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Tough times ahead for Nissan as the Japanese automaker reportedly plans aggressive cost cuts which will bring about more than 4,300 layoffs and the closures of two plants.

The Nissan Ariya concept.   YOKOHAMA, Japan — Nissan is planning aggressive cost cuts to deal with an unexpected slump in sales as the expansionist strategy it inherited from fugitive former Chairman Carlos Ghosn flounders, four people familiar with the plans said. Japan's second biggest carmaker is set to eliminate at least 4,300 white-collar jobs and shut two manufacturing sites as part of broader plans to add at least 480 billion yen ($4.4 billion) to its bottom line by 2023, two of the people told Reuters. The moves come on top of a turnaround plan unveiled in July and are likely to include cutting Nissan's range of cars and the array of product options and trims in each line, slashing jobs mostly at head offices in the United States and Europe, and reducing advertising and marketing budgets, they said. "The situation is dire. It's do or die," a person close to Nissan's senior management and the company's board told Reuters. Most of the planned cuts and measures to enhance efficiency were presented to Nissan's board in November and received its general blessing, two sources said. A Nissan spokeswoman declined to comment on new restructuring measures or the view that weaker-than-expected sales were the catalyst for a global overhaul. Under Ghosn, Nissan embarked on a global expansion, boosting capacity to add new models, driving more decidedly into markets such as India, Russia, South Africa and southeast Asia and spending heavily on promotions and marketing to hit targets. Now, many of those models are missing sales goals, and executives at Nissan's Yokohama headquarters estimate up to 40% of its global manufacturing capacity is unused, or under-used. Some executives are worried Nissan, part of an alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi, could post another loss at its carmaking business in the last quarter of 2019 — and possibly for all its operations in the fiscal year ending in March. One source said that would most likely hinge on whether Nissan books big restructuring expenses in its current financial year, or waits until the year ending in March 2021. Reuters spoke to nine people familiar with Nissan's plans. All declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject.

Missed targets

In July, Nissan said it would cut 12,500 jobs from 14 sites around the world, from the United Kingdom to Spain, Mexico, Japan, India and Indonesia — and reduce its model range by 10%. At the time, Nissan officials told Reuters that meant shutting one production line at each plant. Now, Nissan is considering shutting two plants permanently, on top of the reductions at the 14 other sites, people close to Nissan's management and board with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. They didn't say which two new sites were at risk. People familiar with the plans said the axe was also likely to fall at Nissan's North American head office in Tennessee and its European headquarters in Geneva, as they were bloated with high-spending sales and marketing staff. One source with direct knowledge of the turnaround plan said Nissan's marketing teams globally gobble up nearly 1 trillion yen a year, or about 45% of Nissan's annual fixed costs of 2.1 trillion. Nissan had been saddled with the excess, "thanks to (Ghosn's) highly aggressive, expansionist volume goals, which we failed to achieve," the source said. A spokeswoman for Ghosn said he declined to comment for this story. Ghosn told a news conference in Beirut on Jan. 8 that Nissan's poor performance since 2017 was down to Hiroto Saikawa, who formally took over from him as Nissan CEO in April 2017. "He was CEO and he was responsible for it," Ghosn said. In addition to cuts in Nissan's fixed costs, managers are also considering plans to kill off unprofitable models, accelerate the pace of new product development and reduce the average age of its lineup to 2½ years, down from 5 now. The new plans aim to add 480 billion yen to Nissan's bottom line by the end of March 2023, with 300 billion from cuts in fixed costs and 180 billion from an array of cars to be launched in the next three years, people familiar with the matter said. Nissan is aiming to achieve an operating margin of 6% on revenue of 14.5 trillion yen by March 2023, compared with 3.0% from 13.0 trillion forecast for the year ending in March 2020, according to plans announced in July. But since July, Nissan's operating performance has worsened by more than expected, making it likely its new management team will have to find savings significantly above the 480 billion yen currently envisaged to hit its targets, three sources said.

