Subaru Corporation, Toyota Motor Corporation, dan Mazda Motor Corporation sedang mengambil langkah penting ke arah neutraliti karbon dengan membangunkan enjin baharu yang disesuaikan untuk elektrifikasi dan keserasian dengan bahan api neutral karbon (CN). Kerjasama ini menekankan komitmen mereka terhadap penyelesaian inovatif yang mengoptimumkan penyepaduan dengan unit pemacu elektrik, motor, dan bateri, sambil turut memfokuskan pada mengurangkan pelepasan karbon enjin pembakaran dalaman (ICE).
Inisiatif dan Matlamat Utama
Pembangunan Enjin Kompak dan Cekap:
– Penyepaduan dengan Unit Pemacu Elektrik: Enjin baharu direka untuk berfungsi dengan lancar bersama motor elektrik dan bateri, meningkatkan prestasi dan kecekapan keseluruhan kenderaan.
– Reka Bentuk Lebih Kecil, Lebih Padat: Enjin ini akan merevolusikan pembinaan kenderaan dengan saiznya yang lebih padat, membolehkan penambahbaikan reka bentuk seperti hud yang lebih rendah dan aerodinamik yang lebih baik. Ini menyumbang kepada kecekapan bahan api yang dipertingkatkan dan pematuhan kepada peraturan pelepasan yang lebih ketat.
Usaha Penyahkarbonan:
– Bahan Api Neutral Karbon: Enjin ini akan serasi dengan pelbagai bahan api neutral karbon, termasuk bahan api elektronik (bahan api sintetik), biofuel, dan hidrogen cecair. Peralihan daripada bahan api fosil ini bertujuan menjadikan ICE lebih mampan.
– Meluaskan Powertrain dan Pilihan Bahan Api: Dalam keadaan perlumbaan, syarikat-syarikat ini sedang meneroka pelbagai pilihan powertrain dan bahan api untuk memastikan prestasi enjin yang teguh dan serba boleh sejajar dengan matlamat neutraliti karbon.
Perkongsian Visi dan Kerjasama
Subaru, Toyota, dan Mazda didorong oleh pemahaman yang mendalam tentang pelbagai keperluan dan gaya hidup pelanggan mereka. Ini telah mendorong mereka untuk membangunkan enjin yang bukan sahaja merangkumi jenama masing-masing tetapi juga memenuhi keutamaan pelanggan yang unik. Usaha bersama mereka memberi tumpuan kepada:
– Bertindak dengan Semangat dan Tujuan: Syarikat-syarikat ini bersatu dalam pendekatan mereka untuk menangani pelepasan karbon, dengan fokus pada karbon sebagai musuh utama dan bukannya enjin itu sendiri.
– Mengekalkan Rantaian Bekalan dan Pekerjaan: Dengan memajukan teknologi enjin dan mengembangkan pilihan bahan api, mereka bertujuan untuk mengekalkan rantaian bekalan dan pekerjaan yang menyokong industri automotif.
Pelaksanaan Praktikal dan Rancangan Masa Depan
– Reka Bentuk Kenderaan Inovatif: Sifat padat enjin baharu membolehkan reka bentuk kenderaan yang lebih fleksibel, meningkatkan kedua-dua aspek estetik dan fungsi kenderaan masa depan.
– Pematuhan dan Prestasi: Penekanan untuk memenuhi peraturan pelepasan yang ketat sambil mengekalkan kecekapan tinggi dan standard prestasi memastikan enjin ini praktikal dan mesra alam.
Pendekatan kerjasama Subaru, Toyota, dan Mazda mencerminkan dedikasi bersama mereka untuk mencapai neutraliti karbon melalui pelbagai laluan. Dengan bekerjasama dengan rakan kongsi yang berfikiran sama, mereka menyasarkan untuk mencipta masa depan yang mampan untuk industri automotif Jepun, mengimbangi inovasi dengan tanggungjawab alam sekitar. Inisiatif ini menyerlahkan komitmen mereka untuk merintis teknologi yang menyokong penggunaan penyelesaian neutral karbon yang lebih luas sambil mengekalkan intipati dan prestasi kenderaan ICE tradisional.
Subaru Corporation, Toyota Motor Corporation, and Mazda Motor Corporation are taking significant steps towards carbon neutrality by developing new engines tailored for electrification and compatibility with carbon-neutral (CN) fuels. This collaboration underscores their commitment to innovative solutions that optimise integration with electric drive units, motors, and batteries, while also focusing on reducing the carbon footprint of internal combustion engines (ICEs).
