Toyota recalls 1.5 mn cars

Japanese carmaker recalls 1.5 mn cars over brake fluid leak, including 50,000 in Asia



Tokyo: Toyota announced a safety recall of about 1.5 million vehicles worldwide to fix a brake fluid leak that it warned can gradually diminish braking performance in the cars.

The world's largest auto maker, which was battered by a global safety crisis earlier this year, said it would voluntarily recall 740,000 cars in the United States and almost 600,000 in Japan to fix the problem.

It was also recalling 50,000 autos in Europe, 60,000 in China, 30,000 in Australia and 50,000 in other Asian nations, said a Toyota spokesman in Japan.



He said that no accidents had been linked to the defect. Toyota is recalling the cars to repair a flaw in which "a small amount of the brake fluid could slowly leak from the brake master cylinder", which would lead the brake warning lamp to illuminate, the company said.

If at this point the brake fluid is not replaced, "the driver will begin to notice a spongy or soft brake pedal feel and braking performance may gradually decline," Toyota USA said in a statement.



The autos affected are the 2005-2006 models of the Avalon, the 2004 through 2006 non-hybrid models of the Highlander, the Lexus RX330, and the 2006 Lexus GS300, IS250 and S350 vehicles, Toyota USA said in a statement. US owners of affected vehicles will be notified by early November, it said.

In Japan, Toyota announced it would recall more than 600,000 cars spanning 13 models, including the Crown, Mark X, Lexus IS and GS, according to filings submitted with the transport ministry.

Source: The Financial Express

Making of Honda Jazz

"How is it made?" The most natural question that springs to everyone's mind after coming across a beautiful piece of engineering. Take Honda's cars, for example. We visit their manufacturing plant in Greater Noida for a dekko at close quarters.





Honda Siel Cars India Limited (HSCI) was incorporated in December 1995 as a joint venture between Honda Motor Company Limited of Japan and Siel Limited with a commitment to provide Honda's latest passenger car models and technologies to Indian customers. The investment made by the company in India to date is Rs 1,620 crore for the Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh) plant and Rs 784 crore for the Tapukara (Rajasthan) plant.



HSCI's first state-of-the-art manufacturing unit was set up in Greater Noida in 1997. This green-field project is spread over 150 acres of land (over 6,00,000 square metres) and has an annual capacity of 1,00,000 units. The Tapukara plant encompasses over 600 acres of land and will have an initial production capacity of 60,000 units per annum at an investment of about Rs 1,000 crore. As reported in CAR India earlier, the first phase of this facility was inaugurated in September 2008.



The company's range of products includes the Honda Jazz, Honda City, Honda Civic and Honda Accord, which are manufactured at the Greater Noida facility with indigenisation levels of 77 per cent, 76 per cent, 74 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. The CR-V, on the other hand, is imported from Japan as a completely built unit (CBU). Honda's models are associated with advanced design and technology, apart from proven qualities such as durability, reliability and fuel-efficiency.



Honda Siel's Greater Noida plant allows the manufacture of various models. However, here we shall concentrate exclusively on the Jazz. Although the installed capacity is for 1,00,000 units, it has the potential to go up to 1,25,000 after taking care of a few bottlenecks. The number this year will be about 70,000 units.



The whole manufacturing process for the Jazz starts from welding. The press is located in Tapukara and backward integration of the parts (such as the powertrain) is also done there.

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The Jazz boasts of localisation to the extent of 80 per cent. This has become possible owing to extensive indigenisation of both in-house and outsourced parts and components, the latter being taken care of by the company's purchase department.



One good thing about the Jazz is that, except for the battery wherein lead has to be used due to some technological issues, all its components are lead-free. Although Indian law does not stipulate that all the components should be free from such hazardous elements, it is in keeping with Honda's philosophy and, as such, all the suppliers also have to sign an undertaking that their components do not contain such hazardous elements.

Source: Car India