'Phase Two'

To be sure, Nissan has plenty of cash in its coffers to cope with setbacks. According to quarterly results, it had 1.14 trillion yen in net cash at the end of September. Still, sources said Nissan was no longer adding freshly generated cash to its war chest, mainly because of its high fixed costs and the sales slide. Furthermore, it has expensive car launches in the next few years that could eat into reserves. "Even if we had one trillion yen in cash, that could be depleted in no time if we didn't pay attention," a person close to Nissan management told Reuters. Three of the people said the collapse in Nissan sales around the world was a major factor in forcing the company to consider restructuring above and beyond the measures outlined in July. They said Nissan's global sales would likely fall to 5 million vehicles, or slightly above, way short of its sales goal of 5.5 million for its current financial year. The worse-than-expected downturn, which has forced Nissan to spend more on promotions to cushion the fallout, has created additional urgency to take more drastic steps, sources said. Of particular concern is the U.S. market, where sales fell 10% in 2019, and the continued sluggishness of the Chinese market, which left Nissan's sales volumes down 1.1% from 2018. One especially troublesome issue for Nissan has been its sales efficiency. In 2018, it had 69 models and sold 5.2 million vehicles — or 75,000 on average per model line — and it was planning to expand its lineup to 73 by the end of 2022. Now, it is aiming to cut its range to 62 and boost average sales per line to 87,000, the equivalent of Toyota's average last year, according to calculations and forecasts by the team formulating Nissan's recovery plan. "We thought by now we would be selling 6 million cars a year. But the truth of the matter is our selling ability is about just north of 5 million," one source said.  

Open road?

People familiar with Nissan's internal discussions said there was even some concern the new measures being considered, known as "Phase Two" cuts, might not be enough to achieve its three-year turnaround goals if sales don't recover fast enough. "Those Phase Two measures will most likely fall short," said one person familiar with restructuring plans, making a point echoed by several people close to the management team and board. To make matters worse, the restructuring efforts have been disrupted by the political turmoil following Ghosn's departure in 2018, his flight from Japan in December and subsequent accusations against former colleagues at Nissan. According to five sources, the upheaval rattled Nissan's top management team so much that it paralyzed their ability to execute many of the planned restructuring moves smoothly. The latest turmoil lasted from December to mid-January, when the board curbed the influence of "anti-alliance" forces sabotaging the plans, two sources said, declining to elaborate. Nissan's new CEO Makoto Uchida took the reins at the start of December with Ashwani Gupta, who has worked at Mitsubishi, Nissan and Renault, as chief operating officer. "Whoever the action was aimed at, the upshot is that Gupta is now completely freed from pressures from those anti-alliance forces to carry out all the planned turnaround measures," one of the people said. "He should do so without hesitation as the board has cleared the way."

For years, people have been calling on Toyota to launch a more powerful version of the 86 complete with a turbocharged engine. A faster 86 isn't expected to arrive until the car's next generation so German enthusiast Philip Schuster has decided to build an amped-up (pun intended…) version of the 86 for himself. It's all-electric and unlike anything Toyota itself would ever dream of doing.

Despite being the brand's freshest model, the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is already getting a styling update. The subcompact crossover prototype shown above has a mildly updated nose, and a significantly revised rear hatchback to give it a more conventional look. The rear of the car is the biggest change, so we'll start from there. The current Eclipse Cross has a controversial hatch with slanted main window and a smaller upright window lower down. Detractors liken it to the Pontiac Aztek. This updated model removes it altogether, in favor of one large slanted window. This also helps the back of the Eclipse Cross look a little less tall and blunt. The taillights are redesigned, too, to accommodate the new hatch. They don't span the full width of the hatch, and they might not extend up the rear pillars anymore either.. At the front, changes are more subtle. The headlights that extend off the grille look thinner, and may now simply be running lights, while the larger lights underneath may be the main headlights. The grille also looks more squared off in the lower section, similar to the grilles on the new L200 pickup and Mi-Tech concept. This prototype looks close to production-ready, and since it's just a mid-cycle refresh, we're expecting it to be revealed for the 2021 model year. It will likely continue to come with a turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-4 engine, a CVT and either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.

