USA - The Million Mile Toyota Tundra, no issues, no breakdowns and still going strong.

• Learning from a Toyota Truck after Eight Safe Years on the Road

Toyota customer Victor Sheppard was so satisfied with his Toyota Tundra, even after he had safely driven 1 million miles, he continued driving it. When Toyota saw the well-kept truck, they asked: What is a Toyota Tundra with more than a million miles worth?

For Toyota’s production engineers and team members, the truck’s longevity offers invaluable insight for future products. For Sheppard, it was worth a new truck.

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. swapped trucks today with Sheppard at Greg Leblanc Toyota in Mr. Sheppard’s hometown, Houma, La., in a brief ceremony.

The million-mile Tundra, a 2007 model year, was one of the first of its kind assembled exclusively at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas, in San Antonio. Since purchasing the truck, Sheppard has been the sole owner and has put an average of 125,000 miles a year on the odometer, regularly driving long-haul trips from his home to North Dakota, Wyoming, and Virginia for his job. The truck still has its original engine, transmission and paint job.

“Most people can’t believe how much on his truck is original,” said Ron Weimer, general manager of Greg Leblanc Toyota. “Victor has been loyal to his maintenance and kept it up.”

Sheppard’s truck has drawn attention in the past, leading to it being showcased in Toyota’s outdoor truck display in September 2012 at the Texas State Fair in Dallas. The truck has also been regularly featured on the Facebook page for LeBlanc Toyota. 

The dealership even posted his odometer reading when it hit 999,999 miles. In maintaining his truck to the extraordinary million-mile mark, Sheppard has logged 117 dealership service visits over nine years, ranging from timing belt replacements, oil changes, and the manufacturer’s regularly scheduled check-ups.

“My truck looks great, and, except for a few little dents, it’s almost like new,” said Sheppard. “Even the seats look just as they were when I bought it. They’re not as clean, of course, but they’re not busted or worn out.”

While high-mileage vehicles help validate the quality of the manufacturing processes the company employs, Toyota engineers are interested in how the engine and transmission as well as other components and parts, such as the seats, have held up. And as one of the first Tundra trucks from the San Antonio plant, Toyota’s chief truck engineer from Toyota Technical Center, Mike Sweers, and his team want a chance to get a better look under the hood and everywhere else to learn how the vehicle holds up after so many miles and rigorous use.

“Having a million-mile truck in as pristine condition as this one with original parts is a truly rare find,” said Sweers. “Our team plans to tear down the entire truck, bumper-to-bumper, top-to-bottom to evaluate how the quality and safety we designed, engineered and built into the Tundra has held up to over one-million miles of real-world driving and help us continue providing ever-better vehicles for our customers.”

The disassembly process is expected to take months as engineers examine each part of the engine, chassis, body, and other components. With the knowledge gained, the engineers will apply their findings to future trucks.

As for Sheppard, his million-mile truck has been replaced by a new 2016 Tundra. Ironically, the 2016 Tundra is also his 16^th Tundra.

“Mr. Sheppard says he is a believer in Toyota quality and safety,” said Weimer. “He believes in the brand.”

“I believed [reaching a million miles] wouldn’t be a problem,” said Sheppard. “These trucks are safe and dependable. I think, if you see a Toyota on the side of the road, it might be a scam because they just don’t break down very often.”

UK RECALL #8 - Aston Martin recalls a number of its models for a possible short circuit in the battery supply cable.

