The Toyota Motor Corp. built more than 9 million vehicles last year for the first time. The production narrowed the gap with General Motors Corp. which has 160,000 more. This has tickled speculations among auto enthusiasts. Some are anticipating for a new auto giant reign while others detest its happening.

Toyota reported that its production output increased by 9.5 per cent in 2006 to 9.02 million vehicles despite a contraction in the Japanese market. The automaker’s production includes Toyota’s affiliates - Daihatsu and Hino. On the other hand, GM also reported 9.18 million vehicle productions for the same year. This figure was a slight increase from 9.05 million in 2005. As such, many analysts in the industry are expecting that GM will fall a notch lower to make way for Toyota as the new automotive leader around the globe.

Toyota expects to sell 9.34 million vehicles for 2007. The automaker also expects to sell 2.68 million vehicles in the United States alone to raise its sales by 6 per cent. “Things are going very well with Toyota, and it’s likely to achieve its target for this year,” said Shotaro Noguchi, an auto analyst for the Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co. in Tokyo.

Honda, another fast-rising Japanese automaker, has reported an increase of 6.6 per cent in global output to 3.63 million vehicles. Nissan, on the other hand, overtook Honda in 2004 when the production of the latter declined by 7.7 per cent to 3.24 million vehicles.

Honda, though, is coping from its previous losses because of the brisk sales of its Civic compact in the United States and Chinas. The strong demand in overseas markets is the primary reason why Japanese automakers are creating big waves in the auto industry realm. As a fact, these automakers are struggling in their home market. It can be recalled that in 2006, Japan tripped off to third place behind China.

Cars and trucks sales in China increased by more than a third last year to 7.2 million vehicles while in Japan, vehicle sales shrank to 5.7 million. This information was divulged by J.P. Morgan investment firm. In Japan, the real growth segment is mini-vehicles that weigh half as much as traditional cars. However, when mini-vehicles are to be excluded, Japan’s market totaled 3.7 million units in 2006 after an 18th consecutive monthly decline in December. “We believe earnings will remain structurally dependent on overseas sales growth in 2007,” J.P. Morgan concluded.

GM is so far the largest car manufacturer around the globe. The corporation is founded in 1908. Today, it has about 327,000 workers globally. The automaker’s cars and trucks are sold in 33 countries. In 2005, about 9.17 million GM vehicles were sold under its established brands that include Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. These brands are known for their efficiency, durability, comfort and performance. The functionality of its vehicles is boosted by high-quality auto parts like EBC brake pads, improved suspension, rotors and powerful engines.

Toyota, on the other hand, is so far world’s second largest automaker. The automaker has also established a good reputation in the manufacture of hybrids. In addition, it is sending more positive vibes in the auto industry than other automakers these days. To gauge its prowess, the corporation is also the world’s eighth largest company by revenue. With the growing vehicle demands around the globe and with the rising excellence in the field, Toyota is expected to rule auto industry this year or at least no later than 2008. This expectation, which is anchored on the automaker’s 9.4 million vehicle production target for this year, is also supported by individual analysts’ predictions.

Anthony Fontanelle
http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/toyota-seals-gap-with-gm-99398.html

Maintaining your ATV

Many people take for granted that just because they paid a hefty sum for their ATVs, it will last as long as they want it to but they fail to realize that in order to prolong the life span of their ATVs, it is important that they maintain their ATVs with proper care. Or, in some cases, there are many who do not even know how to properly maintain their ATVs! At Jackel Motorsports, we strive to provide excellent after sales service to our customers and we believe in sharing with ATV riders the importance and proper maintenance of their ATVs at all times.

Keep it clean

It is best that you wash your ATV after each ride and not wait till the dirt becomes too difficult to be washed off. While you dry it off, do remember to check all the fasteners and levers and always ride your machine for about a minute to dry out the Brake Pads. We also recommend that you apply WD40 to all the pivots, levers and exhaust pipe to prevent rust and premature wear. To remove stubborn gasket remnants or rust from exhaust pipes, try using Scotch-Brite (or something of similar material) pads. Don’t throw away your old toothbrushes as they make wonderful small parts cleaners!

Use the right tools

It is important that you use the proper tools for different parts of your ATV. Wrenches ratchets or your hands do not make good hammers. If you intend to do your own engine work, it is best that you invest in a high quality torque wrench because your engine will definitely last longer when it is properly assembled with the correct torque on the fasteners.

Recycling is the key

The next time you are done with using aerosol cans, don’t just throw the plastic caps away – keep them as they make great containers for sorting parts for your ATV as well as small quantities of chemical for dipping and cleaning your machine. In this case, recycling is certainly the way to go!

Polish your ATV to keep the mud stain away

It is been said that floor polish used on the plastic parts of your ATV will not only keep your machine shiny – it will also keep the mud away. Even if you do get mud stain on the plastic, you can easily wipe it off with a damp cloth. Another way of cleaning the stains off if your machine has white plastic is to use an SOS pad – but be warned, this don’t work on red plastics as the pad will leave on white streaks.

Check the tires!

Yes, this is a very important part of the ritual of maintaining your precious ATV. Before you ride on your machine, check the tire pressures, as ATV tires are inherently leaky. If you intend to ride on rocky conditions on your machine or if you are going for high speed riding, you need to run higher tire pressures for your ATV.

The above are just some suggestions on how you should maintain your ATV to give it a boost of “extra life”. If you have any great ideas to share, you are always welcome to do so at the forum at www.jackel.com or www.atvoutdoors.net Your fellow ATV riders will thank you for sharing!

Ray Martin
http://www.articlesbase.com/motorcycles-articles/maintaining-your-atv-133009.html

I have had good luck with the hawk hps so far but with the great level of braking achieved im not sure if this time I should go with hp plus that is suitable for track use it might brake too much or too fast for a stock vehicle.

I know some of you might think its crazy but I like good brakes and the hps have a smooth pedal effort that is controllable but stop more then on a dime, so I was wondering if going to a race level would be too much for the street.

http://www.hawkperformance.com/performance/hps.php

http://www.hawkperformance.com/performance/hpplus.php

`You listed an EBC brake that "fell apart". Why not take time to list the specific EBC brake you had trouble with?

The second pad you listed would stop better under most conditions at the expense of eating-up your brake rotors. It seems you have to decide to drive sanely with the first brake pad or feed the car rotors every time the pads wear out with your second choice.

Performance Friction has a brand new metallic, ceramic, carbon pad that will stop better than any Hawk pad. Again at the cost of brake rotor wear.