Toyota has just released a teaser image for the Chicago Auto Show, and it should get the attention of off-roaders. It shows a tan Toyota Tacoma cruising through a dirt road, indicating that the company has off-road variants coming. While the image suggests a Tacoma, it won't just be the midsize pickup getting special or updated models. The company released a statement alongside the image: "The forecast for the Windy City looks sporty and outdoorsy,  with a touch of nocturnal mischief as Toyota debuts new variants to the portfolio." We're rather curious about the "nocturnal" part. There may be some new lighting features on some of the off-road models. Toyota introducing rugged or special-edition trucks and SUVs at the Chicago Auto Show is becoming something of a tradition. Last year it brought the RAV4 TRD Off-Road, Land Cruiser Heritage Edition, Sequoia TRD Pro and updated Tacoma. The year before that featured a bunch of TRD Pro updates.

The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is in for its first mid-cycle refresh and our spy photographers snapped a prototype with the front and rear ends all covered up.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has introduced their new Uconnect 5 infotainment system which is based on Android.

Renault is sending their engineering boss to meet with his counterpart at Nissan in Japan as the two partners are seeking to bring back to life joint projects that are crucial to the Alliance.

The 2020 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro is crawling into the new year with some worthwhile upgrades, but it's still the same truck we've known for a long time. Now, you can enjoy Apple CarPlay, Android Auto or Amazon Alexa on the 8-inch infotainment screen as you blast through muddy trails while taking advantage of those Fox Racing shocks, TRD springs and all-terrain tires. All the added tech is great, but the addition of Army Green to the color palette in 2020 is hands-down the best part of this year's Tundra TRD Pro. It makes the already imposing truck look even more aggressive. We love it, and we're sure truck buyers will, too. There's nothing distinctive under the hood of the TRD Pro, as it's blessed with the same 5.7-liter V8 found in any other Tundra. It makes 381 horsepower and 401 pound-feet of torque and channels that through a six-speed automatic transmission. Four-wheel drive is standard for the TRD Pro, and it accomplishes an impressively terrible 14(!) mpg combined. Unfortunately, that's about all we could manage with our week in the Tundra — using the right pedal is dangerously addictive with the TRD dual exhaust bellowing out its battle cry behind us.  Toyota loads the TRD Pro up with most of the features you might want as standard equipment, so it has a steep starting price at $54,275. With that high price, you get the 18-inch BBS forged wheels, LED headlights, TRD Pro leather-trimmed interior, JBL premium audio system and Toyota's full suite of driver assistance systems that includes niceties like adaptive cruise control, lane departure alert and auto high beams among other features. Our truck only had a few accessories on it that brought the final price up to $55,020. Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore: The Tundra TRD Pro sounds great. The 5.7-liter V8's note funneled through the dual exhaust has character. It's low and there's a bit of rumble and growl in there. An angry thrumming was produced when I jabbed the throttle. It's forceful. Sometimes, I'd put the pedal about a quarter of the way down, let the revs build and then accelerate harder while jockeying for lane position. It sounds menacing throughout the band. The black chrome treatment is slick, too. TRD trim does a lot of material and cosmetic things for Toyotas of all shapes and sizes, and the sound the Tundra makes is one of my favorite results.  While I'm focusing primarily on the sound TRD gave the Tundra, I was impressed with the effect Toyota's performance arm has on the entire truck. The suspension is sprung nicely for both on and off-road dynamics, and the TRD Pro Army Green color makes this thing look the part of an enforcer. It's subtle and tasteful, yet in command.

The @Toyota Tundra TRD Pro in Army Green. I like it. TRD trim does some cool things for the Tundra. And the exhaust tuning sounds really good. @therealautoblog pic.twitter.com/Djb5j2bAqs — Greg Migliore (@GregMigliore) December 17, 2019 Assistant Editor, Zac Pamer: Toyota is finally getting around to adding Apple CarPlay and Android Auto into its infotainment systems, and this deserves some recognition. The 2020 Tundra is one of those models and it's about time as Toyota has been one of the last holdouts for implementation of the technology. It worked great on our Tundra TRD Pro tester, connecting instantly and working flawlessly the whole time. However, that's where the good stuff ends on this infotainment system. Toyota's software is still slow and behind most of the others out there. The graphics look dated, and there aren't any standout features to speak of. The interior design is similarly behind the times. The red and black TRD Pro flourishes are nice and plenty noticeable, but it doesn't fix the generally boring overall look and hard plastics. Stepping out of a new Ram 1500 and into this truck's interior will make you wonder why the Tundra costs so damn much. In a TRD Pro, some of it is forgivable because of its intended purpose as an off-road truck. Other Tundras, not so much. We've seen plenty of evidence to show a redesigned Tundra is coming, so wait it out if a competitive interior is top of mind. The current TRD Pro excels at being fun to drive, but these other sore points are where the American competitors have it nailed.

