A day after GM posted yet another staggering quarterly loss, Toyota has released that it expects to lose $8.6 billion during this fiscal year. The loss was mostly driven by Toyota’s Q4 results, which just came in at negative $6.9 billion.

This is the first annual operating loss Toyota has ever posted and even more shocking it comes just one year after record profits.

Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe noted the worldwide economic downturn at a new conference but was clear that the blame doesn’t entirely lie outside the company. “Of course the external environment doesn’t help, but we were lacking in the scope and speed of dealing with various problems and issues, and for that I am sorry.”

Toyota expects that for it’s 2009-10 fiscal year sales will decrease by 14 percent to 6.5 million vehicle worldwide.

To return to profit Toyota must sell more vehicles, increase profits and/or reduce operating costs. Watanabe predicts that the total annual vehicle sales for 2009 in the U.S. will be 10 million vehicles, but even that may be optimistic.

Vehicle sales may, however, go up with the introduction of the new Prius this year. The only problem is, Toyota already significantly cut the MSRP of that vehicle to compete with Honda’s Insight – resulting in lower profit margins.

To reduce expenditures, Toyota is slowing production significantly with one third of its plants working single shifts. The automaker has also ceased any expansion plans for the year. Toyota has no plans of closing any production facilities.

Meanwhile rival Honda Motor Co. is forecasting a small profit for the year, due mostly to it’s motorcycle business.

[Source: Automotive News]

Thanks to a little investigative journalism, the folks over at Autoblog have uncovered that General Motors will cut the Cobalt SS Sedan from its product lineup for 2010. A sad day indeed.

The discovery came about due to GM hosting its Order and Reference Guides online. Look for the Cobalt and noticeably absent is the SS Sedan. Chevy will, however, continue to bring seven Cobalt models to market including the Base Coupe, LS Coupe, LT Coupe, Base Sedan, LS Sedan and LT Sedan. Oh… and don’t get too worried… the SS Coupe has been spared the axe.

Still, we’ll miss the 260hp turbocharged four-cylinder that delivered high performance at a bargain-basement price for those whose lives demand more than two doors.

[Source Autoblog]

Maserati is planning a convertible version of the GranTurismo, similar to the Alfa Romeo 8C Compitizione drop-top which is based on the same platform.

It doesn’t exactly take the foresight of a Nostradamus to predict that Maserati will bring a drop-top version of the GranTurismo to market, but the gents over at Car & Driver seem to have the inside scoop.

The new model is due out in 2010 (or possibly 2011) and the surprising thing is that it will feature a cloth-top instead of a retractable hard-top.

All of the major competitors to the GranTurismo have convertible models, including Mercedes with the SL550, Aston Martin with the V8 Vantage Roadster, Jaguar with the XKR convertible and BMW with the M6 Convertible.

Ferrari already offers the California and while they aren’t easy to obtain, there is also the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. Based on the same platform, the California is already a retractable hard-top, whereas the 8C is offered as either a coupe or convertible. A GranTurismo Convertible was in the cards.

What we don’t know is exactly when it will arrive and if it will have four seats or just two. The price is expected to be around $130,000.

Oh… and look for a GranTurismo S Convertible/Roadster to follow.

[Source: Car & Driver]

When Lotus first showed the Exige 270E Tri-Fuel at the Geneva Auto Show back in 2008 it was seen more as an engineering project than a concept car. That, however, may change.

Recently the vehicle was put on display at the Shanghai Auto Show in China and interest was so high China’s Lotus distributor is pushing for a production model. Youngman Auto, a joint-venture between Lotus and the Chinese government (that’s how they do things in China), has now made an official request to Lotus in the U.K. to build a consumer version of the sports car.

As the name suggest, the Tri-Fuel Exige can operate on any one of three energy sources: gasoline, bioethanol and methanol. It is, therefore, a three-way FlexFuel vehicle.

And that “green” engineering doesn’t come as the cost of performance either. Quite the opposite actually. The Exige 270E Tri-Fuel (again, as the name suggests), makes 270hp from a supercharged Toyota-sourced 1.8-liter four-cylinder. Lotus estimates the car can hit 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and tops out at 158 mph.

Lotus corporate has not made any claims about the production request but we’ll be sure to bring you news as it develops.

[Source: LotusEnthusiast]

As General Motors continues to report record losses, there are still some small success stories to report. The reborn Chevy Camaro is one of them.

While plants are being idled and employees being let go across the company, at the Camaro assembly plant in Oshawa, Canada, workers can’t keep up with demand.

The Peterborough Examiner is reporting that workers at the Camaro assembly line will start working Saturdays through the summer to keep up with the popularity of the vehicle. The plant has even postponed holidays, which were scheduled for the week of June 29th, to continue manufacturing the popular new sportscar.

[Source: The Peterborough Examiner]

NOTE: AutoGuide will be driving the new Camaro and meeting with GM Canada’s PR boss George Saratlic tonight at 6 pm EST. Follow us on Twitter and we’ll bring you more on the car and this story.

With the new A3 due out in 2011 rumors of performance and hybrid versions of the car have already emerged.

