Ford and Toyota have tied with three vehicles each for leading in the most segments on
Strategic Vision’s Total Quality Index. The report, issued by the San Diego-based research
firm, is based on the ratings by new vehicle owners in 19 product segments. Toyota also
had two wins for associated brands, Lexus and Scion (a brand not sold in Canada), while
Ford added wins on behalf of Mercury (not sold in Canada) and Volvo.

The report asks buyers to rate all aspects of the ownership experience, from buying and
owning to performance and driving, and is more than just counting problems. “Innovation
and thoughtfulness in functionality and design, keeping in mind how the customers will
interact and use the vehicle, is essential,” said Dr. Darrel Edwards, founder and CEO of
Strategic Vision. “Vehicles like the Volvo C30 and Toyota Sequoia are both terrific examples
of providing customers with this ‘functional luxury’ in a very stylish design, suggesting
quality both on the inside and out.”

The top-rated vehicles in each segment, with their score out of 1,000 points, were
(all prices U.S.):

• Small car: Toyota Yaris (860)
• Small multi-function: Scion xB (876)
• Medium car: Volkswagen Jetta (911)
• Large car: Mercury Sable (877)
• Near-luxury car: Chrysler 300C (927)
• Luxury car: Mercedes-Benz S-Class (950)
• Small specialty under $25,000: Volvo C30 (908)
• Convertible under $30,000: Ford Mustang (896)
• Convertible over $30,000: Chevrolet Corvette (940), Mercedes-Benz SL-Class (939)
• Minivan: Honda Odyssey (864)
• Small SUV: Hyundai Santa Fe (866)
• Medium Crossover: Ford Edge (877)
• Medium SUV: Toyota 4Runner (891)
• Large SUV: Toyota Sequoia (897)
• Near-luxury SUV: Lexus RX350 (913), Land Rover LR2 (912)
• Luxury SUV: BMW X5 (907)
• Standard pickup: Honda Ridgeline (878)
• Large pickup: Chevrolet Avalanche 1500/Silverado 1500 (880 each)
• Heavy-duty pickup: Ford F250/F350 (863)

Sanyo Electric Co and Volkswagen AG said redently they would jointly develop lithium-ion
batteries, joining an intensifying race to provide the key component for the next generation
of hybrid cars.

Sanyo, which has the biggest global market share of lithium-ion batteries used in personal
computers and mobile phones, said it would spend 80 billion yen ($769 million) over the
next seven years for the project, aiming to begin mass production in 2009.

Top global automakers are all working on developing vehicle-use lithium-ion batteries to
replace nickel-hydride ones currently used in gasoline-electric hybrid cars, since they can
store more energy in lighter, smaller packs.

"Our focus in future will be directed more strongly at making electrically powered automobiles alongside ones driven by more efficient combustion engines," Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn said in a statement.

"This cooperation is an important step for us."

Europe is a tiny market for hybrid cars now, preferring cheaper diesel engines to reduce
carbon dioxide emissions and boost fuel efficiency. But new limits on CO2 emissions proposed
in Europe and due to take effect in 2012 will significantly raise the need for hybridization, a
Sanyo executive said.

The first lithium-ion batteries are due to be mounted on an Audi AG, Volkswagen's luxury car,
in 2010.

Production of the lithium-ion batteries will initially begin on a new manufacturing line to be
set up at Sanyo's Tokushima factory in western Japan. 

Sanyo will look for a new location for further production starting in the business year from
April 2010, to meet future demand of about 15,000 to 20,000 batteries a year, it said.

In view of anticipated demand in Europe, Sanyo was considering building a production base
there for lithium-ion batteries in future, Executive Vice President Mitsuru Honma said.

By 2015, Sanyo aims to boost production capacity to 10 million cells a month, enough for
1.7 to 1.8 million cars. That would give it a share of about 40 percent of a global hybrid
market that Sanyo estimates at 4 to 4.5 million vehicles by mid-decade. It includes
rechargeable plug-in hybrid vehicles, which Sanyo hopes to supply from 2011.

At the Geneva Motor Show in March, Volkswagen showcased its Golf TDI Hybrid concept,
which combines a high-tech diesel engine and an electric motor.

Sanyo and Volkswagen are currently collaborating on the next generation of nickel-metal
hydride systems. Sanyo has separately supplied batteries for hybrid vehicles made by Ford
Motor Co and Honda Motor Co.

Japan's Toyota Motor Corp, Nissan Motor Co and Mitsubishi Motors Corp have separate joint
ventures with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, the NEC Corp group and GS Yuasa Corp,
respectively, to mass-produce lithium-ion batteries.

Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, the listed unit of China's largest privately owned car maker,
will begin to sell vehicles in Turkey later this year, an industrial website reported recently.

Turkey's Anadolu Group will act as the local distributor for Geely. The vehicle, which is forecast
to be available for sale in August, will have a price tag of YTL 16,000 ($12,800).

Besides Geely, Anadolu Group is also the sales agency for Isuzu, Kia, AvtoVAZ and South Korea's
LS Industrial Co. Another Chinese homegrown automaker Chery already entered the Turkish
market last year with Mermerler Group.

Turkey is gradually growing as an export base for automotive manufacturers and auto-related
sub-industries for its strategic market location, low cost, tax breaks, abundance of skilled labor, customs union with the EU and high technology and know-how.

As of today, Turkey is the world's 17th-largest auto manufacturer. Its automotive production
plants have a combined annual production capacity of 1.5 million vehicles. It is the European
Union's leading manufacturer of passenger buses and third in trucks and commercial vehicles.

