TOKYO (AP) — The new Toyota gas-electric Prius hybrid not only comes with more power, acceleration and driving range. It’s also more stylish, scrapping the rather stodgy angular body for a sleekly futuristic look.
Simon Humphries, senior general manager of Global Toyota design who unveiled the car in Tokyo on Wednesday, stressed that the company was still defying the skeptics who keep asking how much longer the Japanese automaker will stick with hybrids in a rapidly electrifying industry.
“Simply because the Prius is an eco-car within everyone’s reach. In order to achieve carbon neutrality, everyone in the world must participate. We need ecological solutions within reach of the many. And it needs to start today, not tomorrow,” he told reporters.
The fifth-generation Prius hybrid models will go on sale this winter first in Japan then the U.S. A plug-in version will hit the market next year, according to Toyota Motor Corp. Prices were not announced.
The automaker swapped an older nickel-metal-hydride battery for a smaller, lighter lithium-ion battery. The result will be almost double the horsepower, quicker acceleration and 50% longer range.
The Prius, which first went on sale in 1997, switches back and forth between a gasoline engine and electric motor to deliver a cleaner drive than the models with regular combustion engines.
Electric cars are zero-emissions but need recharging. Some consumers are worried about running out of juice on the roads. A hybrid always has the gas engine as backup.
Toyota has cumulatively sold more than 20.3 million hybrid vehicles, including Prius cars, around the world so far. The Prius, which means “pioneer” or “first” in Latin, has defined Toyota as a brand as much as its Lexus luxury models.
Still, Toyota has sometimes been criticized by environmentalists as dragging its feet on electrification, although some analysts say that’s a bit unfair given that other automakers also have few electric cars in its lineup, and many others have developed various hybrid models.
“The sale of more hybrid vehicles, including the Prius, drags us further into the climate crisis,” said Daniel Read of Greenpeace East Asia, based in Tokyo.
Read said electric vehicles and fuel-cell models were better solutions against climate change than hybrids.
Humphries said the new Prius was styled to be more stable, with a lower center of gravity, with bigger tires, curvaceous lines for its overall design and a fancy interior.
He said it was more an expression of love than a commodity. Making hybrid cabs or offering them to to other manufacturers could also be steps to spread the technology, he added, both of which Toyota decided against.
“We really believed the next step for Prius was to become a ‘car without compromises’ in order to increase its appeal to the customer,” said Humphries, standing before a screen splashed with the words: “We chose love.”
The Prius, with its revamped styling and efficiency, will compete better not only with other hybrid models but also with the available generation of fully electric vehicles, said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst for S&P Global Mobility.
The Prius models have always served as a kind of bridge to a time when there are more charging stations for EVs, said Brinley, who believes the new Prius stacks up better against hybrids and plug-ins from Hyundai, Kia, Ford and Jeep.
By adding 50% to the battery range, which translates to around 38 miles (61 kilometers), it can go far enough to cover the average U.S. driver’s commute and errands around town. The hybrid powertrain allows for road trips without worrying about a charging network that’s not yet complete, Brinley said.
“That really will make for more confident driving,” she said.
___
Krisher reported from Detroit.
___
Krisher is on Twitter https://twitter.com/tkrisher
Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
TOKYO (AP) — The new Toyota gas-electric Prius hybrid not only comes with more power, acceleration and driving range. It’s also more stylish, scrapping the rather stodgy angular body for a sleekly futuristic look.
Simon Humphries, senior general manager of Global Toyota design who unveiled the car in Tokyo on Wednesday, stressed that the company was still defying the skeptics who keep asking how much longer the Japanese automaker will stick with hybrids in a rapidly electrifying industry.
“Simply because the Prius is an eco-car within everyone’s reach. In order to achieve carbon neutrality, everyone in the world must participate. We need ecological solutions within reach of the many. And it needs to start today, not tomorrow,” he told reporters.
The fifth-generation Prius hybrid models will go on sale this winter first in Japan then the U.S. A plug-in version will hit the market next year, according to Toyota Motor Corp. Prices were not announced.
The automaker swapped an older nickel-metal-hydride battery for a smaller, lighter lithium-ion battery. The result will be almost double the horsepower, quicker acceleration and 50% longer range.
The Prius, which first went on sale in 1997, switches back and forth between a gasoline engine and electric motor to deliver a cleaner drive than the models with regular combustion engines.
Electric cars are zero-emissions but need recharging. Some consumers are worried about running out of juice on the roads. A hybrid always has the gas engine as backup.
Toyota has cumulatively sold more than 20.3 million hybrid vehicles, including Prius cars, around the world so far. The Prius, which means “pioneer” or “first” in Latin, has defined Toyota as a brand as much as its Lexus luxury models.
Still, Toyota has sometimes been criticized by environmentalists as dragging its feet on electrification, although some analysts say that’s a bit unfair given that other automakers also have few electric cars in its lineup, and many others have developed various hybrid models.
“The sale of more hybrid vehicles, including the Prius, drags us further into the climate crisis,” said Daniel Read of Greenpeace East Asia, based in Tokyo.
Read said electric vehicles and fuel-cell models were better solutions against climate change than hybrids.