Key Initiatives and Goals
Development of Compact, Efficient Engines:
– Integration with Electric Drive Units: The new engines are designed to work seamlessly with electric motors and batteries, enhancing overall vehicle performance and efficiency.
– Smaller, More Compact Design: These engines will revolutionise vehicle packaging by being more compact, allowing for design improvements such as lower hoods and better aerodynamics. This contributes to enhanced fuel efficiency and compliance with stricter emissions regulations.
Decarbonisation Efforts:
– Carbon-Neutral Fuels: The engines will be compatible with a range of carbon-neutral fuels, including e-fuels (synthetic fuels), biofuels, and liquid hydrogen. This shift away from fossil fuels aims to make ICEs more sustainable.
– Broadening Powertrain and Fuel Options: Under racing conditions, the companies are exploring various powertrain and fuel options to ensure robust and versatile engine performance that aligns with carbon neutrality goals.
Shared Vision and Collaboration
Subaru, Toyota, and Mazda are driven by a deep understanding of their customers’ diverse needs and lifestyles. This has led them to develop engines that not only embody their respective brands but also cater to unique customer preferences. Their joint efforts focus on:
– Acting with Passion and Purpose: The companies are united in their approach to tackling carbon emissions, focusing on carbon as the primary enemy rather than the engines themselves.
– Maintaining Supply Chains and Jobs: By advancing engine technology and expanding fuel options, they aim to sustain the supply chains and jobs that support the automotive industry.
Practical Implementation and Future Outlook
– Innovative Vehicle Design: The compact nature of the new engines allows for more flexible vehicle designs, enhancing both aesthetic and functional aspects of future vehicles.
– Compliance and Performance: Emphasis on meeting stringent emissions regulations while maintaining high efficiency and performance standards ensures that these engines will be both practical and eco-friendly.
Subaru, Toyota, and Mazda’s collaborative approach reflects their shared dedication to achieving carbon neutrality through multiple pathways. By working together with like-minded partners, they aim to create a sustainable future for Japan’s automotive industry, balancing innovation with environmental responsibility. This initiative highlights their commitment to pioneering technologies that support a broader adoption of carbon-neutral solutions while preserving the essence and performance of traditional ICE vehicles.
Bahagian sport permotoran dan kereta sport Toyota, Gazoo Racing, telah meningkatkan pelaburannya dalam teknologi enjin pembakaran dalaman (ICE), menunjukkan komitmen mereka untuk memanfaatkan sepenuhnya potensi enjin pembakaran dalaman. Presiden GR, Tomoya Takahashi, menegaskan pendirian bahagian tersebut dengan menyatakan bahawa kenderaan ICE masih mempunyai tempat walaupun usaha yang dilakukan untuk mengurangkan pelepasan karbon. “Musuh kita adalah karbon, bukan enjin pembakaran dalaman,” kata Takahashi, merangkum pandangan Toyota mengenai kenderaan ICE.
Walaupun populariti kenderaan elektrik (EV) semakin meningkat, Toyota tidak mempunyai rancangan segera untuk memperkenalkan EV prestasi di bawah jenama GR. Ini menimbulkan persoalan tentang masa depan kereta konsep FT-Se, yang menawarkan prestasi yang mengagumkan tetapi belum jelas bagaimana pengeluarannya akan dilakukan.
Toyota’s motorsport and sports car division, Gazoo Racing, is doubling down on its investment in internal combustion engine (ICE) technology, reaffirming its commitment to maximising the potential of combustion engines. GR President Tomoya Takahashi emphasised the division’s stance, asserting that ICE vehicles can coexist with efforts to reduce carbon emissions. “The enemy is carbon, not internal combustion engines,” Takahashi remarked, encapsulating Toyota’s perspective on ICE vehicles.
Despite the growing popularity of electric vehicles (EVs), Toyota has no immediate plans to introduce a performance EV under the GR brand. This decision raises questions about the fate of the FT-Se concept car, which boasted impressive performance figures but remains without a clear production path.
“They don’t make them live they used to,” that is a sentence that is commonly heard these days. Whether it is in reference to household goods, electronics or even your favourite char kuey teow, it is a sentence that is thrown around a lot these days.
But arguably, nowhere is it most commonly used than in the automotive industry. Whether it is in reference to the quality of a car or motorcycle or to the performance, we could argue till the sun goes down and comes back up again about how cars and bikes used to be better back in the day and how they are today.
