Toyota Postpones Prius V Launch in Japan after Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis

The latest victim of the ongoing crisis in Japan is the new minivan version of the Prius as Toyota announced today that it has decided to postpone launch of the car at its home market. “No decision has been made at this time on when the launch will be rescheduled,” Toyota said in a statement.

Despite the delay in Japan, Toyota said that the North American version of the Prius V, which is scheduled to launch at the end of summer 2011, remains on track. “No decision has been made in regards to a possible need to change the launch timing,” Toyota said.

The world largest automaker unveiled the Prius V minivan with five-seats at this year’s edition of the Detroit motor show in January. It was followed by the European market Prius+ featuring three rows of seats for seven passengers at the Geneva Salon in early March. It is believed that Japan will (eventually) get both the five- and seven-seat versions of the Prius minivan.

The disaster in northern Japan has created severe problems to Toyota as the company recently extended the vehicle-production halt that began on March 14 at all of its plants in the country through March 26.

NORTH AMERICAN TOYOTA PRIUS V

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EUROPEAN TOYOTA PRIUS+

U.S. Market 2012 Ford Fiesta Gets Three New Custom Packages

Ford's Fiesta sub-compact has gained three new packages, two for the interior and one for the exterior, for the 2012 model year. The two interior packages are the Race Red and Oxford White and offer a personalized appearance with two-tone colored components.

Said to be inspired from the world of fashion and available on the Fiesta SEL and SES models, the interior packages feature contrasting interior accent colors on the center console, door panels and rings that surrounding the air vents.

The two-tone leather seats and steering wheel feature contrast stitching, while the shift knob is covered in black leather. Finally, the seats are also decorated with a debossed “Fiesta” logo.

For the exterior, Ford proposes a styling package inspired by the Euro-spec Ford Focus RS, which includes several parts painted in Tuxedo Black, such as the side mirrors, headlights, grille surround, license plate holder and rear spoiler.

Other components include the 16-inch polished alloy wheels and a shorter final drive ratio (from 4.07 to 4.25) for models equipped with a manual transmission. Ford didn't say if this modification changes performance figures such as acceleration and/or top speed.

“The Fiesta customer loves accessories and personalization. These packages extend the desire the customer has to make the car more tailored to his or her own personal tastes,” said Lew Echlin, Ford Global Car marketing manager.

Ford said that 40 percent of Fiesta buyers choose at least one accessory for their cars, with more than 26,000 Ford Custom Accessories items being sold to date.

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