The BEST color for the Tundra TRD Pro: Army Green. pic.twitter.com/vk6EGSxWfD — Zac Palmer (@zacpalmerr) December 20, 2019 Associate Editor, Joel Stocksdale: The Tundra is an old truck, and that shows through in its stale interior and less refined driving experience compared with the latest crop of full-size pickups. That being said, there are some perks to it, some of which might be a by-product of its age. For instance, the visibility is so good, it makes this truck feel smaller than it is. The hood is lower relative to your seating position, and the pillars are nice and thin. It's a welcome change from the competition that can be nerve-wracking in tight spaces if it weren't for loads of cameras. Also surprising was the fact that the Tundra feels nimble for a big truck. Body roll is limited and the steering is quick and accurate. There's even some feedback. This is countered by a stiff, truck-like ride, but it was worth it to me. With that throaty exhaust growl, it almost felt sporty. Sure it's not the segment leader, but the Tundra still has its strong points.

Looks like it's official — the U.S. will finally get the upgraded Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV that's been on sale in Europe and Japan since late 2018. AutoGuide perused documents Mitsubishi filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for 2021 product lineup. The paperwork shows a 2.4-liter engine with 126 horsepower replacing the 2.0-liter with 117 hp in the current U.S.-market Outlander plug-in hybrid. We've expected the engine change for a while, but we didn't have a horsepower rating before. The version on sale in Europe gets 133 hp from the 2.4-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder, while promising "higher torque, smoother operation, and overall higher efficiency." We'll get the 13.8-kWh battery, up from the 12-kWh unit currently installed, and the rear electric motor gets bumped up to 93 hp, same as overseas. The e-motor on the front axle holds steady at 80 hp. Unless Mitsubishi has model-year shenanigans in mind, the documents describe the next-gen Outlander that's been promised for debut later this year. It will ride on a Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance platform, expected to be the same architecture shared with the next-gen 2021 Nissan Rogue. The current Outlander and Rogue are just 0.3 inches apart, and both are expected to grow in size. The new Outlander's exterior will glean cues from the Engelberg Tourer concept (shown below) like vertically-oriented headlights, a reshaped greenhouse, and a larger rear roof spoiler. If Mitsubishi carries over the rest of the upgrades afforded the international Outlander PHEV versions, we're in for a more powerful generator, and new Sport and Snow modes. The suspension and 4WD Lock were also bolstered on the current crossover, but with an all-new generation, we'd expect thorough overhauls in hardware and software. The real prize will be finding out how much EV range the next plug-in hybrid Outlander promises beyond the 22 miles available on the current model. On Japan's testing cycle, the new powertrain extended all-electric driving from 37.8 miles to 40.4 miles.