However. Every once in a while, we get a car that blows it all away, that makes the world stand up and take notice and makes even those that still live in the past fall in love all over again. Cars like the Toyota GR Corolla.
If you have never heard of it, you are probably thinking that we have lost our minds. How can an everyday Toyota like the Corolla be exciting and remind us of days gone past? Well, except for the assumption that our favourite uncles and their neigbour used to drive a Toyota Corolla, the GR Corolla seen in the photos here is a very different animal. Yes, we used the word animal in the same sentence as the Corolla, now will be a good time to continue reading this article because we are not talking about a regular run of the mill Corolla.
Though the Corolla may be the underpinning car to this model, there is very little that the GR Corolla shares with its comparatively sedate cousin. From the offset, you will notice that the car is wider and looks a lot more aggressive. That may not be a big deal because you can buy such a body kit for a few thousand Ringgits from any of the back lane car shops around the country. But the one on the GR Corolla is a functional one, one that needs to be engineered rather than just fitted.
Every vent, fin and wing you see on the car plays a purpose, either to help cool the car, cool the brakes or help the car stick to the road at high speeds. This is a proper fire-breating sports car that has been purpose made and engineered in detail from the ground up, it is not a regular body kit that you buy from Sunway.
Even back at the factory, the GR Corolla together with its siblings – the GR86 and the GR Yaris, were not built on a regular assembly line. Well, perhaps the donor cars were, but they were soon shifted to a different part of the assembly plant. A top-secret area where engineers have a singular focus on chasing mega performance.
Called the Toyota Gazoo Racing motorsport division, the department is based in Cologne, Germany and supports Toyota’s racing activities in series such as the World Rally Championship and World Endurance Championship. The division also has offices in other parts of the world where it races as well.
But other than developing race cars, the division, also known as TGR or GR, is also responsible for bridging the gap between its racing activities and its road cars. That is where cars like the GR Corolla come from. In essence, the division is quite like AMG from Mercedes-Benz, BMW’s M division or Audi’s RS.
You may already know this, but motorsport is never cheap, whether it is the entry go-kart series or racing in more established competitions around the world, the world of motorsport is for the top one percent. The research and development needed to create a car capable of topflight competition can put a lot of companies out of business, and hence why cars that are born out of motorsport are never cheap.
The GR Corolla costs a staggering RM355,000, which is a lot of money from a Corolla. This writer had a tough time explaining why this car costs so much of money to guests of a wedding in the old mining town of Tanjung Tualang. Everyone who saw the car knew it was something special, but no one could believe the price. It was after all, a Toyota Corolla. I had a tough time explaining that it was not a regular Corolla.
This is a car that needs to be driven to be appreciated, and once you do, you will wish you had that money in your bank. Powering the GR Corolla is a 1.6-litre, three-cylinder, turbocharged engine making 300PS and 370Nm of torque. It is the most powerful three-cylinder engine in the world, and it demolishes the charge to 100km/h in just 5.3 seconds and does not stop huffing and puffing until it reaches 230km/h.
All the way there, there is that almost inaudible sound of the blow-off valve which enthusiasts will recognise almost immediately. Take your foot off the accelerator pedal and a faint whistle will follow. This allows the boost pressure from the turbo to escape when there is no need to use it, and this is an iconic sound that almost every self-loving car freak will recognise and love immediately. It does not only sound good, but it shows this car means business.
But the GR Corolla is much more than just big numbers, it is about how it delivers them to the wheels and ultimately leaves it to you to exploit. The car also runs on an all-wheel-drive (AWD) platform, and it is not just a regular AWD system, but quite an intelligent one.
While regular AWD systems will distribute power equally between the front and rear axles, the system in the GR Corolla lets you decide how you want the power to be transferred. You can select this by turning a knob located at the centre console, and power can be distributed either 60:40 front back, 50:50 for a more balanced feel or 30:70 for when you want the rear of the car to stick out a little bit.
And this is then further complemented by a Torsen Slip Differential that distributes power to the left and right wheels rather than just between the front and rear axles. This then gives the car huge amounts of grip, and on the right roads such as on Bukit Tinggi where we took it for some back road fun, it was easy to simply point and catapult the car to the next corner by riding the wave of torque.
No squirm, no power lag, no dramas, just your typical point and squirt fun, just like the old hot hatch’s such as the Renault Megane R26, Peugeot GTI or even the Volkswagen Golf R.
But the GR Corolla feels more engaging, it feels like it wants you to wring it by its neck and extract every gallop of horsepower. It is almost impossible to drive it slowly because all you want to do is marvel at all the performance underneath the car.
