Auto & Car Blog

Filed under: Hybrid, Toyota, Detroit Auto Show

Rumors of a separate brand to carry only hybrids has apparently been ruled out by Toyota. The brand and its dealerships would have carried the Prius logo that has become so synonymous with hybrid cars since Toyota introduced the world to the car in 1997. Previous rumors had indicated that Toyota would launch the Prius brand much as it had the Scion moniker a few years ago.

Despite the end of Prius-brand discussions, the automaker still has big plans for its line of hybrid vehicles. Autocar reports that a wagon, small MPV (like a minivan, but without sliding doors) and a coupe are all likely additions to the current 5-door hatchback that we all know and love.

Also off the table, at least according to Miguel Fonseca, Toyota managing director in the UK, are lithium ion batteries. Fonseca mimics what we’ve been hearing from the automaker for the last few years, that lithium ion units aren’t quite ready for mass production. Whatever the case, the third-gen Prius is still on target to debut in January at the Detroit Auto Show and is expected to be both larger and more efficient than the outgoing model.

[Source: AutoCar]

Prius sub-brand officially DOA originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Car Buying, Acura, Honda

The residual value of a car or truck can be a tricky proposition. The age, mileage, general condition and segment of of the vehicle makes a big difference in determining its value, and so does its brand. If you want a car with strong residual value, it wouldn’t hurt to buy a Honda, as the Japanese automaker has won it’s sixth consecutive Automotive Lease Guide residual award. Honda’s Acura division joined its less expensive sibling for the first time by taking the top spot for luxury vehicles, too, making it a clean sweep for team H-badge.

Toyota finished fourth overall in the voting, but the Japanese Juggernaut managed to win the most overall segment awards. Subaru has to be very pleased with its second place overall finish in residual values. Ford’s F-150 scored big with the best residuals in the light pickup truck market. Japanese automakers won 11 of the 18 overall segment awards, while U.S. automakers won or shared three segments. Hit the jump to view all the segment leaders in the ALG residuals listing.

[Source: Automotive Lease Guide]

Continue reading Big Surprise: Honda and Acura have best residual values

Big Surprise: Honda and Acura have best residual values originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Spy Photos, Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Toyota

Jalopnik is reporting this morning that images published last night on the web of what appeared to be the next-generation 2010 Toyota Prius are, in fact, the real deal. Toyota PR reportedly confirmed to the website that what we’re looking at is the same car that will be revealed in January at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. We’ve also included some spy shots in the gallery below that would seem to corroborate this.

As Damon pointed out last night, the new design is an evolution of the current model that incorporates some recent favorite styling cues of Toyota designers like the bulbous badge housing up front. The interior, however, is a marked step away from the current model’s spaceship controls, and thankfully eschews that car’s dash-mounted shifter for a new one properly placed on the buttressed center console. Mechanically speaking, the new Prius is expected to arrive with a more powerful gas engine, bigger electric motor and, despite continuing to use nickel-metal hydride rather than lithium-ion batteries, improved fuel efficiency. It is the Prius after all.

UPDATE: Toyota has confirmed publicly on its Open Road Blog that these shots are indeed the 2010 Prius.

[Source: Jalopnik, Thanks for the spy pics, Jason and Merritt!]

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Filed under: Hybrid, Toyota

What you are looking at here may well be the first unofficial, official image of the third (fourth according to Toyota) generation Toyota Prius. The original hybrid isn’t supposed to debut until we get to Detroit in January, but three images that look like they may well be authentic have turned up on Prius forum. The shape we see here certainly fits with the camouflaged spy photos we’ve seen so far. The basic shape looks much like the current Prius, but the front has been re-shaped. The nose of the car fits in with the look of other current Toyotas but doesn’t seem to carry over much from the Hybrid X concept that appeared at Geneva 2007. If these photos are to be believed the interior unfortunately also carries over the interior concept of the current car with the center mounted gauges. We’ve contacted Toyota for a comment, but we don’t seriously expect anything other than a no comment. If we do learn anything more we’ll be sure to let you know. Thanks to Rafih for the tip!

