engine offerings in what is the first significant update since this generation dawned for the 2017 model year. There's also a new hybrid offering for those OK paying a Honda a bit more so they can pay oil companies less.  

The Skyline moniker dates back to the 1950s, when Nissan launched the original Prince. A Japan-only affair, it was assembled in just under 34,000 units between 1957 and 1964, in four body styles, with front-engine and rear-wheel drive layout.

A Toyota and Lexus recall that previously listed nearly 700,000 potentially affected vehicles has been amended to include more than 1.1 million new rides. Overall, more than 1.8 million cars, trucks, crossovers, and SUVs are part of a voluntary recall regarding fuel pumps that might stop working.   

On January 13, 2020, Toyota announced a safety recall for 695,541 Lexus and Toyota models. It included the Toyota 4Runner, Camry, Highlander, Land Cruiser, Sequoia, Sienna, Tacoma, Avalon, Corolla, and Tundra, plus the Lexus LS 500, LC 500, RC 350, RC 300, GS 350, IS 300, ES 350, LX 570, GX 460, RX 350 NX 300, RX 350L, and GS 300. The Avalon, Corolla, NX 300, RX 350L, and GS 300 in the initial recall were specifically 2019 model years, while the rest were 2018-2019. 

Honda will cut back production at two of its Japanese factories due to parts shortages from China because of the coronavirus outbreak.

An amazing Honda S2000 Time Attack car will be sold by BH Auction in a sales event scheduled for this summer.

Renault's Alpine brand is launching a more luxurious version of its sleek A110 sports car as it looks to branch out from its core French market. Alpine's latest version of the A110 is the Légende GT, pictured in silver in the image gallery above. The GT model gets a bespoke interior that looks to be more luxurious and premium than other Alpine models. A new exhaust system and Brembo brake package join an improved audio system, backup camera and parking sensors, and a matching three-piece leather luggage set rounds out the package.

Its first production run will be limited to 400 cars, and prices will start at 69,300 euros ($77,100) — some 13,500 euros more than Alpine's most affordable models already in circulation.

Honda Motor Co will temporarily cut back production in Japan due to difficulty in sourcing parts from China amid the coronavirus outbreak, Nikkei Asian Review reported on Monday citing sources at auto parts suppliers and dealers.

The cutbacks, which will last for a few days beginning early March, will see a reduction in output by a few hundred vehicles at two plants in Saitama Prefecture, the report said.

BEIRUT — Japan's deputy justice minister met top officials in Lebanon on Monday over the case of Nissan's fugitive ex-boss, Carlos Ghosn, who fled to his home country late last year while on bail in Japan and awaiting trial.

Ghosn was arrested in late 2018 and is facing charges of under-reporting income and breach of trust. He says he is innocent. He led Nissan for nearly 20 years.

The first- and second-generation Nissan X-Trails were both boxy vehicles with opinion-splitting looks meshed together with impressive features and rugged versatility. In late 2013, the crossover, which is marketed as the Rogue in North America, was overhauled for its third-generation where it adopted a far more stylish and modern appearance.

Cars like the Bugatti Chiron, BMW M550d, and BMW X5 M50d all feature quad-turbocharged engines but in Bangkok, Thailand, there is a custom Isuzu D-Max pickup truck that has five turbos. That's certainly a good way to one-up some of the car industry's biggest companies.

Even though the Gladiator JT was the talk of the town back in 2018 when it was first shown at the Los Angeles Auto Show, it was certainly not the first pick-up truck to wear a Jeep badge.