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The Lexus CT 200h launched in Australia since March of this year, and this hybrid hatch has won a prestigious Australia’s Best Cars Awards in its first year on the market. The CT 200h took honours in the Best Small Car over $35,000 category, ahead of diesel-powered rivals from Europe.

Judges from the motoring clubs of each Australian state assessed in excess of 200 vehicles against 19 criteria under the criteria of value for money, design, and road performance.

The Lexus CT 200h is powered by a 1.8-litre petrol electric full-hybrid drivetrain. The Lexus CT 200h consumes just 4.1 litres of fuel for every 100km and emit 95 grams of CO2/km. Safety and operating economy were given strong consumer weighting in the year-long evaluation.

Lexus Australia chief executive Tony Cramb said that the Best Car Award for CT 200h was a vote of confidence for Lexus’ newest hybrid.

“Lexus is the only luxury manufacturer to offer a range of hybrid vehicles in Australia and this award only serves to reinforce the importance of this technology now and in the future,” Mr Cramb said.

“CT 200h was the first vehicle in its class to offer hybrid and the first to bring leading safety features, such as Pre-Collision Safety System to the small car market.

“Furthermore, CT 200h is a hybrid that backs up its environmental credentials with great driving dynamics and proves that a small economical luxury hatch can be fun to drive.

“Since launch CT 200h has firmly established itself as a true competitor in its class by offering an innovative driveline, superior specification, outstanding value and access to Lexus’ industry-leading service and support programs,” Mr Cramb said.

The award for CT 200h also comes of the back of strong sales results, with the hybrid hatch posting the highest sales for any luxury hatch in the month of October.

Photo Gallery: Lexus CT 200h Australia

Yesterday, Toyota announced that the global vehicle production of Toyota has recovered to pre-tsunami levels as of last month.

The massive Japan earthquake and tsunami on March 11 in northeastern Japan disrupted production of Toyota and other automakers because parts suppliers in northeastern Japan were damaged.

Toyota initially said it didn’t expect production to return to normal until late this year.

It said in June that production would be nearly back to normal in July. In August, it said it would be completely recovered in September. The latest confirmation highlights Toyota’s ability to bounce back.

Furthermore, Toyota workers will be racking up overtime and doing extra shifts in coming months to make up for lost production from the disaster. 

Toyota Motor Corp. announced to maintain limited output at half capacity in Japan from May 10 to June 3 in the course of a supply crunch following the magnitude 9.0-earthquake and tsunami on March 11 at north-eastern Japan.

The world’s No. 1 automaker said it still remained unclear when the company would return to full production in Japan. Toyota spokeswoman Shiori Hashimoto said the company was struggling to secure around 150 types of auto parts. Moreover, the twin disasters have caused Toyota a production loss of 260,000 cars. Hashimoto added that Toyota will decide later on production plans after June 6.

So far, Toyota has shut down all output in Japan except at three plants, which are running at limited capacity to produce the Prius, two Lexus hybrids and Corolla vehicles.

The company will resume production at all its Japanese plants at half capacity from April 18 to 27, and then halt output from April 28 to May 9, a period that includes Golden Week holidays when factories would normally close.

Although, Toyota had announced on end of last week that production will resume in Japan at half of its capacity. In the other hand, Toyota Motor Corp. said yesterday that it will suspend production in Europe for 8 days due to parts shortages following last month’s massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The move underscored how the supply crunch in the wake of the March 11 twin massive disasters is affecting Toyota’s operations beyond Japan. The world’s No. 1 automaker announced last week it would suspend car production in North America in April.

Toyota said it will halt European output at 5 plants on 8 days between April 21 and May 2 – auto assembly factories in Britain, France and Turkey, and engine plants in Britain and Poland. After the stoppages, the plants will run at limited capacity in May.

The magnitude-9.0 massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami on March 11 destroyed auto parts factories in northeastern Japan, causing severe shortages for Toyota and other automakers. Probably now is not the best time to buy a car.

The Associated Press is reporting that Toyota will resume car production at all its plants in Japan at half capacity from April 18 to 27. The move follows the March earthquake and tsunami that forced it to halt manufacturing due to shortages of parts and power.

Toyota, the world’s No. 1 automaker, said production at its 18 plants will then halt from April 28 to May 9, a period that includes Golden Week holidays when factories would normally close.

Toyota said the parts shortage has been gradually improving but it is still struggling to get around 150 types of parts. Toyota previously said there were shortages of about 500 types of components. The automaker has suffered a production loss of 260,000 cars from March 14 through to Friday.

There are problems with parts supply. But each day, we are doing our utmost to improve the conditions so that we can deliver cars to many customers, Toyota president Akio Toyoda said at the automaker’s Nagoya office in central Japan.