[Source: PriusChat]

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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Wagons/Estates, Euro, Paris Motor Show, Toyota

The Euro-only Toyota Avensis is reminiscent of the Lexus IS350 in the same way that you’d tell someone, “You kind of look like someone I know, but not really.” It’s the rising linear sideline, somewhat high and compact profile, and squared-off rear that do it. But that’s from a full-on side profile and around the back. Move around the front and it really just looks like a Toyota. The raked grille and molded lips in the front bumper are unexpected, as is the subtle sexiness of the wagon. Designed in France, the new Avensis grows a little over its predecessor by 5 cm in length and width. Under the hood, possibilities include three new Valvematic gasoline engines, and two diesels, while cogs can be swapped with a 6-speed manual or the dual-mode, Multidrive S automatic. Check out the exhaustive press release after the jump, and the high-res gallery of photos below.

Continue reading Paris 2008: Toyota’s new Avensis arrives

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Filed under: Car Buying, Toyota

Further proof that no automaker is immune to effects of the sales downturn in the U.S. comes as Toyota has just announced 0% financing on 11 of its models, including the hugely popular Camry and Corolla and a slew of SUVs and trucks. Last month, incentive-averse Toyota posted a drop in sales of over 30% compared to a year ago and the rest of the year isn’t expected to look much better. General Motors, which still posted a decline in sales, fared better than most of its rivals, including Toyota, thanks to aggressive incentives including its employee pricing for everyone.

Toyota itself is calling the move to offer 0% financing “unprecedented,” and indeed it is. Historically, the Japanese automaker has not needed to offer such sweeping deals to move its metal. It apparently has the cars, the means to finance them and just needs buyers. If you want in on the deal, it’s available until November 3. See the full press release from Toyota for more details after the break.

[Source: Toyota]

Continue reading The end is nigh: Toyota announces 0% financing on 11 models

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Filed under: Ferrari, Toyota

At some point everyone has probably heard the phrase “Tell me which side of the argument you are on and I will give you the statistics to prove you are right!” That is certainly true when applied to comments made by Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa at the Paris Motor Show this week. While speaking to reporters, Felisa claimed that Ferraris as a group produce fewer total emissions than Toyota Priuses. Now anyone who has ever seen a Ferrari fly by would surely have to question this claim, there is certainly some validity to it. But as usual Felisa comes by the statement by cherry picking certain useful facts and leaving everything else behind. The argument is based on the total number of vehicles times the miles driven times the emissions per mile. The keys are the first two data points. Toyota has at least two to three times as many Priuses in the past decade than the total number of cars to come from Maranello in the Italian company’s 61 year history. A large proportion of those Toyota hybrids are still on the road while many of the Ferraris are in Museums and other collections. Also Ferrari drivers who put more than just a few thousand miles on their cars annually are comparatively rare. So fewer cars and fewer miles means greener right? Well technically yes, but as usual the devil is in the details. In the grand scheme of things, the high cost of a Ferrari means the brand’s overall environmental impact is fairly negligible compared to mainstream cars. It’s probably all right to exempt low volume makers like Ferrari from some fuel efficiency standards. Still, making such an argument in general does come off looking rather silly.

[Source: Drive.com.au]

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The continued rise in gasoline prices as well as tighter rules on vehicle emissions are reviving automakers’ interests in alternative fuels specifically compressed natural gas or CNG. Toyota revealed plans to expand its line of alternatively-powered cars aside from the Prius by unveiling a new Camry Hybrid that will run on compressed natural gas rather […]

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Filed under: Aftermarket, SEMA, Tuners, Wagons/Estates, Crossovers/CUVs, Toyota

When you think about the Toyota Venza, we doubt the first thing that comes to mind is customization. But that hasn’t stopped Toyota from tapping Street Image, Inc. and long-time partner Five Axis to create a duo of Venza project cars for November’s SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

The two low-slung crossovers (don’t call them wagons) attempt to highlight and accentuate the active lifestyles of the Venza’s core demographic, beginning with the Street Image variant (above) that boasts an upgraded engine and brakes, massive rollers, a lowered ride height, body kit, a black/burgundy interior and a sat-nav-equipped entertainment system. Toyota says the Street Image SportLux version attempts “to give the occupants the feel of a refined sports car while retaining the Venza’s utility and functionality.” We say, good luck.

Five Axis makes a slightly more compelling case for customizing the Venza with a stow-away rack system created by Magna Car Top Systems that can transport everything from bicycles to skis. New front and rear bumpers, wider fenders and pot-hole averse 20×10.5-inch wheels round out the exterior mods on the Venza AS V.