Humphries said the new Prius was styled to be more stable, with a lower center of gravity, with bigger tires, curvaceous lines for its overall design and a fancy interior.
He said it was more an expression of love than a commodity. Making hybrid cabs or offering them to to other manufacturers could also be steps to spread the technology, he added, both of which Toyota decided against.
“We really believed the next step for Prius was to become a ‘car without compromises’ in order to increase its appeal to the customer,” said Humphries, standing before a screen splashed with the words: “We chose love.”
The Prius, with its revamped styling and efficiency, will compete better not only with other hybrid models but also with the available generation of fully electric vehicles, said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst for S&P Global Mobility.
The Prius models have always served as a kind of bridge to a time when there are more charging stations for EVs, said Brinley, who believes the new Prius stacks up better against hybrids and plug-ins from Hyundai, Kia, Ford and Jeep.
By adding 50% to the battery range, which translates to around 38 miles (61 kilometers), it can go far enough to cover the average U.S. driver’s commute and errands around town. The hybrid powertrain allows for road trips without worrying about a charging network that’s not yet complete, Brinley said.
“That really will make for more confident driving,” she said.
___
Krisher reported from Detroit.
___
Krisher is on Twitter https://twitter.com/tkrisher
Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
The first images and bits of information about the 2023 Toyota Prius are here.
This is the Japan-spec model, which offers a reworked hybrid drivetrain with 193 hp for the standard hybrid and 220 hp for the plug-in hybrid.
Details about the U.S.-spec 2023 Prius are coming tomorrow, so stay tuned.
Toyota has taken the cover off the new 2023 Prius, as the first images and details about the Japan-spec car have arrived. While it’s instantly recognizable as a Prius thanks to its teardrop shape, the lower stance, far sleeker side profile, and interesting-looking headlights and taillights take it to an entirely new realm in terms of design.
The new fifth-gen Prius is also significantly more powerful than before, with Toyota claiming that the reworked hybrid system produces 193 hp in standard form and 220 hp in the plug-in-hybrid model. A 2.0-liter inline-four gasoline engine replaces the old 1.8-liter unit. The U.S. version may have slightly different specs, but it’s clear that there will be lots more grunt on offer than the current model, which has a combined output of just 121 hp.
Toyota
The single image of the interior shows a large horizontally oriented touchscreen, a digital gauge cluster on a tablet-style screen behind the steering wheel, and a row of buttons on the dash for the climate controls. The chunky steering wheel is similar to what’s in the bZ4X EV, and the shifter on the center console appears similar to the joystick-style unit we’re familiar with from the old Prius.
Toyota will be releasing more details on the U.S.-spec Prius soon, so check back here in the evening of November 16 to learn all about this new generation of the hybrid hatchback.
This content is imported from OpenWeb. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
If you’re planning to sell electric vehicles in North America, chances are you’re trying to work out how to build EVs here, too. The Inflation Reduction Act has made it a worthwhile investment for automakers. Not Subaru, though — Subaru remains unconvinced, for the moment.
We know this from comments made by CEO Tomomi Nakamura during the company’s latest quarterly earnings report, which occurred on Wednesday. During the call, Nakamura lamented the surging inflation that’s pushing wages upwards in parts of the country, which have apparently made running a second U.S plant financially infeasible. Subaru already operates one such facility in Lafayette, Indiana, where the Impreza, Legacy, Outback and Ascent are made.
However, things took an odd turn when Nakamura compared the wages his company pays hourly plant workers with those of another local Indiana business. Courtesy of Automotive News:
“In Indiana, part-time workers at McDonald’s earn $20 to $25 per hour, which is in competition with what temporary workers make at our plant,” Nakamura said. “If we were to build a new plant, it would be very difficult to hire new people for that. Labor costs are rising now. It is quite challenging for us to secure workers for our Indiana plant, including those of suppliers.”
I have never conducted business in the Hoosier state, so it’s quite possible Nakamura knows something I don’t. But when I read the quote above, the $20-to-$25 estimate struck me as a tad high. There are five McDonald’s franchises in the Lafayette area, as far as I could tell via Google Maps. At the time of writing, the restaurant chain’s job site lists a range of staff and managerial positions open between them. The ones that do mention hourly rates all list between $12- and $15-per-hour, “plus cash incentives.” Meanwhile, Subaru’s plant around the corner appears to be paying $17-per-hour at the entry-level end for a “Laborer,” about $19 for a “Production Associate,” and the rates go up from there.
In other words, it doesn’t seem like the Golden Arches are poaching a great many would-be Ascent assembly line workers. But even if they were, there are plenty of reasons for Subaru to pay people a livable wage to build EVs in the U.S. Of course, there are the boring reasons nobody likes to talk about, but it’s also just a prudent business move for Subaru.
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Sure, the company can count on its classic conservatism to get it through the next few years. It’s worked wonders thus far. By March — the end of its current financial year — the brand estimates its operating profit will cross $2 billion. In its second quarter alone, Subaru sold three percent more cars in the U.S. than over the same period in 2021. It was the only region outside Japan where sales volume increased.
That’s not going to last forever, though. Electrified models will consume ever-larger slices of the pie as the decade marches on. In the long run, certain cities and states will phase out internal-combustion car sales. Subaru expects to have a plant in Japan churning out electric cars by 2027, so it can obviously see the writing on the wall.