If you're a regular reader of Autoblog, you know that for a long time we've liked Fiat Chrysler's Uconnect infotainment system for its bright, clear, responsive touchscreen interface. Now, according to the company, it will be better than ever with Uconnect 5, the latest iteration of the system. It has upgraded hardware and a revamped graphic user interface (the stuff on the screen). Looking at sample screens shown above, there are characteristics shared with the old system, such as the time, status and shortcuts at the top and the menu icons at the bottom. In the middle, the major change is the addition of home screens that can be customized with favorite menus and readouts that are always available. Each of these home screens can have up to four functions and you can have five pages to flip through. The graphics themselves feature more legible fonts and updated icons. Each car brand will get its own set of icons, colors and textures to help create unique experiences. And while each Fiat Chrysler product will be able to have Uconnect, including Alfa Romeo that has until now lacked Uconnect, each brand has the ability to make small tweaks including the screen orientation. The system will support displays in landscape, portrait or square, so different brands may choose different shapes. Powering Uconnect 5 is a processor Fiat Chrysler says is six times more powerful than what's in current systems. It features 6 gigabytes of RAM and 64 gigabytes of internal storage. The processor also supports screens as large as 12.3 inches with as many as 15 million pixels, or nearly twice that of a 4K resolution TV. The system can display information on up to four screens, too. Uconnect 5's firmware is built on Google's Android operating system, joining a few other automakers in using Android as a base for their infotainment systems. Uconnect 5 brings with it a number of new features. It brings full Alexa integration, so you can use it just like you do at home, provided you have a data plan for the car. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto continue to be standard, but now they can be used wirelessly. You can also now connect two phones via Bluetooth wirelessly so you can access content from both. Navigation gets real time information and updates from TomTom. Users can create five profiles with unique climate, radio and instrument settings, plus one for a valet. Also, the voice control system has been updated and will respond similarly to how you speak to Alexa, Siri and other voice assistants. Uconnect 5 will be available later this year. Fiat Chrysler hasn't officially said which cars will get the system first, but expect it to become equipment on virtually every product from the company.  

Compromise used to be the unfortunate truth in auto manufacturing. The hardware needed to build an enthusiast-pleasing machine wasn't necessarily compatible with producing a comfortable, safe vehicle. With the advent of modern electric vehicles, this situation is changing, and our recent drive of Nissan's e-4ORCE prototype all-wheel drive system shows how. The vehicle in question is a regular Nissan Leaf Plus that's been outfitted with two Leaf Plus motors (one in front and one in back) and Nissan's e-4ORCE all-wheel drive system. A variety of tests were laid out for us at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway during CES last week to let us try out Nissan's new dual-motor EV system. Turns out, e-4ORCE offers more than just increased traction. All the proof is in the driving. Our first test was a straight-line acceleration run. Two Leaf Plus motors combine for a system output of 304 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque. To put it lightly, the e-4ORCE test car made the regular Leaf Plus feel as though it was hardly moving. The quick response from the go-pedal was just as impressive — Nissan claims its powertrain responds quicker than any other dual-motor EV system that it benchmarked. Next up, Nissan had us experience the benefit of rear motor regenerative braking. Instead of a swift nosedive when lifting off the accelerator pedal in the single front-motor Leaf Plus, the e-4ORCE keeps its nose steady and close to level with where we started from after lifting off the accelerator. It's able to accomplish this by using the rear motor instead of the front motor for regenerative braking, significantly reducing head-toss and squat. This will make a huge difference for folks who get carsick easily.

