One of the biggest car manufacturers in the world is Toyota, superseded only by General Motors. Toyota has high hopes of becoming the largest car maker in the world by 2010, which, considering it is one of the most profitable companies in the world, is a reasonable aim.
Toyota made 9.5 million cars in 2007 alone, with success being pinned to the fact that cars are produced in the country where they are sold. This has led to a global enterprise, with Toyota’s production spanning six continents, with a work force of quarter of a million people, and selling within 160 different markets across the globe.
Toyota history
Toyota was actually the result of the Toyota Spinning and Weaving Company, set up by Sakichi Toyoda in 1918. He invented the first automatic loom, for which he sold the patent and gave the money to his son. His son, Kiichiro, invested it into automotive technology and in 1936 the Toyota AA hit the market, with the 100,000th vehicle being built 11 years later. Toyota cars came to Europe in 1962, with production surpassing the one million mark. Fast forward a couple of decades to 1986, and 50 million Toyotas had been produced. A few years later, Toyota set up manufacturing in Britain with an engine manufacturing plant in Wales and a factory in Derbyshire where cars are produced.
Toyota Facts
Type: Public (Xetra: NSU)
Founded: 1937
Founder: Kiichiro Toyoda
Headquarters: Toyota, Aichi, Nagoya and Tokyo, Japan
Key People: Kiichiro Toyoda (Founder), Fujio Cho (Chairman and Representative Director)
Industry: Automotive
Products: Vehicles
Subsidiaries: 522 companies
Toyota Featured Models
TOYOTA CELICA – launched in 1970 and discontinued in 2005, this means “heavenly” and is the name given to a series of popular coup?s.
TOYOTA COROLLA – put on the market in 1966, the tenth generation of this car was launched in 2006. At least 30 million Corollas have been sold, but it hasn’t been sold in the UK since February 2007 when the Auris took its place.
TOYOTA HILUX – first reaching the market in 1969 to replace the Stout, this Toyota model is a compact pick-up truck.
TOYOTA LANDCRUISER – this first appeared in 1954, and has since reached its ninth generation. A four-wheel drive, it is renowned for getting close to the off-road capabilities of the Range Rover.
TOYOTA MR2 – a two-seater sports car with mid-engine and rear-wheel drive, made from 1984 to 2007.
TOYOTA RAV4 –first manufactured in 1994, now in its third generation, this is a compact SUV.
TOYOTA SUPRA – made between 1979 and 2002, this is a full-sized sports car, modelled on the Toyota Celica, but with more powerful engines.
TOYOTA YARIS – now in its second generation, this is a small hatchback city car that first came on the market in 1999.
Toyota – did you know?
Approximately 70 per cent of Toyota cars produced in the UK are exported to Europe, and 15 per cent to another 70 countries worldwide.
The surname of the founder was actually Toyoda but it got changed to Toyota as, according to Japanese superstition, this is luckier.
Shoichiro Toyoda – a member of the founding family – was inducted into the USA’s Automotive Hall of Fame in 2007.
In 2001, the first Toyota to be awarded European Car of the Year was the Yaris, followed by the Prius in 2005.
Toyota has a subsidiary called Lexus, which owns Daihatsu as well, and a US one called Scion which aims its cars at young drivers.
Toyota – where to buy?
Auto Trader is a UK base website where you will find a wide range of new and used Toyota models, and more information about this car.
Ben T Wilson writes about Toyota
When considering buying used trailers, used tractors, used cars or anything second-hand, there some basic considerations that will always apply. Whilst there will always be a small element of risk in a second-hand purchase, this can be minimised by doing as much research as possible in advance. It is also worth bearing in mind that buying a new trailer will not always represent good value, due to the rapid depreciation in value of some products.
So where to start when looking for a used trailer? Your primary concern must be to refine your understanding of exactly what you need your trailer for, so you can get the best matched trailer for your purpose. There are a lot of options on the market, both new and second-hand, so it will really help to narrow down the choices by closely considering the trailer specifications that you need.
Taking a little time to understand trailer design will help enable you to decide what size of trailer you need. The smallest trailers have just a single axle, which may be all you need if your loads are light and you need to maximise manoeuvrability. Double axle trailers generally have a higher load capacity than single axle ones and are considered to ride more smoothly. In addition, the extra wheels will improve stability when the trailer is unhitched. For extremely large loads there are triple axle trailers available. These heavy-duty trailers can carry very heavy weights, but will be more awkward to manoeuvre and have more complex braking systems.