Lest Subaru fall behind and have to offer EVs without the discounts many of its competitors will enjoy, it might want to psych itself into investing on this side of the Pacific too, before it’s too late. Even Toyota and Honda, criticized for being laggards in their own right, have seemingly come to understand as much. If that means outspending the McDonald’s on the other side of Route 52, so be it.
TOKYO, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) on Tuesday posted a worse-than-expected 25% drop in quarterly profit and cut its annual output target, as the Japanese firm battles surging material costs and a persistent semiconductor shortage.
The world’s biggest automaker by sales also warned that it remained difficult to predict the future after posting its fourth consecutive quarterly profit decline, underlining the strength of business headwinds it faces.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Toyota fared better than most car makers in managing supply chains, but it fell victim to the prolonged chip shortage this year, cutting monthly production targets repeatedly.
“We’re out of the worst phase, but … it’s not necessarily a situation where we’re fully supplied,” said Kazunari Kumakura, Toyota’s purchasing group chief. “I don’t know when the chip shortage will be resolved.”
Operating profit for the three months ended September fell to 562.7 billion yen ($3.79 billion), well short of an average estimate of 772.2 billion yen in a poll of 12 analysts by Refinitiv. Toyota sales reported a 749.9 billion yen profit a year earlier, and 578.6 billion yen in profit in the first quarter.
Kumakura said the global auto chip shortage continues, as chipmakers have prioritised supplies for electronics goods such as smartphones and computers, while natural disasters, COVID lockdowns and factory disruption have slowed a recovery in auto chip supplies.
He also said the supply of older-type semiconductors, that attract little capital investment currently, would remain tight.
Amid the gloom, shares in Toyota closed down 1.9%, versus a 0.3% rise in the Nikkei (.N225) average.
‘VERY UNIMPRESSIVE’
Some analysts were underwhelmed by the performance, saying other positive factors beyond the chip shortage should have provided a boost.
“The yen is weaker in the second quarter, the volume in the second quarter is much higher than in the first quarter, and the (COVID) lockdown in China does not affect (the volume in the second quarter),” said Koji Endo, an analyst at SBI Securities.
“Considering these points … the absolute amount of profit in the second quarter has got to be higher than that of the first quarter. It is very unimpressive.”
Production rebounded by 30% in the quarter, but the company warned last week shortages of semiconductors and other components would continue to constrain output in coming months.
Toyota said it now expects to produce 9.2 million vehicles this fiscal year, down from the previously forecast 9.7 million but still ahead of last financial year’s production of about 8.6 million units.
Reuters reported last month Toyota had told several suppliers it was setting a global target for the current business year to 9.5 million vehicles and signalled that forecast could be lowered, depending on the supply of electromagnetic steel sheets.
MUTED YEN IMPACT
The yen has plunged around 30% this year against the U.S. dollar, but the benefit of the cheap yen – making sales overseas worth more – has been offset by soaring input costs.
The weak yen boosted profit by 565 billion yen in the first half of this financial year, but the gain was more than wiped out by 765 billion yen increase in material costs, with the cheap local currency further inflating import costs, Toyota said.
Toyota retained its conservative profit outlook, sticking to its full-year operating forecast of 2.4 trillion yen for the fiscal year through March 31 – well below analysts’ average forecast of 3.0 trillion yen.
By comparison, South Korea’s Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) raised its revenue and profit margin guidance last month to reflect a foreign exchange lift.
Toyota, once a darling of environmentalists for its hybrid gasoline-electric models, is also under scrutiny from green investors and activists over its slow push into fully electric vehicles (EV).
Just a year into its $38 billion EV plan, Toyota is already considering rebooting it to better compete in a market growing beyond its projections, Reuters reported last month.
In a reputational hit, Toyota had to recall earlier this year its first mass-produced all-electric vehicle after just two months on the market due to safety concerns, and suspend production. It restarted taking leasing orders last month for domestic market.
Toyota reiterated on Tuesday that battery-powered EVs are a powerful weapon for decarbonisation, but that there are various other options to achieve the goal.
($1 = 148.3100 yen)
Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Toyota says it still isn’t going to really boost production of its first mass-market electric vehicle for a few more years, Faraday Future is slashing salaries because the start-up EV maker is running out of cash, and Mercedes-Benz is the latest manufacturer to quit the Russian market. All that and more in The Morning Shift for Wednesday, October 26, 2022.
1st Gear: Toyota Needs Time to Boost bZ4x Production
Toyota is reportedly considering a huge jump in bZ4X production, but not before 2025. It’s said to be part of a broader strategy rethink from the Japanese company.
The automaker is mulling over the decision to increase production of its first mass-market EV by either six or 12 times its current monthly output. Right now that stands at about 1,000 cars per month. But, this isn’t happening overnight. The move would happen in 2025 if components (including semiconductors) can be secured in time. From Reuters:
The car is produced at Toyota Motor Corp’s Motomachi plant near its headquarters on a shared assembly line with gasoline cars and hybrids. Both the current and potential production numbers include those of the Subaru Corp Solterra, which is made on the same platform.
