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Toyota is still the world’s largest car manufacturer

Car production in China is expanding, so last year this Asian giant became the world’s largest car exporter, taking over the crown from Japan, which held that position for years. But, in order to protect the pride of the Japanese automobile industry, Toyota was the world’s largest car manufacturer last year (11.2 million vehicles), for the fourth year in a row.

A better situation with the supply of semiconductors and increased demand resulted in higher sales of Toyota vehicles by 7.2 percent compared to 2022. As many as 1.1 million Toyota cars were sold in Europe, which is a remarkable growth of 9.1% compared to 2022. Toyota’s last sales record was achieved in 2019, when they sold 10.7 million vehicles.

When it comes to individual types of vehicles, Toyota sold 3.4 million hybrid vehicles in 2023, which is 31.4 percent more on an annual basis. Also, 104,018 fully electric vehicles were sold, which is not a great result if you consider that it is only about 1 percent of the total sales of their cars. Toyota has announced that it plans to increase sales of this type of vehicle to 1.5 million units per year by 2026.

Source: Bloomberg

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2024 BMW Z4 Pure Impulse

At the 2002 Paris Motor Show BMW introduced the sports model Z4 which was offered in two versions, roadster and coupe. It was produced until 2008, and now the Bavarian company presented a new special edition of this model, the BMW Z4 Pure Impulse.

The car is powered by a 3.0L inline six engine with 340 hp (254 kW) and 369 lb-ft (500 Nm) of torque, mated to a 6-speed manual transmission that sends power to all wheels. It will go from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.6 seconds, which is only 0.1 second slower than the models equipped with the 8-speed Steptronic automatic transmission.

The car comes in two body colors, Frozen Green Metallic (European market) and Sanremo Green Metallic (American market). It is equipped with the “Handschalter” package, revised adaptive M suspension, new front and rear springs, a specially strengthened set of anti-roll bars, as well as the Shadowline package with black details on the grille, emblems and mirror caps. The electronic mapping for the rear shock absorbers has also been retuned, as has the mapping for the variable sport steering. It is mounted on 19-inch front and 20-inch rear wheels.

Inside, the interior exudes a blend of sumptuous elegance and sporting flair. Vernasca leather trim in Cognac with black M piping is exclusive to this car.

The BMW Z4 Pure Impulse will go into production next month.

Source: BMW

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2024 BMW Z4 Pure Impulse
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VW ID.1

After VW announced at the end of last year that it was retiring its small electric city car, the VW E-Up!, chief technology officer Kai Grunitz announced that the German manufacturer is developing a new small electric model, the ID.1, which will be positioned below the electric model ID.2. It will be a good alternative for increasingly expensive larger electric cars.

The demand for electric cars is growing year by year, and manufacturers are trying in different ways to take over the growing number of undecided customers as well as those who have already decided on an EV. Of course, the price of the car plays the biggest role in the selection, and the most expensive part of the EV is the batteries. Cheaper batteries would definitely have an impact on reducing vehicle prices, and Grunitz is convinced that Volkswagen is close to achieving that.

“With our unified cell, coming in 2026, we’re really going to drive down the cost of the battery itself,” Grunitz said. He also stated: “From a technology perspective, I think we can do it. In the end, it’s a question of scalability, but it’s difficult to get a really affordable all-electric vehicle. We’re looking for cooperation partners outside the VW Group, we’ll see what happens. The car has to be profitable, but for VW this model is much more important than just profit because it represents the entrance to our brand. The first car must be accessible to the customer, because if he sits in ID.1, maybe a little later his next car will be ID.2, ID .3 or ID.4. That’s why it’s really important to have a small affordable vehicle.”

According to Grunitz, the ID.1 will not be part of the SSP family, as this platform will arrive a little later, in 2028. Therefore, they will use a different platform. Whether that means adapting the current MEB platform remains to be seen.

The VW ID.1 should reach the market by 2027.

Source: VW

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