Clearly, the weight and size of what you need to transport are of primary importance in determining what size of trailer you need. Beyond that, other considerations will be determined by the capacity of your towing vehicle, the terrain it is to be used on, the nature of your load, whether there are security issues or not and the amount of money you have to spend.
The load carrying capacities of both trailer and towing vehicle ought to be listed in the user manuals of both vehicles. If for any reason you find this information doesn’t tally up with your calculations, then call the manufacturers to check the figures, as there may be a safety issue attached to the intended carrying capacity of either towing vehicle or trailer. If you are working on a farm, then it is likely that the trailer will need to be able to accommodate movement over rough terrain. The number of axles and their strength and condition will be an important consideration for trailers designed for off-road and rough terrain use.
As well as the size of your load, the nature of your load presents other considerations. If your load is valuable and the trailer will be stored outside, then you may want to consider the relative security of some kind of box trailer which has doors and can be locked. If you need to transport horses or other livestock, this presents other issues that you will need to check up on, both in terms of the nature of the trailer specifications and legal requirements for towing livestock. Legislation has recently changed, so check with the Driving Standards Agency for clarification.
Once you have narrowed down your considerations as much as possible, talk to a dealer to further clarify your needs. A good dealer will advise you on things you may have forgotten to include in your initial evaluations, and will offer you a range of trailers to choose from that will fit both your needs and your budget.
Robert Tate ? Region Sales Manager of Mascus UK. Mascus is an electronic marketplace for used trailers, used trucks and used tractors. Mascus makes trading in used machines and trucks quicker and more efficient by collecting all information about supply and demand in one place. Contacts Robert Tate Regional Sales Manager - UK Mob:+ 44 (0) 7970 230055 E mail: robert.tate@mascus.com
I never put much thought into spark plugs, until a gentleman said to me “why would you put a $10 spark plug in to a $10,000 engine?”
It stopped me instantly, and then made me realize that this little part that I had dismissed all my years of owning automobiles had a much more important function than I had given it credit for. Without it the engine doesn’t run, if it isn’t set correctly the engine either doesn’t run or misfires. Understanding the task a spark plug has in the engine was monumental for me, but even more important is that there are options. Even though this part is always referred to as a ‘spark plug’, there is another product that is far superior and is actually called a pulse plug.
Let’s start with the how a pulse plug helps improve your fuel economy by an average of 6% as compared to any brand new spark plug (I saw an increase of 4 mpg both on highway and city driving). This means they pay for themselves in less than a year and actually give a tidy return on your investment of up to 400% over the life of the plug (50,000 miles).
Next, if you are looking to increase your car’s horsepower, pulse plugs are the best bang for your buck compared to cold air intakes, headers, turbos or high-energy ignition systems. They are simply the lowest cost horsepower you can buy. Most experts claim that the cost to add 1 horsepower to a car in the aftermarket is somewhere between $100 and $500. On average pulse plugs will add 5 horsepower to most cars for only $150 (that’s only $30 per horsepower). If you are looking for better performance the best place to start the spark meets the fuel.
If you are replacing a worn spark plug, you already know that you will have to buy something to put back in the spark plug hole anyway, and today most people are paying between $10 and $15 just for one spark plug that will give them the same horsepower and fuel consumption their car has now. So although the initial cost of pulse plugs may be higher per plug, that is the price before you factor in the gas savings, the increased horsepower and the decrease in emissions over the life of the spark plug.
Finally, remember that electrical power is what ignites fuel and the more you have the better. I found out that typical spark plugs have only 50 watts of peak power, but pulse plugs have over 500 watts of peak power to make your engine more efficient and your car a lot more fun to drive. Most spark plugs need to be changed out every 30k – 40k miles; with a life of 50,000+ miles you will own your pulse plug for a long time (4 to 5 years!). Now it doesn’t make sense to me to put a $10 plug in my $10,000 engine when for as little as1 tank of gas I can put the best plug available in my car.
Enerpulse, Inc., a privately held company headquartered in Albuquerque, N.M., was founded in 1996. The company develops environmentally friendly ignition products through the application of pulsed power technology. For more information, visit www.pulstar.com.
