The departure of the only American and highest ranking executive of Toyota in North America, Jim Press was a shock to industry insiders. Mr. Press first worked for Ford in 1960s and then transferred to Toyota in 1970 and from then on became one of the strongest forces in the North American operation of the Japanese automaker.

Mr. Press will become Mr. Pres-ident of Chrysler next Friday as announced by the company.

It can be remembered that it was only last June that Mr. Press was appointed as Senior Managing Director at Toyota becoming the first ever foreign national to join its Japanese board of directors. The appointment of Mr. Press in the Japanese management lineup was to help prevent a possible resurgence of Japan-US trade friction.

Although pirating of executives from rivals is common among US and European automakers, Mr. Press is the first Toyota Executive to be tempted by a competitor. Other Toyota executives have tried to stop Press from leaving after he announced his intention to quit a week ago.

According to a disappointed Toyota executive interviewed last Thursday night: "It probably reflects the way things are done in the U.S. auto industry. It is all the more regrettable because we had high expectations for his future performance."

A Japanese executive by the name of Shigeru Hayakawa, age 53 who is the Executive Vice President and at the same time the Managing Officer of Toyota will succeed Press.

Chrysler is expecting for Press to rebuild its operations and unlike Robert Nardelli whom Cerberus appointed as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Press has a lot of experience in the auto industry of which a great part consist of his stay with Toyota.

With Mr. Press now with Chrysler we will see if the automaker can really recover.

The concept of green cars is not new anymore and to prove it Autoblog Green has listed the Top Ten Articles that showcase Green Cars that were introduced in the past:

1.    The Low-Cost Homemade Car that Runs 40 Miles per Gallon- built by former college professor using the frame and wheels of a 1934 Ford and scrap lumber. This car gets 40 mpg.
2.    Water Succeeds Gasoline As New Invention Is Perfected (Dec, 1935)- the concept use by BMW for its Hydrogen 7 was perfected an introduced by G.H. Garrett when he succeeded in splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen.
3.    Three-Wheeled Auto Makes Speed with Low Fuel Cost (Oct, 1924)- The Flivver which is a three-wheeled automobile designed in Germany with a close top and doors like those found on bigger cars. The said car does not consume much fuel but has a speed of ten miles an hour on good roads. And the best about this car? The government has not imposed any tax on it and is permitted for use even by those without driver’s license.
4.    Flier Designs Streamline "Push Button" Car (Nov, 1938)- designed by a California airman, this car lowers down fuel consumption by employing smart designs that include a covered front wheel.
5.    Japanese Minicar (Dec, 1958)- who would have though that SUBARU has built a minicar in the past. It’s called the 360. This 1958 Subaru is equipped with a two-cylinder, two-cycel air-cooled engine which enables it to reach a top speed of 50 mph. Gas consumption was around 62 mpg.
6.    A New Switch for Electrics (Jul, 1973)-this is an article about the electric vehicles of the early seventies.
7.    Motorcyclette Has Speed, Comfort (Feb, 1932)-the Motorcyclette make use of the rider’s feet as brakes thank goodness its not made anymore or else just think of the number of shoes that you will ruin in the process.
8.    Motor Scooter Burns LPG (Dec, 1955)- the use of LPG on vehicles are also employed at present in fact in the Philippines there are jeepneys and taxis using LPG as their fuel source. It’s more economical, practical and above all not that harmful to the environment. It was Ralph Carlton of Wauchula, Fla., that started the use of LPG when he converted his standard scooter into an LPG-burner with a few minor engine changes.
9.    Postman Goes Around on Motor Scooter (Jul, 1939)-as the title of the article suggest these are motorized scooters used by mailmen and was proposed by Henry R. Smith, letter carries of Columbia, S. C. who has constructed one of his own.
10.    Auto Fuel From Cow Manure (Sep, 1949)- A German inventor by the name of Harnisch has developed a simple device which converts manure into fuel that will in turn be used to drive autos and tractors as well as provide household power.

Nissan has recently revealed a new car concept that features a multiple preventive features which the automaker claimed would decrease drunk-driving. These multiple preventive technology of Nissan would assess a driver's state of soberness and basing on the assessment the car would activate a range of preventive measures to the extent of immobilization of the vehicle. Cool huh?!

The Ford plant at Cologne-Niehl has achieved another production milestone recently after it has manufactured its two-millionth vehicle in the Ford Fiesta/Fusion series that were rolled off the line.

The two millionth-vehicle was a Colorado Red Ford Fiesta ST that was destined for customers in Great Britain. Around 74 percent of the two million vehicles produced were Fiestas. At present the car assembly of Ford in Cologne is renowned for being one of the most highly efficient plants in the European industry. As a fact, last year it was awarded with an “Automotive Lean Production Award 2006” an international honor that was given for the first time in December of last year.

Last 2006 there was a high demand for Fiestas and Fusions all over the world of which a total of 412,688 vehicles were produced from the Cologne plant. This figure is much higher than what the plant produced in 2005 which totaled only to 403,000.

Around 90 percent of Cologne’s total production is exported to 52 countries including the five largest markets for vehicles in the world such as Great Britain, Italy France, Germany, and Russia. Cologne-built Fiestas and Fusions also travel in distant markets that include Madagascar, Gibraltar, Azerbaijan, Hong Kong, and Mozambique. And so far the farthest market that Cologne-built Fiestas and Fusions reach is the Pacific Island of Tahiti.

The Cologne plant has been producing Fiestas and Fusions since 2002 and out of the two million that they have produced 1.25 million were left hand drive while the rest of the 750,000 were right hand drive.

Ford has made a total of EUR 410 million investments last February 2002 to modernize the plant as well as to help develop the nearby supplier park.

The great improvement in the operation of the plant has made it possible for it to increase production by 1,200 vehicles last 2002 to 1,950 vehicles today. There are around 4,200 staffs employed at the Ford Fiesta and Ford Fusion plant at Ford-Werke GmbH in Cologne with another 13,200 located at the company’s other facilities in other parts of the city.