Hybrid-Only Sai Car Unvelied by Toyota for Japan Market

After the Prius, there's Sai, another hybrid-only model from Toyota. It's recently unveiled for the Japanese market. It's costlier and bigger than the Prius. Government incentives are making hybrids extremely popular in Japan and a monthly sales average of 30,000 per month is expected beginning Dec 7, 2009, when the Sai sales will begin.

Like other automobile companies, the global economic crisis and stricter environmental laws has led to slumps in sales of regular combustion engine cars. The age of hybrids appears to have arrived and consumers are switching, opting for new technology automobiles that switch between a fuel-burning engine and an electric motor.

Compared to the Prius which gets 38 kilometers per liter, the Sai delivers a bit less at 23 kilometers per liter. That's still twice the mileage of a regular gas guzzler. One reason why the Sai is less efficient is the 2.4 liter engine. The Prius only has a 1.8 liter engine. The Sai is also bigger and roomier than the Prius - using an unorthodox dashboard design. However, the instrument panel that divides the dashboard in the middle looks dangerous in a collision, especially if a kid is seated in the passenger side.

Toyota hopes that with the release of the Sai, hybrids will become more popular and boost company sales even more.


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Toyota Recalls Cars on Floormat Issue - Are There Other Dangers?

Toyota never anticipated that the holding mechanism of the floormat of some of its cars (left) like the Camry and Prius could cause the accelerator pedal to get snagged (top) and stuck (the secured floormat would keep pushing on it). After accidents have happened attributed to the design, the recall was initiated on specific car models, although more could be added to the list. Toyota has recommended that the floormat of the drivers side of affected car owners be removed and not replaced.

Interestingly, although there seems to be no accidents reported relating to this. There had been some concerns about the seat slider handle that were used in old Corolla models. You know that handle that you pull at the near the bottom of your seat to slide it forward and backward? Yes, that's the one. Well, it turned out that shoes can sometimes get snagged on this. The picture on th eleft shows a knob that's diagonally placed. It's those with a horizontal design that can be a problem.

The shoes prone to this are rubber or hiking shoes that have those extensions at the heel end that you can use to hang them up to dry with (left; encircled). Yes, it's happened and it can come as a surprise when the driver suddenly realizes that he or she can't move his foot forward to press on the clutch! It can take several seconds to realize what has happened and at high speeds, it can be a very distressing situation.

While the concern is easily solved by wearing shoes ideal for driving, the problem is that that the knob handle design for the seat slider could still cause accidents. The good news for Toyota is that other brands of cars may also have knobs that can snag some shoes. Designers should take a close look at this for the safety of consumers.

Toyota has had recall issues in the past.


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