The 2020 Toyota 4Runner represents the 11th year of a fifth-generation design that debuted as a 2010 model. So it's not new, but that also doesn't stop it from being more successful than ever. Sales have been on the rise every year since, with a notable spike in 2015 after it got a minor facelift and a freshened dashboard. There were welcome tech updates for 2020. However, nothing much has changed on the mechanical side in all of that time. Why is that? The answer has two parts. The competition has morphed into crossovers, leaving the 4Runner as one of the last truck-based SUVs standing. It's also legendary in its own right when it comes to off-road performance and durability. Instagrammers and Overlanders, as well as those who follow Overlanders on Instagram, seem to be magnetically drawn to it. The one that best encapsulates this vibe is the TRD Off-Road (known as the Trail before 2017), a thoughtfully-equipped model that occupies the second rung in the price ladder. There's no doubt the TRD Pro is a nice piece, but the TRD-Off Road is far less expensive, much easier to find, and it still has the same locking rear differential, Crawl Control, and the Multi Terrain Select traction control optimization system. Sure, you won't get the Pro's knobbier tires and tricky shocks, but you can replicate both in the aftermarket and still have a good chunk of money left over. And the TRD Off-Road offers a potent option you can't get on the Pro: KDSS, the Kinematic Dynamic Suspension System. Let's take a deep dive into the suspension of a 4Runner TRD Off-Road with KDSS. The 4Runner's front suspension is very similar to that of the Toyota Tacoma, the dearly departed FJ Cruiser and even the Lexus GX. All of the parts aren't necessarily interchangeable, but they all use a double wishbone layout with coil-over shocks that is functionally the same. It takes five links to locate a wheel in space, but each use of an A-shaped wishbone counts as two. Front suspensions obviously need to turn, so the fifth link is always the steering linkage (yellow arrow). This one is mounted ahead of the front axle, a position that is generally thought to be superior. It's also easy to execute when the engine is mounted longways, as it is in trucks and truck-based SUVs like the 4Runner.   The upper wishbone is mounted high, a position that reduces the load on the arm and its bushings, and makes it easier to optimize steering and camber geometry. Here the pivot axis is angled steeply down toward the rear, an arrangement that produces an anti-dive effect that works against the tendency for nose-dive under braking.   The lower wishbone (yellow) is hard to see here because every system wants a piece of it. The coil-over shock (green) bolts to it after it necks down to sneak past the driveshaft, but the elephant in the room is the massive and weird-looking front stabilizer bar (red) running along the front edge. Most 4Runners (and all Tacomas) have a smaller front stabilizer bar that loops over the top of the steering to connect with the open hole (blue) in the steering knuckle via a linkage. But this 4Runner has KDSS, which features a larger bar that runs along the front of the lower wishbone and is attached to it directly with an unusual bushing and clamp arrangement. You want KDSS whether you're going off-road or not. The system is essentially a pair of fatter stabilizer bars that are better at suppressing body roll (and upset stomachs) on winding roads. But such high roll stiffness is usually terrible off-road, where wheel articulation is king. The magic of KDSS is that it can sense these situations and let the bars go limp and effectively "disappear" at the opportune moment without driver intervention. The direct bolt-on mounting we see here is central to the way it works.   Normally, stabilizer pivot points are fixed rigidly to the frame and the links that connect to the moving suspension elements are out on the free ends. But you can switch that around if you attach the bar ends to the suspension directly. Here the KDSS stabilizer bar's pivot points are floating on links, with an entirely rigid one on the passenger side (yellow) and a hydraulic cylinder (green) on the driver side. The hydraulic side stays rigid on paved roads, and that holds the bar's pivot axis firmly in space so the stabilizer can offer twisting resistance to counteract vehicle roll in corners. Moguls and other lumpy off-road terrain causes the cylinder to go limp, and that allows this corner of the bar to move up and down freely. This action destroys the bar's ability to generate any roll stiffness, which is a boon to off-road wheel articulation. The end result is the same as the push-button stabilizer bar disconnect system on the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, but the method is entirely different and there's no button to push. But it's more than that. The ability to disconnect a stabilizer bar means you can mount a fatter one in the first place, and that's why a KDSS 4Runner corners flatter on winding roads and is better able to handle, say, a rooftop tent than a non-KDSS 4Runner. That same KDSS 4Runner will also articulate better when driven off-road despite its bigger stabilizer bars. There are downsides. KDSS costs $1,750. It comes with a front skidplate that hangs down a little more to allow for the expanding motion of the front strut. There's also a limit to how much you can lift a KDSS 4Runner. Estimates vary, but 2 inches seems to be the maximum.   The front bump stop is a rubber chunk that gets squished into the lower wishbone. Those concentric cuts help to make the engagement a bit more progressive, but the specific reason for the pebbly texture escapes me. If I had to guess, I'd say noise reduction.   All 4Runners come with sizable front brakes that consist of ventilated front rotors and 4-piston fixed calipers. They employ an open window design, which means a routine brake pad change is a simple matter of removing a pair of pins (yellow) and pulling the pads straight out. As ever, you'll have to unbolt and remove the caliper if the rotor needs attention.   