Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced that the Committee of Japan Automotive Hall of Fame had awarded its Car of the Year 2009-2010 to the Insight hybrid vehicle.

The NonProfit Organization cited the following three factors in conferring the award on the Insight:
1. The strategy of affordable pricing Honda used in marketing the hybrid Insight
2. The Insight’s balance of driving performance and environmental performance
3. The balance of performance and fuel economy at cruising and higher speeds offered by Integrated Motor Assist (IMA), Honda’s original hybrid system

Designed to set the standard of compact cars for a new era, the Insight combines outstanding environmental performance based on Honda’s original hybrid system with a fun, responsive driving and an efficient, versatile packaging. In addition, pricing starts at an affordable 1,890,000 yen.

Enthusiastically received by customers, in April 2009 the Insight became the first hybrid vehicle to achieve the status of the best-selling automobile among new vehicle registrations in Japan in a calendar month.

Lexus announces today the official launch of the LFA, a two-seat supercar scheduled to go into production at the end of 2010 as the pinnacle of the Lexus “F” premium sports car series. Pre-sales start today.

Ultra-responsive and extremely stable even when taken to the edge, the LFA creates a sense of reassurance that opens up a new world of driving emotion, exhilarating the senses to move the driver in more ways than one.

The LFA combines high output, superb chassis design and meticulous aerodynamics to achieve instantaneous total-vehicle response characterized by high-rev, seamless acceleration echoed by a self-defining resonance from its 4.8-liter V10.

Only 500 units of the LFA are to be produced and sold worldwide.

A prototype of the LFA is now on display at the 41st Tokyo Motor Show, which is open to the general public from October 24 to November 4 at Makuhari Messe in Makuhari, Chiba Prefecture.

Toyota Motor Corp. is ramping up its push on gasoline-electric hybrids, launching a new model in Japan and taking on up-and-coming competitor Hyundai Motor Co. in its Korean home market with its flagship Prius.

Toyota said today it aims to sell 36,000 units a year of its new Sai hybrid sedan in Japan, taking another step towards its goal of selling 1 million hybrid vehicles annually worldwide soon after 2010.The Sai sedan is the second hybrid-only model under the Toyota brand after the Prius, and is a repackaged version of the Lexus HS250h hybrid, which went on sale in June.

Aisin Seiki Co., the world’s fifth-largest auto parts supplier, will sell part of its brakes business to Advics Co., a joint venture Aisin helped start with Toyota Motor Corp.

As part of the deal, Aisin will transfer two brake units from Japan and the United States, along with a portion of the supplier’s plant in Kariya, Japan.

Aisin will become the latest in a string of major suppliers to unload portions of their brake units. Last month, Germany’s Robert Bosch GmbH closed the sale of its foundation brake manufacturing business to Tokyo’s Akebono Brake Industry Co. Ltd. And Michigan’s Delphi agreed in March to sell the remaining pieces of its global brake and suspension units to Chinese-owned BeijingWest Industries Co. The then-bankrupt supplier had previously arranged to unload at least seven other brake plants.Advics was formed in July 2001 through the combination of brake businesses owned by powertrain and electronics supplier Denso Corp., electronics company Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. and Toyota. At the time, Toyota indicated that it wanted Advics, an electronic and foundation brake company, to gain scale to compete with the leading global brake suppliers.

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to start mass producing plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2012, with a projected first-year output of about 20,000 to 30,000 units.

Toyota has said it would start leasing 500 plug-in cars globally by the end of this year, primarily for government and corporate use, but has not said when it would commercialize them.

Toyota’s plug-in hybrids would fan competition against General Motors’ Chevrolet Volt plug-in, which can also be charged at home through an electric socket

GM is aiming to launch the Volt — a showcase vehicle for its effort to reinvent itself after filing for bankruptcy last month — by the end of 2010 and plans to have a total 14 hybrid models in production by 2012.

Plug-ins can be cleaner than regular hybrids as they can run purely on electricity, but the need for more batteries makes them expensive.

Toyota wants to price its plug-in hybrids at a comparable price to Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s all-electric car, which debuts this month to fleet customers in Japan at 4.59 million yen ($47,800) before government subsidies.

Toyota’s new Prius gasoline-electric hybrid costs less than half that, starting at 2.05 million yen in Japan.

Toyota’s plug-ins will be able to run 20-30 km (12.4-18.6 miles) on battery power alone at full charge, the paper said.

Toyota has said the car will be powered by lithium-ion batteries developed and produced by its joint venture with Panasonic EV Energy Co.

A Toyota spokesman said the company could not comment on future product plans.

Toyota wants to send its dealers back to school — sales college to be exact.

Starting June 1, class is in session at the newly christened Toyota Sales Logistics College at the company’s headquarters in Toyota City. The goal is to bring dealers from around the world to Japan and give them uniform training in how to serve customers the Toyota Way.

The first four-week course is for domestic dealers. But overseas salespeople from India, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Panama fill the next block beginning July 13.American dealers are also eligible, but so far none has enrolled for the college’s first year.

Toyota Motor Corp. used to dispatch instructors to dealerships worldwide for training. But the new system brings people here and then sends them back home to teach what they learned.

The idea mirrors that of the Global Production Center, where Toyota flies in shop floor experts from around the world to inculcate them in the Toyota Production System.

At the college, a faculty of 14 instructors will lead classes on improving service logistics, encouraging repeat customers, improving used-car logistics and improving body and paint shops.

Each course runs four weeks and costs 45,000 yen, or $474.50 at current exchange rates, per person. Food and lodging will be covered by local distributors in the dealer’s home country. Participants will stay at a company dormitory.