The increase would see Toyota add production at another plant near its headquarters, the Takaoka factory, said the three people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not public.
[…]
The potential ramp-up in production comes as the automaker has faced criticism for not moving faster to embrace all-electric cars and pushing hybrid technology instead. It has launched a review of its EV strategy, Reuters reported this week.
As part of that review – which could result in a more aggressive roadmap for future electric vehicles based on technologies that promise to lower cost and improve performance – it has also suspended development work on some of the 30 new EV models it announced last year and planned to launch by 2030, Reuters reported.
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Toyota recently restarted bZ4X production after a couple of recalls hampered it. At the peak of the planned production increase, Toyota would be producing over 190,000 EVs per years.
2nd Gear: Faraday’s Bleak Future
Faraday Future is reportedly slashing employee salaries by 25 percent starting next month. The move is being done in an effort to save some cash (since it is nearly out) while the company looks for new capital in order to finally launch the FF91.
In an email sent to employees last week, Faraday said the salary cuts expect to last from November 1st through the end of the year. Earlier this month, the company also laid off a few dozen employees. From Bloomberg:
Faraday has seen its cash reserves dwindle rapidly. It recently reported having $39 million in cash as of Sept. 21, down from around $47 million at the end of August.
The company said in the emailed memo, which was viewed by Bloomberg News, that employees will be granted restricted stock units, or RSUs, equivalent to the amount being cut from their salary and which will vest in December. Faraday also offered employees the option of taking a larger salary cut in exchange for more valuable RSUs, though it noted that any RSUs granted will be forfeited if the employee is terminated.
Faraday delayed the launch of its first vehicle until at least 2023. Things are not looking too hot for the Los Angeles-based company right now, though they never really have been.
3rd Gear: Mercedes-Benz Leaves Russia
Add Mercedes-Benz to a growing list of automakers who are pulling out of the Russian market. The company is reportedly selling shares in its industrial and financial service subsidiaries to a Russian investor: car dealer chain Avtodom. From Reuters:
Mercedes Chief Financial Officer Harald Wilhelm, while presenting third-quarter results, said the transaction was not expected to give rise to any further significant effects when it comes to the group’s profitability and financial position beyond those reported in previous quarters.
“Final completion of the transaction is subject to the authority’s approval and the implementation of contractually agreed conditions,” he added.
[…]
“The main priorities in agreeing to the terms of the transaction were to maximize the fulfillment of obligations to clients from Russia both in terms of after-sales services and financial services, as well as preserving jobs of employees at the Russian divisions of the company,” Natalia Koroleva, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Russia, said in a statement.
Mercedes suspended manufacturing in Russia in early March.
Mercedes now joins Volkswagen, Toyota, Nissan and Renault in leaving the Russian market. Other companies like Mazda and Kia are also considering moves out of the country.
4th Gear: $1 Billion for Busses
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it is allocating nearly $1 billion for about 400 school districts around the country to buy zero or low-emission school busses.
The funding will lead to the purchase of 2,463 buses. Over 95 percent of those will be electric, and a “very small number” will be powered by compressed natural gas. Another 100 will be propane-fueled buses. From The Detroit News:
School districts to receive funding were chosen through a lottery system and 99% of the projects are in districts serving low-income, rural or Indigenous students. EPA initially planned to allocate $500 million in the first round of funding, but the agency expanded it to nearly $1 billion after receiving “overwhelming demand” from districts.
Millions of children ride the bus to and from school every day, said EPA Administrator Michael Regan. “It’s a quintessential part of being a kid in America.”
“But we all know that traditional vehicles that rely on internal combustion engines emit toxic pollutants in the air,” he added. Thanks to this funding, “we are forever transforming school bus fleets across the United States.”
Right now in the U.S., over 90 percent of all school buses run on diesel. The outlet reports that the $1 billion allocation is part of a more than $5 billion plan for zero and low-emission school buses though the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. A further $1 billion will be available next year.
School districts that applied and received funding will put in purchase orders with manufacturers, which will be paid directly by EPA, [Karl] Simon [director of the transportation and climate division of the EPA] said. That must be finished by April.
5th Gear: Hyundai’s EV Expansion Starts in Georgia
Hyundai broke ground Tuesday on its $5.54 billion electric vehicle and battery manufacturing project that will build vehicles for Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
The factory — called the Metaplant — is set to build up to six different models and has the capacity to produce as many as 500,000 vehicles per year on its 2,800-acres of land located about 30 miles northwest of Savannah, Georgia. From Automotive News:
“We are making the current investment to get to 300,000 vehicles in phase one, and then 500,000,” Munoz said at a media roundtable after the groundbreaking ceremony.
[…]
Munoz did not say which models the Metaplant will produce, but a new three-row Hyundai EV crossover called the Ioniq 7 is expected to be the first. Munoz also said Hyundai is still examining what models it will export from the new plant.
The project also will see the construction of an adjacent battery plant that will be built through a joint venture with a battery supplier that Hyundai has not identified yet.
A new supply chain also will be established to support the EV factory, Munoz said.
Because of this move, Hyundai should be back in a position to for its buyers to get federal EV tax credits under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Right now, Hyundai/Kia/Genesis EVs aren’t eligible for the credit because they are imported from Korea, and that doesn’t jive with the criteria laid out in the IRA.