In the performance category Audi is expected to release an RS3, which will be powered by the same turbocharged five-cylinder currently found in the TT-RS. Output won’t be quite as significant, but expect lots of boost on tap and a much as 335hp and 332 ft-lbs of torque. The RS3 will also make use of Audi’s quattro system and will use a new seven-speed DSG gearbox.

The car will be aimed squarely at the Ford Focus RS as well as BMW’s 135 – which increases the likelihood of this high-performance A3 model actually making it to the U.S.

In the fuel-efficient category, a hybrid version of the A3 is also expected and will use the same essential system that will power the upcoming hybrid Golf. The car will be the result of VW’s TwinDrive program and feature a 1.6-liter diesel engine with 105hp mated to a 30kW electric motor for the front wheels and two 30kW motors for the rear wheels. A lithium-ion battery pack will also be a part of the package. This system would essentially allow the A3 Hybrid to function as an all-wheel drive vehicle at low speeds and until the stored energy is depleted.

The A3 Hybrid, or A3 TwinDrive as it is likely to be called, would be able to travel on pure electric power for 31 miles and could get as much as 113 mpg.

As for the upcoming A3, expect a four-door version for sale in North America.

[Source: AutoCar 1 and AutoCar 2]

[Photo Credit: MTM]

BMW is currently looking at adding three new vehicles to the Mini lineup, including an enthusiast-targeted GTI model. U.K. auto pub AutoCar is reporting that the car would be build on the new five-door Mini platform that will also underpin the company’s upcoming crossover.

We’d welcome such a vehicle as Mini is already an enthusiast brand… so a more hard-core model from Mini can only be a good thing. The sporty new model is likely to have a base powerplant that develops 180hp, with a John Cooper Works version delivering upwards of 220hp.

The car would get unique styling cues and feature a more race-inspired interior with more seriously bolstered seats.

Even if the car does make it to market, it is unlikely to appear before 2012.

[Source: AutoCar]

With the entry-level premium marketing continuing to grow in Europe, Lexus is planning to get in on the action by bringing a vehicle to market that will complete with the Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series.

The new vehicle will slot in under the IS250 and will be a hybrid. This may sound a lot like the upcoming HS250h (pictured above), but it’s not. For starters, Europe will not get the HS250h, and this new model will be a hatchback. It will, however, use the new Prius platform and be front-wheel drive.

The vehicle will not be a performance car but aimed at economy-minded diesel offerings from Audi and BMW. A concept version of the entry-level Lexus hybrid is expected to be unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September.

[Source: TopGear]

General Motors has once again posted a massive quarterly loss, coming up short to the tune of $6 billion for Q1 of ’09. That is roughly the equivalent of the value of 473,000 Chevy Aveos.

The company burned through $10.2 billion during the period, lowering its cash reserves to $11.6 billion from $14.2 billion at the end of ’08. The difference was made up by loans from the Federal Government which amounted to $13.2 billion.

General Motors has now posted seven straight quarterly losses and in total has dropped into the red on an annual basis since 2004 – for a staggering total loss of $84 billion. For those keeping score that amounts to a loss roughly equivalent to the value of 1.3 million Escalades.

Naturally, North America accounted for the largest amount of the total loss with $3.2 billion in that region, while the smaller European market still posted a significant decline of $2 billion.

In Asia GM posted a relatively small $21 million loss, compared to a profit of $310 million the year earlier.

The only region to manage a profit was the Latin America, Africa and Middle East region, with $16 million in profits compared to $500 million in profits  in Q1 of ’08.

The news continued to batter GM’s stock as shares dropped 10.3 percent yesterday to just $1.66. Those numbers are, however, somewhat irrelevant now as GM plans to offer up to 60 billion new shares in a reverse stock split that would help the company pay off its debt. That move would reduce GM’s stock value to less than 2 cents.

The only positive news out of Q1 is that the company’s efforts to reduce production have resulted in a decreased inventory of 105,000 vehicles, for a total of 767,000 vehicles.

Still with a June 1st bankruptcy deadline looming Chapter 11 is looking like a given.

[Source: Automotive News]

The sale of Saturn to Nissan-Renault could see cars like this Mégane Renault Sport roaming U.S. streets.

The rumor mill keeps churning out new and exciting candidates interested in buying GM’s Saturn brand. The most recent speculation is that Nissan/Renault might be interested.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting the Nissan-Renault interest in Saturn, while Bloomberg says that company may team up with the Penske Automotive Group (rumored yesterday to be an interested party) to take over the brand.

With Nissan struggling worldwide the thought of such a buy seems unlikely and yet it may pave the way for Renault to bring its lineup of fuel-efficient compact cars to North America. Currently the Saturn brand has 400 dealerships in the United States and Canada that could be used to distribute Renault products like the Clio and Megane… or even performance versions like the 250hp 2.0-liter turbocharged Mégane R.S. (shown above).

While French vehicle might not normally be attractive to North American consumers, the Renault brand has a strong awareness with younger consumers due to the Gran Turismo video game series.

Under the latest General Motors viability plan, Saturn is scheduled to be sold by the end of the year.Currently GM says that is has several offers, the most recently publicized ones being from Penske Automotive Group and Telesto Ventures, which would transform the Saturn dealership network into a retail chain selling several brands of foreign-made cars.

[Source: AutomotiveNews]