It also has something called an “Intelligent Manual Transmission” that makes you feel like a driving God every time you downshift the manual transmission. This works by matching the revs to the intended gear so there is no loss of power, and you are always within the right rev zone to maximise power delivery.
However, as quick and effectively the GR Corolla is, it has one little flaw that we feel could have been better – the gear shifter. In the world of manual transmissions, the key to getting it right is a short, precise throw in between gear cogs with a small well-weighted, preferably aluminium knob. The GR Corolla almost has it all right except that shifts can be sloppy; it is not as precise and short as the Honda Civic Type R and that is probably its biggest let down. For us at least. We can forgive the knob but having a sloppy shifter can be scary because you can easily shift into a wrong gear. And that is a very expensive bill.
Everything else about the GR Corolla is perfect. It may be a Corolla, but it can never be a proper family car like a regular Corolla can, as we found out when we had to pack up the car to attend the aforementioned wedding in Perak.
It may have four doors, and it also has all the safety systems you want in a modern-day car, including apative cruise control. It even has ISOFIX mounts for you to lock in a child seat, but it not spacious as far as family requirements go.
But the Toyota GR Corolla is great because it reminds us of how sports cars used to be – fast, engaging with pure unadulterated power. The four-doors are there so that you can tell yourself it is semi-practical, but in fact you just don’t really want to grow up.
The GR Corolla lets you indulge in your childhood automotive fantasies, while the four-doors are a great excuse for you to tell your wife it is a practical car and that it is worth the price. Until she tries to pack all her outfits for a wedding and finds out it isn’t all that.
Toyota sedang bersiap sedia untuk mengeluarkan bateri kenderaan elektrik (EV) di kilang baharunya di Carolina Utara, Amerika Syarikat, dengan rancangan untuk memulakan pengeluaran pada suku pertama tahun depan. Kemudahan itu, yang menerima peningkatan pelaburan berjumlah $13.9 bilion tahun lepas, mencapai kemajuan yang ketara sejak pecah tanahnya pada akhir 2022.
Menurut laporan, Sean Suggs, Presiden Toyota Battery Manufacturing di kompleks Carolina Utara, mendedahkan bahawa aktiviti percubaan sedang dijalankan di bangunan pertama kilang itu. Dengan kira-kira 300 ahli pasukan di tapak setiap hari dan lebih kurang 500 lagi di lokasi ibu pejabat di Greensboro, kilang itu bersedia untuk menggaji sejumlah 5,100 orang apabila siap pada 2028.
Toyota is gearing up to produce electric vehicle (EV) batteries at its new factory in North Carolina, USA, with plans to commence production in the first quarter of next year. The facility, which received increased investment totalling $13.9 billion last year, is making significant progress since its groundbreaking in late 2022.
According to reports, Sean Suggs, President of Toyota Battery Manufacturing at the North Carolina complex, revealed that trial activities are currently underway in the first building of the factory. With approximately 300 team members on-site daily and around 500 more at the headquarters location in Greensboro, the plant is set to employ a total of 5,100 people upon completion in 2028.
UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd (UMWT) mengakhiri April 2024 dengan prestasi positif yang berterusan, mencapai jumlah jualan bulanan sebanyak 7,345 unit (Toyota + Lexus), dengan Toyota menyumbang 7,213 unit dan Lexus menyumbang 132 unit. Pencapaian ini menjadikan jumlah jualan tahun sehingga kini pada April 2024 kepada 30,789 unit.
UMWT telah menetapkan standard baharu dalam pasaran hatchback segmen B bukan nasional dengan pelancaran Toyota Yaris G Limited edisi terhad. Direka khusus untuk pemandu Generasi Z, model ini menawarkan pengalaman pemanduan yang lebih sporty dan dinamik, dengan hanya 600 unit tersedia.
Sektor komersial menerima rangsangan dengan pengenalan Toyota Hiace Super Long Wheelbase (SLWB) serba baharu. Model ini menawarkan saiz yang meningkat dengan ketara, menyediakan ruang yang dipertingkatkan untuk penumpang dan kargo, menjadikannya sesuai untuk perjalanan jauh. Dikuasakan oleh enjin turbo-diesel 2.8 liter 1GD-FTV, ia menghasilkan 177PS pada 3,400 rpm dan 450Nm tork antara 1,600 hingga 2,400 rpm.