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TOKYO, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp said it would restart production of its first electric vehicle, the bZ4X, on Thursday after fixing potential safety problems that had halted sales of the new battery-powered model for more than three months.
Japan’s largest automaker, a laggard in the EV market, recalled 2,700 bZ4Xs globally in June after discovering that there was a risk the car’s wheels could come loose.
Subaru Corp (7270.T), a fifth owned by Toyota, also had to recall units of the related Solterra model that it jointly developed with Toyota.
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A recall notice submitted to Japan’s transport ministry by Toyota in June said that sharp turns and sudden braking could cause a hub bolt to loosen, raising the risk of a wheel coming off the vehicle.
The automaker on Thursday said in a filing to the ministry that it would make sure hub bolts were replaced and properly tightened in new versions of the bZ4X.
In addition, Toyota said it had identified and fixed a potential problem with airbags in the car. Some airbags had been improperly installed at the factory and were at risk to fail or cause injury because of the placement of a strap inside the airbag assembly.
Toyota had not previously disclosed that problem.
2023 Toyota bZ4X all-electric SUV is displayed during the 2021 LA Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S. November, 17, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Blake
Masahiko Maeda, Toyota’s chief technology officer, told a briefing the automaker only became aware of the airbag issue in the last month or two.
“We apologise again for the concern, anxiety, and inconvenience we have caused to our customers, our dealers and our stakeholders,” Maeda said.
He declined to comment on how much the recall had cost.
Toyota has faced criticism from environmental groups and investors who want the company to expand faster into battery EVs. Toyota has pushed back, saying it needs to offer car choices to suit different markets and customers.
Hybrids such as the Prius remain far more popular in Toyota’s home market. Pure battery-electric vehicles accounted for just 1% of the passenger cars sold in Japan last year, according to industry data.
The bZ4X is available for lease only in Japan – a service which will resume on Oct. 26, Maeda said. He did not specify when U.S. sales would recommence.
Only 232 units of crossover, pitched as Toyota’s answer to Tesla’s (TSLA.O) Model Y and the Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) ID.4, have been sold this year in the United States.
Last year, the Japanese automaker committed about $30 billion to develop battery electric vehicles. It expects the company’s annual sales of such cars to reach only 3.5 million vehicles by the end of the decade, about one-third of current annual sales of its gasoline-powered cars.
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Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama and Maki Shiraki; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Edwina Gibbs
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Everyone loves to complain that modern cars have lost their character. They’re too competent, too isolated, too good. The cars of old were better because they were worse, these people say; automakers should start making cars worse to improve them. But what would it look like if a manufacturer actually listened to that advice? If a company known for tech and luxury decided to bank on character instead?
It might look like this: the Audi RS5 Competition. Audi asked its buyers what the base RS5 lacked, and apparently one word kept coming back: emotion. So the company went back to its R&D labs, retuned the car’s electronics, and swapped out dead weight for new, trick suspension. But can a suite of late-stage upgrades really give a car character, or is it just a ruse to eke another $16,100 out of Audi buyers?
Full disclosure: Audi shipped me off to the southern coast of Spain to drive the RS5 Competition, where I got to dip my hands in the Mediterranean for the first time (and fill my shoes with sand in the process). The company paid for lodging, transport, and meals, and had travel agents on hand to help sort out my return trip nightmare. Without them I may still be in Amsterdam, sleeping in an airport chair.
2023 Audi RS5 Competition: What’s New
Photo: Steve DaSilva
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The RS5 itself isn’t new. Jalops of olde have driven the car before, in both its coupe and four-door fastback body styles, and generally found it to be Good. Most of what those past writers enjoyed remains in this version: the 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 with its 444 horsepower and 443 lb-ft of torque, the eight-speed automatic transmission, the Quattro all-wheel drive with an electronic rear differential. This isn’t a brand-new car – the Competition is an option package, not an overhaul.
So what does that option package get you? There are plenty of new little trim pieces and accents, splashes of red and carbon fiber, but that’s not really what you’re here for. The enormous carbon-ceramic brakes up front hint at what you really want here, but even they aren’t new– just a preexisting option, repackaged with the new Competition spec.
It’s not all shared parts. The Competition package gets a unique three-way adjustable coil-over suspension as well as new weight-saving wheels and tires. The engine, transmission, rear differential, and traction and stability control have all been re-tuned – not for more power, but for better response and handling.
2023 Audi RS5 Competition: Specs
Photo: Steve DaSilva
The Competition tune raises the RS5’s top speed from 174 mph to 180, and the whole package shaves a tenth off the car’s manufacturer-estimated 0-60 time – down to 3.6 seconds for the coupe, 3.7 for the Sportback. It also shaves an incredible, mind-altering 35 pounds from the curb weight, which without the Comp pack comes in at 3,737 lb for the coupe, 3,825 for the Sportback. That’s almost a full one percent of the coupe’s heft!
Half of that weight reduction is unsprung, coming from the lightweight wheels wrapped in super grippy Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires, cutting 4.4 lbs per corner. Audi claims the 60-treadwear rubber, combined with ABS re-tuned for the increased grip, helps bring the car to a stop “up to” 6.5 feet sooner than a base RS5 – presumably one without the already-optional carbon ceramic brakes that the Competition includes.
