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So Top Gear live kicked off last night at Earl’s Court in London - the first show in a world tour with all the swagger of a stadium rock band, but more cars.

After a suitably dramatic pyrotechnic build up and a bit of cocking about backstage, Jeremy was first into the arena - sideways in the Top Gear-tuned BMW 3-series the boys used in the Britcar 24hr race a couple of series ago.

James made a typically leisurely entrance in his homemade Lexus police car followed by Hammond pulling half the set down with his stretched MG limo.

What followed was like the telly show on some mentalist big stage trip - lots of awesome cars precision choreographed using every inch of the arena for J-turns and powerslides. Like a day at the TG test track really, but in front of 6,000 people. And, amazingly, no crashes.

Stig’s entrance was typically sideways in a red F430 - a moment only upstaged by Richard’s terrifying tribute to Evel Knievel. Well, terrifying’s one word for it. We’ll try to track down some video for that over the next week or so and you’ll see what we mean.

Then something amazing happened - a genuinely democratic moment with the Cool Wall. The audience voted using cards and Jeremy only vetoed, well, all of them. But at least he let the audience drive our reasonably priced car - every single one of them - using some complicated computer trickery and some coloured pieces of card. We’ll leave you to ponder that.

Next up, dancers, drums, a parade of supercars and a donutting black cab (really) built us up to a finale that had us all worried in dress rehearsals - Stig doing battle with two motocross bikes and a flame-spitting dragon-robot thing that properly shocked the audience.

Anyway, the tour continues in the capital until November and the up to Birmingham before setting off literally around the world, so we’ll hold fire on any more spoilers for now.

If you want tickets check out the Top Gear Live website, but be warned London’s sold out already. If you can’t make it, we’ll be posting pics and backstage gossip here on Transmission - and hopefully a bit of video too.

Toyota US truck exports


31st October 2008 10:38

I see Toyota is going to start US exports of some of its US-made trucks. They’re not exactly what you would define as ‘world vehicles’ but it’s not too surprising that the firm is looking to leave no stone unturned in finding customers for the things - which aren’t exactly hot sellers in the US right now. The Middle East and South America are being targeted for them. The Middle East is still awash with money and customers for big SUVs, despite the recent collapse in the price of oil.

And the cheap dollar makes exporting out of the US more attractive, too.

In fact, with places like China, India and now even Russia cooling off, maybe automakers will be taking a closer look at other places. ASEAN springs to mind. 

Is there going to be a ’hard landing’ in some of the BRICs? Have they risen too far, too fast and are therefore a little more vulnerable/risky than some other places right now? 

US: Toyota to start truck, SUV, exports

ANALYSIS: ASEAN top six up 19.2%

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Via
Forbes

You Gotta Have A Plan
By Ed Sperling

With a recession looming, uncertainty in the credit markets and wild gyrations on the stock market, most companies are battening down the hatches to weather the storm.

That means it won’t be long before the chief information officer gets a knock on the door–or more likely an e-mail–to come talk to the chief financial officer and CEO about what he or she is doing to cut costs. The general rule of thumb is that it’s better to have a plan than to be given one. And it’s better to say how you’re going to cut costs than to be told your budget is being cut.

Forbes.com caught up with James Kaplan, principal in the New York office of McKinsey &Co., who has just completed an in-depth study on managing information technology (IT) in a downturn.

Forbes.com: Why should the CIO be concerned about a downturn?

James Kaplan: When business slows, there’s a natural instinct to cut IT costs.

Is that because IT is one of the largest budget items?

The size of the expenditure varies greatly by industry sector. If you’re in financial services or telecommunications, it can be a large percentage of revenue or operating expenses. In manufacturing, it’s usually rather small. But in many cases, the instinct to cut IT in a downturn stems from the perception that it’s largely discretionary. There’s also uncertainty around the value. In organizations where there is more uncertainty and doubt about the value derived from IT, there is more of a tendency to cut when times get tough.

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Holden has taken the unusual step of cutting the power of its Commodore to reduce the car’s fuel consumption.

The car drops 5kW in power from 180kW to 175kW, while torque drops from 330Nm to 325Nm. The power sacrifice sees fuel consumption drop from 10.9 litres per 100km to 10.6L/100km.

That means the Commodore is now giving away 20kW of power to the Falcon – and is still thirstier (the Falcon uses 10.5L/100km).

For a company that has always prided - and marketed - itself on performance, it’s a brave move.

The Commodore already trails the Falcon and the 200kW Toyota Aurion in straight line performance and this move widens the gap.

But the latest move has to be seen in the wider context of Holden’s strategy to get incremental improvements in fuel economy right across its range.

It recently improved the economy of its V8 Commodore engines by introducing a “displacement on demand” system that shuts down four cylinders during cruising. The system is said to save up to 1 litre per 100km in normal driving.

And it has made even more significant gains with its LPG engine for Commodore. Fuel consumption is down from 15.5L/100km to 14.2L/100km, while power stays at 175kW.

That will have Ford executives sweating, because LPG is a huge part of Falcon’s sales mix.

The LPG Commodore now has almost 20kW more power but is more efficient than the LPG Falcon, which uses 14.9L/100km.

Combined with a recent price cut for LPG Commodores, the move makes plenty of sense in the dollar-sensitive LPG market.

What do you think? Is this a clever marketing move and a worthwhile environmental initiative or is it too little too late?

Is it worth sacrificing power to create an impression of greater sensitivity to the environment?

And finally, is it likely to change anyone’s mind if they are thinking about downsizing?

Richard Blackburn