Vehicle Details
Reference :	R/2016/082
Manufacturer Ref :	RA-18-0020 & QN-18-0038
Make:	ASTON MARTIN
Model :	DB9, DBS, Vanquish and Virage
Launch Date :	11/04/2016
Numbers Involved :	691
Build Start Date :	08/03/2007
Build End Date :	17/05/2007

Recall Details
Concern :	RISK OF SHORT-CIRCUIT IN BATTERY SUPPLY CABLE
Description :	On affected vehicles the right front seat can compress the battery supply cable. Prolonged occurrence could cause damage to the insulation and the cable may "short out"
Remedial Action :	Fit new cable guide to reroute supply cable. Check condition of supply cable and where necessary reinforce insulation . In rare instances the cable may require replacement.
Vehicle Id :	SCFCA05D67PX10206 to SCFCB05D98PX40301 SCFCA05D28GE00008 to SCFGDCAD2AGE01925 SCFJCCEP1EGJ01549 to SCFPLCGUXGGK02816 SCFGCEAN5CGG13325 to SCFGDEAN9CGG13342

Other Vehicles Affected (Click the vehicle to perform an extended search)

ASTON MARTIN - DB9 ASTON MARTIN - DBS ASTON MARTIN - VANQUISH ASTON MARTIN - VIRAGE

Peugeot extends sponsorship deal with the ATP to include a personal deal with Brit Doubles ace Jamie Murray.

• PEUGEOT is supporting the sporting efforts of champion tennis player Jamie Murray as his Official sponsor for the next two years
• News follows the recent PEUGEOT global partnership announcement with the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals)
• PEUGEOT has had long associations with the sport of tennis

PEUGEOT is proud to announce its new two year sponsorship deal with Jamie Murray, Britain's No. 1 doubles tennis player. The sponsorship starts with immediate effect and will support Murray in his competition efforts to the end of 2017.

Elder brother of two-time Grand Slam singles champion, Andy Murray, Jamie specialises in doubles tennis and is currently ranked as Britain’s No 1 men’s double player. Jamie claimed victory in the Grand Slam mixed doubles final at Wimbledon in 2007. He has also appeared in three other Grand Slam finals in both men’s and mixed doubles. He has won a total of 13 ATP titles throughout his career.

PEUGEOT is supporting Jamie with his competitive efforts for the next two years which will hopefully see Jamie achieve further victories around the world.It is the latest development from PEUGEOT, which has had an involvement in tennis for more than three decades, recently announcing a new partnership deal with Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

From 2016, PEUGEOT will also become a Platinum partner of the ATP World Tour as well as the Official Car supplier at more than 20 ATP World Tour tournaments, with some 500 vehicles – 508, 3008, 5008, and the Expert Tepee – providing first class transportation services for players, officials, VIPs and special guests to the events.

“PEUGEOT shares tennis’ values of performance, innovation and elegance,” said Maxime Picat, Peugeot CEO. “These are the same values that we aim to share with our customers. This new sponsorship of Jamie Murray is an expression of the support PEUGEOT provides tennis as a sport, its sports men and women and the parallels between these and the PEUGEOT brand and products.

Jamie Murray added; “This new sponsorship is fantastic news and will prove invaluable in my competition efforts. I’ll be very proud to sport the PEUGEOT lion on my sleeve at competitions all over the world over the next two years.  It’s great to see PEUGEOT extending their involvement with tennis and I am delighted to be a part of their team going forward’

Mazda to take action over airbag deployment issues.

Mazda North American Operations has notified NHTSA that it plans to voluntarily implement a Special Service Program in limited regions of the United States as a result of several field reports regarding airbag deployments for a variety of vehicle brands equipped with air bag inflators supplied by Takata Corporation and TK Holdings, Inc. On certain vehicles, the air bag may not deploy properly in the event of an accident.

Approximately 34,600 vehicles that were originally sold or are currently registered in Florida, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are affected.

There is insufficient information at this time to determine the cause of these incidents or if they are related to a safety defect, but Mazda is working with the supplier and NHTSA to investigate these incidents as quickly as possible. 

Mazda has determined that the subject vehicles of the SSP are certain model years of the Mazda6, Mazdaspeed6, RX-8, and MPV, which are equipped with similar types of airbag inflators. 

