Philippine Car News

Not long after Toyota took up the stake in Subaru that was formerly owned by General Motors, the two companies agreed to work together to add hybrid power-trains to the all-wheel-drive specialist’s lineup. The problem is that the unique layout of the Subarus precludes just dropping in the hybrid synergy drive. That means that while Toyota’s technology can be used it has to be repackaged. In the meantime Subaru was already working on a new flat four-cylinder diesel engine which was unveiled at last spring’s Geneva Motor Show. That diesel will begin appearing in Subarus in the European market after the 2008 Geneva show.

Work continues on the hybrids although Subaru won’t say what the timeline is. Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru’s parent company) has said that they won’t build hybrids until lithium ion batteries are available. Given Subaru’s association with Toyota and their battery problems, it may be a while before we get any Subaru hybrids.

[Source: Left Lane News]

One of the technical highlights of the last generation GMT-800 full-size trucks from GM was the Duramax turbo-diesel V-8. This strong, efficient, refined engine was miles ahead of the Navistar engine in the Ford trucks and the Cummins engine that Dodge uses. The Duramax diesels are built by a General Motors-Isuzu joint-venture in Ohio called DMAX ltd. However, in the last year and a half, GM has been extricating themselves from most of their Japanese partnerships including Isuzu. Earlier this week, Isuzu announced that they were hooking up with Toyota and would work with Toyota on developing diesel engines for use in Toyota vehicles.

This caused the Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun to report that Isuzu was asking GM to sell their stake in the DMAX and another venture in Poland to Toyota. Today, both Isuzu and Toyota denied the report and in fact said that the issue had not even been discussed. The Japanese paper’s report did say that the plant would continue to supply engines to GM after a Toyota deal, which would be critical to GM’s truck programs. GM CEO Rick Wagoner is in Tokyo today so it remains to be seen what will happen.

[Source: Automotive News - subscription required]

Ah, the Monster Smart: a rolling contradiction-in-terms. This is the answer to a question nobody asked… except for Fifth Gear of course. Celebrating the unholy union of a Mercedes Unimog and a smart fourtwo, the contraption kept the 5.6 liter straight-six engine from the Unimog … oh yeah, and the smart’s engine too, which powers the lights. That might make this the world’s least efficient generator, or something like that.

[Source: German Car Scene, thanks Warren]