The rear suspension of the 4Runner uses coil springs and a solid rear axle located by five links. The FJ Cruiser used a similar arrangement, but the Tacoma looks totally different back here because it uses leaf springs. That prominent bellows indicates another KDSS hydraulic cylinder, but the spare tire is in the way and needs to be cleared out before we can see very much detail.   A five-link axle mounting system should have two links per side, but we can only see one of them (yellow) here. Both would be clearly visible if this were a Ram 1500 or Jeep Gladiator. Instead we see a prominent outboard-mounted shock absorber, a placement that makes them more effective and allows them to nestle up to the tires where they're less likely to be snagged by trailside rocks. They're also ridiculously easy to access if you want to swap them out.   Each side's elusive "missing link" can be found inboard of the coil spring and just above the axle housing. We're now up to four.   There are bump stops, and then there are bump stops. The blocky one (yellow) is the actual bump stop. Its cupped shape hugs the axle itself without need for a flat landing pad, and the small void is there to soften the initial blow. There's also a structure within the coil spring itself, but this is more of a rubber secondary spring (green) than a bump stop. This gives the rear suspension a dual-rate function that comes into play when the vehicle is loaded. Toyota engineers shy away from progressive coil springs because of durability and noise concerns, so they chose this route instead.   Link number five is easy to see with the spare tire absent. It's a lateral panhard rod that keeps the axle from moving left and right. The fixed end (yellow) is attached to the frame and the moving end (green) is connected to the axle. Longer is better here, because a big swing radius reduces the amount of left-right translation that will occur as the link moves through its arc. For the same reason, it's even more critical for it to start out level at rest. The slight rise apparent here will almost certainly disappear with a couple of people on board.   The KDSS rear stabilizer is hard to miss with the spare tire out of the way. As in the front, the bar ends are fixed to the suspension and the pivot points seem to float. The passenger side pivot link (yellow) is always rigid and the driver side link is a hydraulic strut (green) that can either be rigid or limp depending on whether the vehicle is cornering on asphalt or riding the moguls off-road. The fact that it's back here at all is unique because most stabilizer bar disconnect systems only work at the front. KDSS, on the other hand, actually needs to be present at both ends for it to work at all. When cornering, the front and rear KDSS struts are "in phase" and both experience either compression or tension at the same time. The pressure is balanced, and so the pistons within the struts don't move. Moguls put the system in "opposite phase" in which one end is in compression while the other experiences tension. This large pressure differential allows the struts to move freely. The bars wobble about like a table with a short leg, but they can't generate any roll resistance.   The rear brakes are of two minds. The primary stopping power comes from a solid disc and a single-piston sliding caliper. But the rotor also has a deep "hat" section (yellow) that indicates the presence of a drum parking brake.   The TRD Off-Road rolls on 17x7.5-inch aluminum alloy wheels and P265/70R16 tires. That translates to 31.5 inches tall in old money, but the combination isn't light. Lift with your knees. The 4Runner stands apart in a world that is increasingly dominated by crossovers. The suspension we just examined is a big part of its appeal, not only in concept but also in Toyota's dedication to the design details that make it a legitimate performer off-road. But the 4Runner will soon have company. The Ford Bronco will return this year, and all indications point to a layout that is similar to the venerable 4Runner. Will it stack up well against the Toyota? The answer is only a few months away. Contributing writer Dan Edmunds is a veteran automotive engineer and journalist. He worked as a vehicle development engineer for Toyota and Hyundai with an emphasis on chassis tuning, and was the director of vehicle testing at Edmunds.com (no relation) for 14 years.

AMSTERDAM — Fiat Chrysler's Jeep Grand Cherokee and Suzuki's Vitara diesel models both break emissions rules and must be fixed or face a ban on sales across Europe, the Dutch road authority ruled on Thursday. The RDW authority, acting as the reference regulator for across the European Union, said Jeep had developed a software fix and that the authority had ordered the company to recall the model across Europe to roll it out. It added Suzuki had yet to find a credible solution for the Vitara. "Suzuki must come with adequate improvement measures or the RDW will begin the process of revoking its European type approval," the RDW said in a statement, adding it had also started the process of revoking approval for the Jeep Grand Cherokee as a "precautionary measure." Regulators across the world have been testing diesel models since Volkswagen admitted in 2015 that it used illegal software to cheat U.S. emissions tests. The RDW said it had found both the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Vitara had used "prohibited emissions strategies" that led them to emit higher levels of harmful nitrogen oxide (NOx) on the road than under testing conditions. Dutch State Secretary for Infrastructure, Stientje van Veldhoven, said in a letter to parliament she would inform prosecutors of the RDW's findings. Fiat Chrysler and Suzuki could not immediately be reached for comment.