South Korea - Government Policy: South Korea may cut diesel tax to ease
energy costs

A top South Korean policy maker said recently  the government may lower taxes on diesel to
ease price pressure stemming from record high global oil prices and growing pressure from transportation and auto makers.

"Soaring oil prices are are a big concern...and the government should do something to ease
price pressure for those highly dependent on diesel," vice finance minister Choi Joong-kyung
said.

Truck drivers and bus associations as well as auto manufacturers have demanded the
government lower taxes on diesel, threatening strikes otherwise, or fare hikes which
would add further presure to already high inflation.

Construction work on a new city development near Seoul had been suspended this week
after truck drivers went on strike, demanding an increased subsidy on diesel, whose prices
have jumped 40 percent from 2007's average.

"Record high oil prices are causing a big headache to the transportation industry... and the
auto industry may also have to suspend production of some diesel-powered vehicles on
weakening demand," the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association said recentl,
demanding the government lower diesel tax.

It said sales of sport utility vehicles have fallen 18 percent in the first four months of this year.
Earlier this month South Korean SUV maker Ssangyong Motor Co said it planned to cut SUV
output for six weeks due to record oil prices.

South Korea levies 655 won per litre in tax on diesel, which amounts to one third of retail
prices. But any reduction in diesel taxes is unlikely to be huge as South Korea, which depends
heavily on energy imports to power Asia's fourth-largest economy, wants to keep the tax level relatively high to curb energy consumption.

In April, the country slashed import tariffs on oil products such as gasoline and fuel oil to 1
percent from 3 percent but kept import tariffs on crude oil and liquefied natural gas at 1
percent, turning away from its initial pledge to cut the duties, because of concerns over
tax revenue losses.

Oil prices have jumped nearly 40 percent this year, bolstered by a poor performing U.S. dollar
as well as growing fears about the industry's ability to keep pace with demand over the next
decade due to stagnating non-OPEC production growth.

Soaring fuel costs have triggered a wave of protests around the world, with convoys of trucks converging on London on Tuesday, while in France fishermen blocked road and rail access to
the fuel depot of the country's largest oil refinery at Gonfreville, owned by Total.

Cuts in diesel tax by South Korea might have the impact of heading off European-style fuel
protests but would be at odds with the approach by other governments in Asia which are
trying to damp down demand.

Over the past week administrations in Indonesia, Taiwan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have
either raised regulated fuel prices or pledged that they will, forced into the action by the unsustainable cost of subsidies.

Russia - Policy: Hyundai Aims for Slice of Russia's Booming Car Market

Russia's automobile market is growing fast, with some 3.19 million cars expected to be sold
there this year, up from one million in 2002 -- more than three-fold growth in just six years.
In fact Russia has become the world's fifth largest auto market, after the U.S., China, Japan
and Germany.

Russia is such a bonanza for global carmakers that it's being called the "second China." But
unlike Beijing, Moscow doesn't require foreign firms to set up 50-percent joint operations
with domestic companies. And while consumers in the mature markets of Europe, Japan
and the U.S. are increasingly turning away from larger cars due to stringent environmental
regulations and high gas prices, in Russia the nouveau riche, flush with oil money, are eager
for big luxury cars. So plentiful are automobiles that traffic congestion is a day-long event in
the metropolitan areas of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

With circumstances like these, it's little wonder carmakers are advancing into Russia. This is
one of the few countries in the world where nearly all the major global carmakers are competing
with few restrictions, according to Dmitri Sergeyev, a branch chief of Russia's biggest auto
dealer Rolf. He says companies that succeed in Russia have a shot at making it in the global
market.

Even more enticing to outside carmakers is the fact that Russia has no proper domestic car
brand, except for AvtoVAZ, maker of the low quality Lada. And while global firms have exported
autos to Russia, these days many manufacturers are building local plants.

Ford, which became one of the first to build a plant in St. Petersburg in 2002, has made it's
locally-produced Focus into a popular seller. Renault, which began producing its Logan compact
in Moscow in 1999, is also rising as a market leader.

Toyota has been producing the Camry at a local plant since late last year and plans to open
more plants across Russia in a few years, aiming for annual production capacity of 300,000
units. General Motors, Nissan and Suzuki will all complete plants for finished cars by late 2009
while Volkswagen will also begin manufacturing 150,000 cars in Moscow from next year.

Korea's Hyundai Motor has been operating a 180,000-unit capacity assembly and production
plant in Russia since 2001. On Thursday Hyundai broke ground on a 100,000-unit capacity
finished car plant in Kamenka in St. Petersburg, making it rather late to join the global
competition, as the tenth foreign carmaker. By the time Hyundai produces its first finished
car at the plant in 2011, the foreign carmakers there will be able to produce a total of 1.3
million units per year.

But Hyundai's performance in Russia has been promising. As of April, it ranks second in sales
among imported brands, behind GM's Chevrolet, with a 7 percent market share and high quality satisfaction.

It remains to be seen whether that performance can be sustained amid the unlimited
competition of market leaders. Vladimir Melnikov, a reporter for the prominent domestic journal
Auto Review, expressed optimism. Meeting with the Chosun Ilbo in St. Petersburg, he said
Hyundai has successfully planted a reputation for reliability in Russia and could well survive
the cutthroat competition. But noting the 10 percent price gap with similar models by market
leaders like Toyota, he said Hyundai must invest in sharpening its image as a high-end brand
if it is to continue its run in Russia for long.