We’ll be checking out both models in Vegas in a few weeks, but check the gallery below now for a preview.

[Source: Toyota Open Road Blog]

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Filed under: Etc., Chevrolet, GM, Honda, Toyota

Bloggers love environmentally friendly cars. Or so it seems, according to research performed by J.D. Power and Associates. The most commonly referenced brands in blog posts over the last six months are Toyota, Honda and General Motors. This shouldn’t come as shocking news, considering that the Toyota Prius, Honda Insight and Chevy Volt are all hot topics right now and are all expected to be thoroughly redesigned or first introduced within the next few years. Naturally, then, these are the brands that are getting the most publicity and are likely the ones that you are most interested in hearing about.

Not all of the blog posts were positive, though, and JDP therefore kept separate numbers for each manufacturer counting how many good things were written about their sustainability and efforts to reduce global warming. The surprising winner of that group was Nissan, though that brand only got two percent of all mentions overall. We blog, they watch, we blog. Fun!

[Source: The Car Connection]

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Filed under: Biodiesel, Emerging Technologies, Ethanol, Hybrid, Toyota, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily

As we gathered sleepily in the conference rooms early in the morning, host John Hanson said that Toyota’s hope with this one-day seminar was to present the complexity of the sustainability mobility situation and to highlight the challenges that the world is dealing with. The solution is not just the cleaner-than-they-used-to-be four-wheeled vehicles that Toyota is building, but also its partnerships and transportation alternatives, a reduction in how much energy and resource we use, better regulations, and so on and so on and so on. Seriously. By 3 p.m., our heads were swimming but still, Toyota succeeded in Hanson’s stated goal. The six or so hours of presentations and Q&A sessions provided a lot of answers and raised a few questions about just what we’re going to do in the coming decades. If nothing else, we learned that Toyota is thinking about the problem.

Follow us past the jump for the full story.

Continue reading Toyota Sustainable Mobility Seminar morning sessions: the bad news

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Filed under: Solar, Toyota

Solar power is nothing new to Toyota, but the company’s latest solar array does offer something new to North America: the largest such single-roof installation on the continent.

According to Toyota, a new huge solar set-up (it covers 242,000 square feet and is made up of more than 10,000 modules) is gearing up for an early October start on the roof of Toyota’s North America Parts Center California (NAPCC), located in Ontario, Calif. This solar farm is bigger than any other such installation and will produce 3.7 million kilowatts a year, almost 60 percent of the energy needed at the NAPCC. The installation was put up by SunPower. In related news, two Toyota dealerships were awarded LEED status, with more on the way. Click past the break for the details.

[Source: Toyota]

Continue reading Toyota will put North America’s largest single-roof solar installation on CA parts center

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Filed under: Economy, Hybrids/Alternative, Minivans/MPVs, Hatchbacks, Toyota

Toyota developed an all-new architecture for its iQ city car, but in an effort to defray the costs the automaker will be using the platform to underpin three new models.

The first will be the next-generation Yaris, due out in 2011, which will be packaged more efficiently to improve interior volume and be a more competent competitor to the Honda Fit. A new hybrid model is also in the works that takes aim at another Honda - the new 2009 Insight - while a seven-seat people mover is also slated to be built atop the iQ’s architecture.

MotorTrend sat down with the iQ’s chief engineer, Hiroki Nakajima, to discuss a half-dozen innovative packaging solutions employed on the city car, including a differential moved to the front of the engine to allow more interior room, a higher-mounted steering rack and wiper motor assembly, a smaller, more efficient climate control system and a flat, thin fuel tank that lies beneath the passenger seats.

All these innovations have cost some serious coin to develop, but over the iQ’s lifetime, along with the implementation of these systems on other models, Toyota is confident that the expense is worth it for both the automaker and consumers.

[Source: MotorTrend]

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Filed under: Car Buying, Lexus, Toyota

The US auto industry has hit a serious slump in 2008, with overall sales estimated drop by two million vehicles compared to 2007. Even the mighty Toyota has seen sales slip by 7.8%, which is better than the industry average, but a far cry from annual increases of 10%. And times may not improve in 2009 either, as the credit crunch and mortgage crisis have conspired to kick the auto industry in the pants. Toyota sales boss Jim Lentz says the mortgage crisis is the main culprit of tough sledding for the Japanese automaker. Florida and California, which account for 30% of overall Toyota Sales, have been especially hard hit by decreased home values. Lexus sales have been hit hard, too, as one third of all of purchasers in the Sunshine State use home equity to buy their luxury vehicles. It doesn’t take an accounting degree to know that houses are typically assets and cars are almost always liabilities. That large amounts of people who were using home equity to purchase cars is disturbing, and it’s likely a trend that isn’t unique to Toyota.

