It is now 25 years since ‘Flying Finn’ Juha Kankkunen and his Welsh co-driver Nicky Grist won what is still remembered as one of the toughest and most challenging Rally GBs in the famous event’s long-running history. To mark the silver anniversary of that snowy and icy victory, a quarter of a century on Kankkunen and Grist will be honoured as the official ‘Rally Legends’ of this autumn’s Wales … [Read more...]
Newslines 29 May
Local people living along the line of a proposed new £81M link road from M4 J34 to the A48 and Cardiff Wales Airport say they will fight the plan. Originally proposed over a decade ago, it’s resurfaced and the seven-mile road would cut through ancient woodland and historical sites to improve links and cut out congestion at M4 J33. For the sixth consecutive year, Toyota is assessed as the … [Read more...]
Newslines 26 May
A dramatic ramp up of hydrogen powered cars is planned by Toyota. It will build a new fuel cell manufacturing facility near its Toyota City headquarters, and a second plant making pressurized tanks nearby in Shimoyama plant, from 2020 to supply about 30,000 hydrogen vehicles annually. America is threatening to review car imports again. This time it’s looking at whether they constitute a … [Read more...]
Major car brands seeking new technology
The Future Mobility Challenge is a major new initiative to spawn new partnerships, investments and acquisitions between the world’s leading automotive brands and innovative technology start-ups and SMEs. Five of the world’s biggest automotive brands, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Bosch, Ford and Toyota, have partnered with SMMT to challenge ambitious SMEs and start-ups to devise innovative solutions … [Read more...]
Newslines 16 April
Volkswagen Connect DataPlug and smartphone app-based connectivity system is now standard on new up! and Polo models. It offers many of the benefits of Volkswagen’s high end Car-Net system featured in the likes of Golf, Tiguan and Arteon. Volkswagen trucks group and Toyota’s Hino cv subsidiary will collaborate on some future heavy engineering. They have agreed to jointly develop the next … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: Toyota C-HR 1.8 Hybrid
Toyota's experience in hybrid technology has given them an edge with their distinctive C-HR SUV, writes David Miles. It's a compact five door with 1.2T petrol, or 1.8 petrol electric hybrid, powertrains and the latter underpins the Prius hybrid, and the C-HR uses the Global Architecture platform of the Prius. Unlike the blandly styled Prius the C-HR (Coupe High Rider) is a very different … [Read more...]
Toyota adopt softly, softy touch to help N Wales charity
Toyota Manufacturing UK Charitable Trust has donated £5,000 for a sensory garden at Rockhill, a supported living house in Flintshire for people with physical and learning disabilities. Rockhill is home to two residents who are supported by learning disability charity Mencap, both of whom are wheelchair dependent and have sensory impairments. Stacey Cartwright, a support worker at Rockhill, … [Read more...]
Let battle commence …..
The 2018 FIA World Rally Championship hit top gear with a high-profile launch at the Autosport International show in Birmingham last week, writes Gary Jones. Manufacturer teams representing Citroën, Hyundai, M-Sport Ford and Toyota lined up side-by-side on the central stage for their public unveiling. All the big-name drivers, co-drivers and team principals were present to share their … [Read more...]
Newslines 8 January
The all-new Mitsubishi Shogun Sport will be priced from £36,905 when it goes on sale in the UK in spring. Closely following the January arrival of the Eclipse Cross, the distinctive seven-seat Shogun Sport will sit between Outlander and Shogun in the range and will be offered with a choice of two extensively-equipped trim levels: Shogun Sport 3 and Shogun Sport 4, with the upper model costing … [Read more...]
Newslines 16 December
Around five million drivers believe they have got behind the wheel while over the limit at least once in the past year, according to the RAC. In total 16% of the 1,727 motorists questioned by the RAC say they think they have been guilty of drink-driving, either immediately after consuming alcohol or the morning after a late night drinking session and the result has angered some motorists who … [Read more...]