Displaying Items By Tag: Kawasaki

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.

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. 

Nissan saw its market cap falling behind fellow Japanese car makers like Subaru after its shares fell by 9.6 percent to a new decade low.

Nissan is busily transforming the electric Ariya concept unveiled at the 2019 Tokyo Auto Show into a production model tentatively due out in 2021. It will be positioned as a bigger, more spacious alternative to the Leaf, and it will receive a dose of performance the cheerful hatchback has never benefited from. The Ariya is an evolution of the 2017 IMX concept, and it's closer to production than it might seem. The sheetmetal hides the e-4ORCE twin-motor powertrain we recently drove, which promises to deliver acceleration and grip in spades. The Japanese firm hasn't released final horsepower and torque figures, but it hinted the Ariya will be quick. "Electric motors have changed the world, because this idea of a pure 0-60 is less a differentiator. How you use it, how you deliver it, what it means, and, for the supercars, how many laps you can do, that matters. Naturally, it's exciting. Even the real version of the Ariya is fast — faster or as fast as a Z car," revealed Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan's senior vice president of global design, in an interview with Green Car Reports. The 370Z takes 5.1 seconds to reach 60 mph from a stop, so Albaisa's comments suggest the Ariya could slip under the five-second mark. He qualified the crossover's handling as "extremely good" thanks in part to the battery pack mounted under the passenger compartment, a configuration which lowers the center of gravity. Hitting freeway speeds in under five seconds is less important than driving range, but the Ariya should deliver in that department, too. Nissan previously floated a 300-mile range, and Albaisa affirmed that's still the development team's goal. Whether it will achieve that number on the WLTP testing cycle or the EPA's isn't known. We expect the production version of the Nissan Ariya — a name that might not end up on the tailgate — will reach showrooms in 2021. The company's American dealers got a preview of it in late 2019, so the project has reached an advanced stage. When it lands, it will compete in the same burgeoning segment as the Tesla Model Y, the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the Fisker Ocean, and the Audi Q4 E-Tron. Pricing will start in the vicinity of $40,000.