Canvey Carriage Company on Toyota HQ move

At Canvey Carriage Company we have lots of Toyotas available, but news has come in today that Toyota plan to move their HQ from Southern California to Dallas, Texas.

After a rumours have been circulating for some time, Canvey Carriage Company can now report that the move will go ahead with an expected move in date to be around early 2017.

Toyota Prius available from Canvey Carriage Company

The Japanese car giant are relocating from Torrance, just outside of Los Angeles, and the move will bring

much of the manufactures operations under one roof. This includes Toyota’s sales, marketing, servicing, advertising and quality control. As well as this some manufacturing operations will be moved to Texas, which currently operates in Kentucky.

The move by Toyota will be staggered, and begin to take place at the end of 2016. Toyota set up in California in 1957, beginning in a shop at a former rambler dealership in Hollywood.

Torrance mayor has described the move as “sad news”. Adding that "Toyota has been an integral part of the city."

Toyota’s move means that all three major Japanese car manufactures, which account for a large proportion of the US auto market share, will have left the state where they first moved in the beginning of their US operations.

Nissan moved most of its operations from Gardena, California, to Franklin, Tennessee, outside Nashville in 2006. Just last year, Honda decided to move a number of executives from Torrance to Columbus, Ohio.

Speaking to employees, Toyota North America CEO Jim Lentz said: "Currently, we’re operating as multiple affiliates in a connected-but-independent way. In other words, we still have silos, and that’s slowing our decision-making processes. Our goal is to become not a group of dedicated affiliates, but one company -- One Toyota."

Lentz added: "Many roles will transfer, unchanged, to the new locations. Some new roles will be created, while others may evolve to meet the changing needs of the new organization."

It’s a bold move for Toyota, but one that they must believe will benefit the company going forward.

Canvey Carriage Company on Noiseless Motors

Canvey Carriage Company were pleased to read about new legislation this week that will make it mandatory for electric cars to make artificial engine noises. This is to aid blind and partially sighted people, to ensure they hear the cars coming, and was voted on in the European Parliament. They also decided that conventional petrol and diesel engines should make 25% less noise than they do currently.

Mandatory “acoustic vehicle alerting systems” (AVAS) will be install in all new electric and hybrid cars to protect vulnerable pedestrians and road users. Groups including Guide Dogs for the Blind have been lobbying for this system for a number of years, since electric and hybrid cars were introduced. All-electric cars, such as the Toyota Prius, currently emit very little sound when they’re in electric-only mode.

Liberal Democrat MEPs have successfully campaigned for the introduction of the AVAS to be a mandatory requirement; previous campaigns suggested a voluntary installation policy. Car manufacturers in the EU will now have five years to implement this change and comply with the ruling. The hope is that road accidents will be reduced, lowering injury and death rates.

It is generally agreed that quiet electric cars will become a common sight on our roads within the next few year, so it’s important to protect the interests of blind pedestrians, children and the elderly, who may be more vulnerable at the roadside. The AVAS will sound very similar to cars with regular combustible engines, which will allow all pedestrians to hear it and judge how safe it is to cross the road.

Conventional passenger cars will also be subject to change in the coming years since the European Parliament ruled to lower conventional passenger car noise by four decibels for cars, vans, buses and coaches, and three decibels for trucks. It is hoped that this will reduce noise nuisances caused by vehicles by around 25%.

Canvey Carriage Company on Eco-Friendly Cars

At Canvey Carriage Company we understand that fuel economy is an important topic. Potential buyers want to make sure they’re buying a car that will go easy on the bank balance throughout their relationship with it. Car firms are responding to this by producing ever-more fuel efficient cars. It is now common to see new cars returning more than 80 miles per gallon. Low CO2 emissions are also important, and if you purchase an eco-friendly car, you pay lower tax on it. The team at CanveyCarriage Company have compiled a guide to some of the most efficient and cheapest new cars money can buy.

Vauxhall Ampera/Chevrolet Volt - 27g/km

The Chevrolet and the Vauxhall combine an electric-drive and petrol-powered electricity generator for when the circa-40 mile range is exhausted, giving EV motoring without the range restrictions, and a staggering official combined economy figure of 235.4mpg. Pretty impressive!