Photo: Steve DaSilva
The RS5 Competition also gets a revised steering rack, with a fixed 13.1:1 ratio. The car now sits just under half an inch lower than the standard version, with a second “recommended” suspension setting that lowers the car a further 0.4 inches for track use. Of course, you’ll need the included wrench set and a lift (or a good jack and jackstands) to achieve that recommended ride height.
Here’s what makes the Competition suspension so unique. A “three-way adjustable coil-over” can be tuned individually for low-speed compression (weight shifting from one side of the car to the other in a corner), high-speed compression (hitting a bump in the road) and rebound (the dampers extending to their neutral point after a compression event). In most cars, these parameters are set at the factory, never to be changed again. In fancier models, these damping rates will adjust together – usually via electronic adjustment mechanisms within the shock, though more advanced systems use dark magicks to change the viscosity of the damping fluid itself. Few factory suspension setups allow all three to be changed independently.
Photo: Steve DaSilva
Three-way coils are usually top-tier aftermarket parts, found on race cars built for track times or show cars built to look like race cars. But in Audi’s implementation, things are a little off. Like most coilovers, the RS5 Competition setup is adjustable for preload (the tension on the spring with no weight on the suspension) and ride height. Unlike most coilovers, though, these can’t be changed independently – the set of collars that controls ride height also manages preload, so a lower ride height can only be had with stiffer dampening. That’s not necessarilya problem — owners who want a lower center of gravity likely want a stiffer ride too — but it means there’s a more limited scope of possible suspension settings to test out. Remember this.
Similarly, most three-way adjustable coilovers feature remote reservoirs – extra damping fluid held in a separate chamber, linked to the damper by a hose. This extra fluid allows for better heat dissipation, keeping the dampers at their ideal operating temperature throughout a grueling track stint. Audi’s engineers considered using remote reservoirs on the Competition suspension, but discovered that the chassis didn’t leave enough room. The company also considered adding electronic damper adjustment, like what’s found on many other performance Audi models, but scrapped the idea due to weight – remember, that crucial 35-pound savings.
The reasonable response to these two nitpicks, of course, is that independent preload adjustment and remote reservoirs would be overkill on a street car. But then, that same argument applies to three-way adjustable coil-overs as a whole. The company says it encourages experimentation with damper settings, but supplies two recommended presets for those not looking to tinker. Going even further, Audi expects buyers to feel more of a difference in the car simply by optioning those coil-overs, even if they never mess with them. At some point, the trick suspension begins to feel more like a method of padding the Competition-pack MSRP than an effort at quicker lap times.
2023 Audi RS5 Competition: How Does It Look?
Photo: Steve DaSilva
Like an Audi, and like an RS5. Audi has one of the most cohesive design languages in the automotive world right now – every model is instantly recognizable as a sibling of the rest. I’m a fan of the approach, where every car shares the same face and gets only incremental changes each year, for two reasons: first, it brings consistency to the brand, letting people know that this car is first and foremost an Audi. Second, it lets the company pour its design resources into creating one truly beautiful, sleek, well-proportioned design – rather than 30 separate mediocre faces.
But the Competition pack doesn’t do much for the appearance of the RS5. There’s no separate badging like you’ll find on BMW’s most performance-oriented models, making the Audi the subtler offering. When you’re shopping for a used Comp-pack Audi in eight years, look out for the matte carbon mirror caps and blacked-out tailpipes – as well as those split-five spoke wheels. Beyond those, you’ll have no exterior indication of a Competition model.
My tester was a gorgeousdeep purple, masquerading as black in all but the brightest light. It’s pretty much impossible to properly capture on a camera, the car preferring to show up as some sort of Anish Kapoor void, but it’s worth seeing in person. Imagine Nissan’s Midnight Purple, but for the kind of people who have accountants rather than Googling “file taxes free” every year.
2023 Audi RS5 Competition: How Does It Drive?
Photo: Steve DaSilva
This is it. The big one, the Competition pack’s raison d’être. Does the driving experience give this Competition model more character, more soul? Can a trick suspension and re-tuned electronics turn the highway-gobbling RS5 into something totally unique, something you can’t believe until you drive it?
Not really, no.
Photo: Steve DaSilva
With the suspension in Audi’s recommended Street setting, the car feels unpleasantly stiff. It’s not the nausea-inducing severity of a Ford Focus RS, but it certainly echoes that other turbocharged all-wheel-drive four-door. I found myself wishing I could dial the suspension back, press a button on the dash and feel the car soften up beneath me on the highway. Alas, the Competition option removes any such button.
That stiffness doesn’t come with much steering feel. The car is communicative enough through a hard corner, but it only starts talking when pushed far beyond what’s safe on the streets. The steering is pleasantly heavy through a corner, but oddly light on center.
Power is ample; anyone who says 444 hp isn’t enough is either a professional competition driver or compensating for something that no car can fix. But the turbo six delivers its grunt so dutifully, so unremarkably, that the character Audi seeks is nowhere to be found. If the perfect is the enemy of the good, this engine may truly be perfect – and suffering for it.