Dalam usaha meningkatkan perkhidmatan pelanggan, UMWT mengembangkan rangkaian pengedarnya dengan memperkenalkan Laser Motor 4S Sdn Bhd di Seremban. Kemudahan 3S baharu ini kini menawarkan Kemudahan Pusat Jualan & Perkhidmatan, yang menampilkan 10 ruang perkhidmatan untuk kemudahan pelanggan.
Toyota Yaris G Limited menetapkan standard baharu dalam pasaran hatchback segmen B bukan nasional, menawarkan prestasi, pengendalian dan gaya yang dipertingkatkan. Dengan hanya 600 unit tersedia, varian kendalian terhad ini direka untuk menarik perhatian dengan gabungan inovasi automotif dan eksklusivitinya.
Dengan harga yang kompetitif pada RM99,600.00 (Di jalan raya, tanpa insurans), Yaris G Limited didatangkan dengan waranti perbatuan tanpa had selama 5 tahun penuh, memberikan ketenangan fikiran kepada pemiliknya. Selain itu, bahagian prestasi dilindungi oleh jaminan 1 tahun/20,000km, seterusnya memastikan keyakinan dalam pengalaman pemanduan. Tersedia dalam pelbagai warna, termasuk pakej Sporty 2-Tone Exterior, Yaris G Limited memenuhi pilihan gaya hidup dan prestasi yang pelbagai.
Direka bentuk untuk cemerlang di jalan-jalan bandar dan percutian hujung minggu, Yaris G Limited menampilkan sistem suspension yang disesuaikan dengan prestasi yang meningkatkan keupayaan dan tindak balas selekoh, memberikan pengalaman pemanduan yang lebih sporty. Casis tangkas, digabungkan dengan cengkaman tayar yang lebih baik dan stereng yang tepat, menawarkan pengendalian dan kawalan yang tepat, membolehkan pemandu berasa terhubung sepenuhnya dengan jalan raya.
Dilengkapi dengan pelbagai peningkatan prestasi, termasuk pengawal pendikit dan pengambilan udara sejuk, Yaris G Limited memastikan pecutan pantas dan pengalaman pemanduan yang menggembirakan. Diinspirasikan oleh sejarah Toyota yang kaya dalam sukan permotoran, varian ini dengan bangganya memaparkan lambang ‘LIMITED’, melambangkan status eksklusif.
Dengan gabungan prestasi, gaya dan eksklusifnya, Toyota Yaris G Limited bersedia untuk memikat peminat dan meningkatkan pengalaman pemanduan dalam pasaran hatchback segmen B.
Toyota Motor Corp telah membuat rancangan untuk menangani masalah ujian keselamatan di syarikatnya Daihatsu. Mereka mahu membina semula kepercayaan dengan peniaga, pelanggan dan pekerja mereka. Toyota kini akan menyelia pensijilan model di Daihatsu dan bertanggungjawab dalam bidang seperti membuat produk baharu dan mendapatkan alat ganti.
Terdapat masalah apabila mendapat tahu Daihatsu menipu dalam ujian keselamatan. Ini menyebabkan Daihatsu menghentikan pengeluaran kereta buat sementara waktu, dan kerajaan berkata mereka mesti melakukan ujian yang betul pada masa hadapan. Pemimpin baharu Daihatsu, Masahiro Inoue, memohon maaf atas apa yang berlaku dan berjanji untuk membuat Daihatsu lebih baik.
Toyota mahu menambah baik cara Daihatsu beroperasi. Mereka mahu pekerja berkomunikasi dengan lebih baik dan lebih fokus pada keselamatan daripada membuat wang. Toyota juga telah mengambil tindakan dalaman, dengan 10 bekas ahli pengurusan Daihatsu memulangkan bonus mereka untuk tahun kewangan 2023.
Bonus yang dikembalikan termasuk bekas pengerusi Sunao Matsubayashi, bekas Presiden Soichiro Okudaira, dan naib presiden eksekutif Hiromasa Hoshika. Pengarah Yusuke Takeda dan Toshinori Edamoto akan mengembalikan 50%, manakala ketua pegawai lain akan kembali antara 10% hingga 50%.
Tambahan pula, Daihatsu mengumumkan pemansuhan jawatan Pengurus Eksekutif dan Timbalan Pengurus Eksekutif untuk menyelaraskan struktur pelaporan, berikutan keputusan awal untuk memansuhkan jawatan Pengerusi. Langkah-langkah ini bertujuan untuk menangani penyelewengan prosedur dan memupuk budaya pematuhan dan akauntabiliti dalam Daihatsu.
