Car Torque: Mirai made by hand

Toyota has abandoned mass production for its Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell car, which started rolling off the line this week. The world’s largest carmaker is building the Mirai by hand: a factory team of just 13 people finishes three cars per day at the Motomachi plant in Toyota City.

Motomachi was previously used to build another exclusive Toyota: the Lexus LFA supercar, which was limited to just 500 examples between 2010-12.

The company believes that such a production method is necessary because the Mirai is a standalone model sharing no components with other Toyota vehicles. It also carries new-generation technology, including a powertrain that runs on hydrogen and emits only water.

There is also a symbolic aspect to the Mirai production method and the start date of February 24. It marks five years to the day that Toyota president Akio Toyoda was brought before an American congressional panel to answer questions about the maker’s “unintended acceleration” recall crisis.

“For us, that date marks a new start,” said Toyoda-san at the opening ceremony for the Mirai plant. “This is not to reflect on the past but rather to celebrate Toyota’s new start, where we take a fresh step towards the future.”

The hand-assembly of Mirai is seen as a symbol of a new attention to detail and focus on quality: “We reply on the work of our skilled employees. This is similar to how things were when Toyota was just starting out.”

Just 700 examples of the Mirai will be made this year, for Japan, the US and Europe. There are plans for expansion but only to 3000 cars per year (in 2017).

Honda CEO steps down
Honda Motor Company chief executive officer Takanobu Ito will step down in June, after a difficult six-year posting that has the company embroiled in financial crisis, natural disasters and, most recently, a major recall of airbag inflators made by Takata Corporation.

His replacement is Takahiro Hachigo, a senior engineer currently working for the company in China. Hachigo-san is the first non-director to ever be named as a Honda CEO and also the first not to have headed up the research and development division.

It is widely perceived that Hachigo-san’s appointment is a signal that the company wants to change course and focus more on quality after a glut of problems, including five recalls for the Fit (Jazz) hybrid in a single year in 2014.

Peugeot-Citroen green sweep
Peugeot-Citroen (PSA) has recaptured its place as the greenest car brand in Europe, with a fleet-average emission output of 110.3 grams of CO2 per kilometer for 2014, compared with 123.7g for the market as a whole.

Nearly 30% of PSA vehicles sold in 2014 emitted less than 100g/km. The company claims this is primarily due to a downsizing strategy and spending more than 50% of its research and development budget on fuel efficiency and environmental performance.