The transmission is worse, and not in a good way. The shifts are snappy, putting any “slush box” worries to rest, but there’s a considerable delay between pulling the paddle-shifter and getting your desired gear. In hard driving, the transmission showed a few frustrating quirks, occasionally ignoring a downshift command. If that’s a form of overzealous over-rev protection, it’s only doing half the job: On corner exit at the top of the tach, the transmission would often hang just a touch longer than usual after you hit the upshift paddle – like punishment for not shifting when the car thought you shouldhave.
The RS5’s carbon ceramic brakes are incredibly powerful, with the kind of initial bite that teaches passengers not to reach for a drink while approaching a red light. But, much like Andrew Collins found when driving the RS5 back in 2019, that bite can be inconsistent in performance situations. Even massive carbon ceramic brakes can’t hide a luxury car’s curb weight.
2023 Audi RS5 Competition: How’s the Interior?
Photo: Steve DaSilva
Audi knows better than most how to lay out a great interior. Everything is where you expect it to be, and nearly everything functions as you want. Sure, the full-width vent in front of the passenger may look a bit cheaper than the benchmark for that style — the Honda Civic, an entire car that costs a mere $6,550 more than the Competition option package alone — but that’s the only hiccup in an otherwise gorgeous cabin.
The touchpoints, too, are fantastic. The Competition steering wheel is a near-perfect size and thickness for spirited driving, wrapped in Alcantara to feel extra special. The seats look sporty, but they still have massagers in them. The bolstering leaves a bit to be desired on track, though this may be more the result of my Sailor Moon proportions than any issue with the car.
2023 Audi RS5 Competition: How Does It Compare to the Competition?
Photo: Steve DaSilva
The Competition name fires directly at BMW’s top-tier M cars, though the rest of the RS5’s specs fall short. Its 444 horses are overshadowed by the base M3 and M4’s 473, let alone the extra 30 that BMW gives you with its own Competition badge. The M cars are also quicker to 60 mph when specced with all-wheel-drive, each taking only 3.4 seconds. Top speed, in top trim, is perfectly identical between both German competitors, though the Audi’s steering rack is far tighter than BMW’s 14.6:1 ratio.
But the BMWs, for all their extra power, cost considerably less, starting at just about the same MSRP as the Audi before adding its $16,100 Competition add-on. Sure, folks can argue about which car looks better, but that’s a matter of personal taste.
Mercedes doesn’t offer a direct sedan competitor in this segment, and the C43 AMG Coupe isn’t much of a competitor either. Despite the shared displacement and forced induction, the Mercedes takes a full four and a half seconds to hit 60 mph – likely due to its 60-horsepower deficit from the Audi. With a price far below either BMW or Audi, however, the C43 plays its own tune.
2023 Audi RS5 Competition: Final Thoughts
Plenty of manufacturers build cars that outshine their spec sheet. BMW does it by cramming horses under the hood. Honda does it with a thousand tiny, meticulous upgrades, each unnoticeable on its own but contributing to a transcendent whole. Toyota does it by spending the bulk of its money on the chassis and letting the aftermarket deal with the bolt-on parts. Each approach creates a car that’s unique, something that stands out of the crowd. Something with character.
It seems Audi, in developing the standard RS5, built a car that’s just too good. Everything the Competition shares with the standard car — the engine, interior, and Quattro drivetrain — is exemplary. The problem is, everything that changes with the Comp pack leaves you wanting it changed back. The company succeeded in adding emotion to the RS5. Unfortunately, that emotion is frustration.
Of course, Audi will sell every RS5 Competition it can build. In the luxury-performance market, exclusivity and uniqueness always sells. But I suspect most folks, even those who seek exhilaration behind the wheel, will be happier in a base RS5.
The president of Toyota Racing Development calls Kyle Busch’s playoff elimination due to an engine failure at Bristol, “the worst nightmare imaginable for me personally and for our team.
“We cost Kyle Busch a shot at his third championship,” David Wilson told NBC Sports on Tuesday.
Busch was eliminated in the opening round after suffering engine failures at Darlington and Bristol. It marks the first time in his career that Busch has failed to advance beyond the first round.
Wilson said changes have been made to all Toyota engines ahead of Sunday’s playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network). The engine changes will be implemented for the rest of the playoffs.
“We’re not giving up our performance potential,” Wilson told NBC Sports. “We feel like it’s conservative enough to get us kind of out of this danger zone.”
Busch’s elimination leaves Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell as Toyota’s only competitors racing for the drivers championship.
“Whether we’re so fortunate enough to possibly win a championship with either Christopher or Denny later this year, I’m still going to be haunted by what happened, not just in Bristol, but Darlington as well,” Wilson said. “Two engine failures across three weeks is unheard of. It’s unacceptable.”
The engine woes come after Toyota did not have a single engine failure in Cup last season.
Wilson said that Toyota has found the issue with its engines.
“We have some sort of an instability in our valve train and it seems to be triggered by us running into NASCAR’s mandated rev limiter, interestingly enough,” Wilson said.
At Darlington, Busch missed an upshift from fourth to fifth gear, contributing to the engine failure. “He buzzed the rev limiter hard,” Wilson said, “and a lap-and-a-half later, his engine let go. Now, just to be clear, our stuff should be durable enough. It should be tough enough to handle that.