Toyota Prius Plug-in - 49g/km

This is a regular Toyota Prius with the addition of batteries that can be charged from your mains electricity supply. Because they can store more electricity, they allow an all-electric range of up to 15 miles before the petrol engine kicks in. Thanks to this, the official combined consumption figure shoots up, to 134.5mpg.

Toyota Yaris Hybrid – 79g/km, 80.7mpg

The Yaris Hybrid is a combination of a 1.5 litre engine and electric motor drivetrain from the Prius and Auris with the lighter, more compact Yaris body. This lightness makes it even more fuel-efficient than it’s bigger siblings. It averages up to 81mpg and emitting just 79g/km CO2 - Toyota's lowest-ever figure. This car can travel for up to a mile on electric power alone.

Renault Clio 1.5 dCi 90 ECO – 83g/km, 88.3mpg

This car has a 1.5-litre diesel engine that’s capable of 88.3mpg and emits just 83g/km CO2. This is a stylish option for budget-conscious buyers. And when it comes to green credentials, it trumps the VW Polo BlueMotion and Ford Fiesta ECOnetic.

Hyundai i20 1.1 CRDi Blue – 84g/km, 88.3mpg

Hyundai have given their i20 supermini a facelift recently and these revisions include the new super-efficient diesel model, using the firm's excellent 1.1-litre three-cylinder engine. This car emits just 84g/km and averages an impressive 88.3mpg. Hyundai offer a great deal here with the greenest regular-engine road car, for one of the best-value prices on the road.

Canvey Carriage Company on Popular Car Colours

Here at Canvey Carriage Company, we love all things car. This week, we decided to take a look at most popular car colours amongst drivers and why some are more favoured than others.

While they may be less easy to spot in the dark, heat up more quickly in the sun and call to mind taxis and hearses, black cars are eternally popular in the UK. However, silver and blue cars continue to outstrip their darker brothers. A recent survey showed that around 29% of cars on the roads are silver, while 23% are blue.

The same survey also suggested that red and green cars have become less popular in recent years and that there was little difference between the sexes  in terms of car colour, though women were slightly more inclined towards blue and green vehicles.

Black cars are apparently more popular in the North East, while silver is preferred in Northern Ireland.  Yorkshire and Humberside tend towards red, and the West Midlands go for white cars. There weren’t many orange cars but they were more likely to be owned by older drivers in the South East. The higher the social status the more likely the driver was to own a silver car.

Does Car Colour Matter?

Canvey Carriage Company understand that cars mean different things to different people. It is true that the colour of your car can indicate various things about your lifestyle.

Status: Some feel that black or white cars denote status whilst those with orange, yellow or purple cars are trying to be whacky.

Sale: When it comes to reselling the car there are still two clear contenders for most saleable colours – silver and black. Sellers of purple or beige cars may struggle. Various police forces switched to silver cars a few years ago to cash in on better resale values.

Spick and span: One of the attractions of silver is the feeling that it is by far the easiest to keep clean or indeed appear to be clean. Black and white cars tend to show up the dirt.

Safest: Lighter colours are felt to be the safest. Yellow, white and then red topped the poll for safety. In bad light some colours are easier to spot than others hence the importance of using your lights when visibility is poor.

Sanest: A motoring psychologist has suggested that owners of beige or pastel coloured cars are more likely to suffer from depression. The happiest drivers have blue metallic cars. Owners of black cars try to top the pecking order whilst white car owners tend to be distant and aloof. Other psychologists suggest that silver denotes prestige and wealth but has a feminine energy; it is related to the moon and the ebb and flow of the tides - it is fluid, emotional, sensitive and mysterious. It is soothing, calming and purifying.

Suits: Some people argue that a certain colour may suit a particular model of car such as a red Ferrari or British Racing Green older MG. Others accept that more quirky cars (2CVs, Beetles) can get away with more exotic colours.

Canvey Carriage Company

Welcome to the new Canvey Carriage Company Blog!

This is the Canvey Carriage Company blog, where we will share the latest trends and stories in the world of motoring.

At Canvey Carriage Company we specialise in used cars and have a huge range of makes and models to suit your budget and lifestyle. We will offer tips and tricks for buying a used car.

We aim to update this blog at least once a week and in the meantime would love to hear from you in the comments box below, or via Twitter.