Specifically the vehicles are identified as:

            2003-2007 MY Mazda6 built from October 4, 2002, through July 31, 2007

            2004-2008 MY RX-8 built from April 23, 2003, through July 26, 2007

            2006-2007 MY Mazdaspeed6 built from August 25, 2005, through June 28, 2007

            2004 MY MPV built from August 21, 2003, through July 28, 2004

Mazda has received one report of a driver injury during airbag deployment.

Owners of record will be notified of this issue and instructed to take their vehicles to a Mazda dealer to replace the air bag inflator with a new one. The work will be performed by Mazda authorized dealers, free of charge to the vehicle owners.

The expected dates for mailing owner notification letters and providing notification to dealers are currently undecided.  It will depend on the availability of replacement parts from the supplier. 

Camaro set to star in fourth Transformers installment, along with other Chevy models.

A look at the evolution of Bumblebee in the Transformers movie franchise

A Chevrolet Camaro that converts into the iconic Bumblebee returns to the big screen in Michael Bay’s “Transformers: Age of Extinction” in theaters June 27.

“In all the Transformers films, Chevrolet vehicles get to play the heroes,” said Tim Mahoney, chief marketing officer, Global Chevrolet. “These movies have helped us get our vehicles in front of a younger audience around the world.”

This is the Camaro’s fourth appearance in a Transformers film. The first three movies helped propel Camaro to sales leadership in its segment for the past four years.

“Being a part of the Transformers franchise is an incredible way to showcase the design work of which GM is capable,” said Ed Welburn, vice president of GM Global Design. “The global series gets our cutting-edge designs in front of more potential customers than we could through traditional methods.”

Transformers (2007)

In the first film of the series, Bumblebee goes through arguably his biggest change. The car starts off as a hand-me-down 1977 second-generation Camaro. The car is anything but flashy, with rust and primer spots, its famous yellow paint covered in patina.

Bumblebee eventually converts into a fifth-generation Camaro. However, this was in July 2007, two years before the Camaro would go on sale, so Chevrolet had to build a one-off running concept for the movie.

The vehicle used body panels made from the same molds that were used for the 2006 Camaro Concept, which was on the auto show circuit the year before. The body was fit to a chassis of a Holden Monaro to make it capable of performing in the film.

Its starring role in Transformers helped cement the fifth-generation Camaro as one of the coolest cars to come on the market in the following years.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) and Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

With Revenge of the Fallen coming out only a few months after the latest Camaro went on sale, the movie depicted a modified production version of the Camaro. The yellow Camaro sported the signature black rally stripes on the hood and trunk deck lid, a mailslot hood, and a custom front bumper.

For Dark of the Moon, Bumblebee was upgraded to the SS model with a subtle update to its color, sporting a more amber hue than the previous model’s pure yellow. The vehicle sported darker wheels and a new paint scheme that included wider rally stripes and black side mirrors.

Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

For the latest installment, Michael Bay asked the design team at GM to redesign Bumblebee to give him an updated look. With a specific focus on making him look more aggressive and muscular, the job was well suited to the North Hollywood Design Center.

The Center is just down the street from Paramount Pictures and as GM’s advanced design center, pens some of the most forward-looking designs to wear a bowtie badge.

The team designed a vehicle specifically for the movie with a new fascia and bulked up sides to create a leaner, meaner Bumblebee, with design cues that could put it years into the future.

But one Transformer can’t fight on his own, which is why the team was also tasked with designing an Allspark Green Tint Corvette Stingray to play Crosshairs and a Chevrolet Sonic rally car. Those vehicles will be joined by the Trax, which recently went on sale in China, and is set to go on sale in the U.S. early next year.

The movie makes extensive use of GM facilities as settings for the film. Scenes were filmed on Milford, Mich. Proving Ground, at the GM Design Center in Warren, Mich., including Welburn’s office and the Lansing, Mich., Delta Township Assembly Plant.

For example, at the Warren Technical Center, the production brought 200 people and 50 semi-trailers and filmed with minimal disruption to the work going on during the day.