“At Bristol, NASCAR miscalculated the gear ratio. It was too short. When Kyle, particularly when he was running that upper groove in fifth gear, he was hitting the rev limiter, almost every lap. The fact is that right now we just don’t have enough durability margin in our valve train. That’s on us.”
Wilson also noted there have been engine failures with each of the other manufacturers this season.
“It’s not the car per se, but it’s some of the components,” Wilson said. “It’s running a five-speed gearbox with closer gear ratios that require drivers to shift. Shifting puts more of a load across our engines. On top of that, NASCAR has lowered their mandated rev limiter from 9700, down to 9200 RPMs. We’re operating in a power band (where) the target is really to run about 8500 rpm.
“But because of the gear ratios, because of the five speed, we’re getting to the rev limiter much more often this year than we ever did in the past.”
“Arguably, I would venture to say, were we running the same package as last season, we would see none of this. We’ve just not experienced this. We’ve uncovered a weakness in our valve train.”
Wilson denied that Busch received weaker engines in the playoffs because Busch will leave Joe Gibbs Racing after this season for Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet.
“I’ll say that it is offensive as a professional and somebody who takes their responsibility as greatly as I do,” Wilson said of such conjecture about Busch’s engines. “And I’ll say for those fans who are actually ignorant enough to suggest that this is some sort of a mastermind conspiracy to rid ourselves of Kyle Busch early, I would simply say go back to trying to find the edge of the flat earth. It’s absurd.”
Wilson said he and Busch talked after Busch decided to sign with Richard Childress Racing and focused on the rest of this season.
“We both underscored our intent to have a mic drop moment in Phoenix, in he’s going to win his third championship and he’s going to take that championship with him,” Wilson said. “Obviously, for Toyota, losing Kyle in a run through a championship is a massive setback. Kyle Busch is money in the playoffs. … By losing him, we take a big hit. There’s zero upside. There’s zero upside. It’s just a crushing blow to our organization
“There’s nothing I can do. I’ve apologized to Kyle. I’ve apologized to (Joe) Gibbs. This is on us and hated that we let them down.”
As for the power steering issues at Bristol that a number of teams had, including Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing, Wilson said:
“This new car and all of the new systems that we’re dealing with, have relatively very few reps on them. This is the first time we’ve raced at Bristol, a very tight half-mile on concrete. In a relative sense, I’m assuming we’ve put more load into that steering rack, in that power steering system, than at any other place. It was just too much. We were all freaking out as this was happening, because I think the (power steering issues for Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace) all happened within 20 laps of each other. That’s just incredible.
“I know, at least two or three of those cars literally blew out the seals in the (steering) rack, which happened from too much pressure. So I don’t know what remediation opportunity there is from a team perspective.
“Even when it hasn’t resulted in a terminal issue, I know, almost every week, the drivers, to varying degrees and varying race tracks, have been unhappy with their steering.
“There’s no question that NASCAR and the teams are looking at (it). … We need to fix this moving forward.”
After facing the various challenges in the first round of the playoffs, Wilson said he concluded a team meeting Tuesday by telling the TRD employees that “the measure of this team isn’t defined by moments of comfort and success, it’s defined and how we respond in moments of stress and failure.”
Home / News / Utes, EVs star in NZ sales for August: a month of extremes
August was a month of extremes for the New Zealand new-vehicle market. The top three sellers were traditional Kiwi ute favourites Ford Ranger (934 registrations) and Toyota Hilux (897) – but followed by the pure-electric Tesla Model 3 (745).
It was also the biggest August for the new-vehicle market on record with 14,690 sales, which Motor Industry Association (MIA) chief executive attributes to “shipments arriving allowing back orders to be filled”. It’s 118 per cent up on August 2021, which was severely affected by a Covid-19 lockdown.
According to Crawford, light-commercial volume (which includes utes) is also almost back to pre-Clean Car Discount levels, despite the programme imposing substantial fees on buyers of higher-emitting vehicles.
August registrations also showed 2530 sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and 627 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), meaning EVs accounted for over 20 per cent of the total market – thanks partly to that huge push from the Tesla shipment, which also brought 581 Model Y SUVs (pictured above with Model 3). Newcomer BYD made a big impact with 448 units of the new Atto 3.
The top PHEVs were the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (198), Mitsubishi Outlander (191) and MG HS +EV (98).
Sales of petrol-hybrid (non plug-in) vehicles were 1626 for August, led by the Toyota RAV4 (342), Kia Niro (166) and Toyota Highlander (154).
Toyota retained market leadership for August with an 18 per cent share, followed by Mitsubishi (12 per cent) and Ford (8 per cent).
Year-to-date, the top three models are Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger and Mitsubishi Outlander.
TOP SELLING VEHICLES IN NZ YEAR TO DATE Toyota Hilux (6634) Ford Ranger (6408) Mitsubishi Outlander (6272) Mitsubishi Triton (4938) Toyota RAV4 (3964) Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (2442) Suzuki Swift (2385) Kia Sportage (2282) Tesla Model 3 (2049) MG ZS (1980)