Toyota expects to graduate 50 dealers by March 31, 2010.

Honda Prospect Motor, Honda’s automobile manufacturing and sales joint venture in Indonesia, announced plans to produce and sell the Freed model in Indonesia, starting June 2009. In addition, exports to multiple countries in the Southeast Asia region are scheduled to begin before the end of this year. Indonesia will be the first country in regions outside Japan where the Freed will be produced and sold.

In Indonesia, demand for multi-passenger vehicles, categorized as “Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV),” is high and increasing to the point where it accounts for approximately 40% of total auto sales in that country. With the Freed, Honda will propose a new value of “comfortable and stylish minivan” targeting the “new family” demographic in urban areas.

The Freed is a new compact minivan which fuses an easy-to-maneuver compact body size, spacious cabin which comfortably seats adults in all three rows, and stylish design. Since its introduction in May 2008, sales of the Freed in Japan has been very strong, with cumulative sales during the second half of calendar year 2008 (July - December 2008) ranking number one in the minivan category in Japan.

Based on Honda’s long-standing commitment to “build products close to the customer,” Honda has been establishing a complementary regional supply system for parts and finished vehicles while leveraging unique characteristics and advantages of each market. In the case of the Freed, parts and components will be procured in multiple countries, mostly in the ASEAN region including Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, to enhance the competitive advantage of the product. Honda will accelerate an effort to further strengthen its business foundation and continue providing products beyond customers’ expectations in Indonesia and other markets in Asia where long-term growth is expected.

The Mazda MX-5 (known as the Mazda Roadster in Japan) was first revealed to the world at the Chicago Auto Show in February 1989. To help celebrate the 20th anniversary of this storied roadster, Mazda has announced that the freshened third generation MX-5 is making its North American debut at this year’s Chicago Auto Show, which is being held from February 11-22, 2009.

Through two full redesigns in 1998 and 2005, Mazda engineers focused on keeping the Mazda MX-5 lightweight and optimally balanced. The now-iconic MX-5 has evolved into a desirable and dynamic open-top sports car with enhanced safety and eco-friendly features. In 2006, the third generation MX-5 lineup was expanded with the addition of the Power Retractable Hard Top model, which features a groundbreaking electric roof system that does not sacrifice trunk space. The MX-5 has won more than 170 awards around the world to date, including the 2005-2006 Japan Car of the Year accolade, earning itself an international reputation without equal.

Guinness World Records certified the Mazda MX-5 as the world’s highest production two-seat open-top sports car in May 2000. With 857,201 MX-5 units produced through to December 2008, this record keeps growing.

The MX-5’s “Jinba Ittai” (”rider and horse as one”) concept has been the guiding principle for improvements since the original model. This enduring spirit will ensure that the Zoom-Zoom roadster continues to provide the fun-to-drive feeling of a car that moves in unison with the driver’s intentions to as many people as possible. As the Mazda MX-5 tradition evolves with the times, it will never cease creating countless smiles per mile.

Nissan Motor Co. plans to open a car plant in Russia in May, despite the global financial crisis. Nissan has begun testing vehicle assembly in Russia’s second city, St Petersburg.

Japan’s third-largest automaker is building a $200 million factory with an annual capacity of 50,000 cars in St Petersburg, sometimes referred to as the Russian Detroit because of its booming automotive industry.

“Now the test assembly of cars is going on, the factory opening (will be) at the end of May,” Maxim Sokolov, the head of St Petersburg’s committee on investment and strategic projects, told journalists.

Last November, when U.S. automotive giant General Motors launched its first wholly owned Russian factory in St Petersburg, the Nissan project had been expected to start operations this February.

Russia had been poised to become the largest car market in Europe this year, but the global financial crisis has taken its toll, with car sales now expected to fall by as much as 50 percent compared with 2008 levels.

Nissan, owned 44 percent by France’s Renault, said this week it would cut 20,000 jobs as it braces for its first annual loss in a decade.

Denso Corp., the world’s second-biggest auto supplier, reversed its full-year profit forecast to a loss after posting a 68.8 percent tumble in operating income for the first three quarters of its fiscal year.

The Japanese parts maker today predicted an operating loss of ¥62.0 billion ($681.1 million) for the fiscal year ending March 31. Denso had forecast an operating profit of $417.4 million.

The year before, Denso booked a $3.8 billion operating profit on what was then booming business at Toyota Motor Corp., its biggest customer and shareholder. But the global financial meltdown has wiped out those earnings. A soaring yen also hurt results.

In the first nine months of its current fiscal year, Denso’s operating profit fell to $935.4 million. Sales slid 11.6 percent to $28.9 billion.

Denso’s business suffered worldwide. No region saw increased sales or operating profit.

In the Americas, sales during the nine months suffered from falling production at Toyota and the Detroit 3, Denso said. Regional operating profit plunged 60.4 percent to $141.4 million in the quarter on a 24.1 percent drop in sales to $5.2 billion.

European operating profit fell 55.5 percent to $84.1 million. A 16.5 percent sales decrease there outweighed Denso’s efforts to cut costs.

In Japan, Denso’s biggest market, operating profit all but vanished, tumbling 98.2 percent to $31.5 million from a year earlier.

Sales there declined 10.2 percent as Japanese carmakers slashed output and reeled in exports to the United States and Europe.

On a net income basis, Denso also lowered its outlook.

The company now expects a net loss of $703.1 million instead of an earlier predicted net profit of $109.9 million. Both results mark a dramatic turnaround from the $2.7 billion in net income Denso booked last year.

Denso ranks No. 2 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers, with estimated worldwide sales to automakers of $35.70 billion in its 2007 fiscal year.