Toyota does see light at the end of the tunnel, as the Japanese automaker expects the US population to grow by 32 million in the next decade. Toyota also expects the rate of affluent customers to rise, which means more people with more money will want to buy a new car or truck. For the near term, since housing has gone nowhere but down and lenders are having trouble coming up with money, we’re guessing the car market will be taking a hit for quite a while.

[Source: Detroit News]

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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Government/Legal, Green, Chevrolet, GM, Toyota

Automotive News reports that Toyota is preparing a statement for a congressional hearing on the progress of EVs, the results of which could influence legislation that gives a big $7,500 tax credit to any hybrid with a battery pack rated at 6 kilowatt-hours of electricity or more. Toyota argues that the legislation is too restrictive and redefines what a hybrid is since the only vehicle eligible (that we know about) would be the 2011 Chevy Volt with its 16 killowatt-hour battery pack, though Toyota never calls out the series hybrid by name.

For reference, the current Toyota Prius uses a battery pack that generates 1.3 killowatt-hour, and judging by the Japanese automaker’s reaction to this legislation, we doubt that its plug-in hybrid electric Prius currently under development uses a battery pack powerful enough, either. Nevertheless, there could be other hybrids being developed besides the Volt that would be eligible, which would poke a big hole in Toyota’s argument. Also, as AutoblogGreen points out, this legislation will likely change many times before it becomes law.

The government is right, however, to put higher restrictions on what is eligible for a tax credit of this size. Current hybrid tax credits have topped out around $3,000, with the largest on record being for the Prius itself at $3,150. If the government is considering offering more than twice that amount for future hybrids, then we think it’s fair they raise the bar on what should be eligible.

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req’d]

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Manufacturing/Plants, Japan, USA

Although Japanese battery makers currently have plans to greatly expand their production capacity at home, it seems this still isn’t enough and America seems to be the destination of choice for some new manufacturing plants. One of the companies planning on creating some green-collar jobs in the U.S. is GS Yuasa Corp. Their president, Makoto Yoda said, “Named must your fear be before banish it you can. We have to choose our next factory’s location based on growth in the given market.” While not a household brand name for most Americans, GS Yuasa’s automotive partner, Mitsubishi, is sure to ring a bell. They are using lithium ion batteries from GS Yuasa in their all-electric i MiEV which is soon to be tested in California. Although they have not yet committed to selling this car stateside, this announcement is sure to raise hopes.

Another company with American battery factory plans is Toyota. Having already announced plans to build Priuses in Mississippi in 2010, the world’s biggest automaker believes manufacturing batteries here will help them achieve their cost reduction goals. Toyota has been able to reduce it’s per vehicle cost by 50 percent since its first-gen Prius and hopes to halve those costs again in their next-gen. Of the decision company vice chairman Kazuo Okamoto said, “It is very difficult to make the main parts of batteries outside Japan, but we have to have battery production in North America,” No time table for the plants were given but when they arrive we think they will help provide both employment and environmental wins for America.

[Source: Bloomberg / Reuters]

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Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Hybrid, Toyota

Yeah, you’ve seen plenty of companies add plug-in capability to the Toyota Prius. Generally speaking, the battery pack is enlarged to allow for greater range when operating in electric only mode and a charging system is added which allows the vehicle to be charged by plugging into a standard outlet. Of course, this is all harder than it sounds! The standard Prius is only capable of charging its batteries using the on-board internal combustion engine or under regenerative braking and is equipped with nickel metal hydride batteries. The standard batteries are usually swapped for a new pack of lithium ion batteries, which carry a greater energy density than the older nickel based batteries.

Lithium Technology Corporation has gone one step further and used a new type of lithium battery that they have developed. The composition of the batteries is different and they are known as lithium iron phosphate cells, and are considered to be safer than the more common types of lithium ion batteries. These batteries are not completely new, but have never been made in sizes this large before. With these new batteries, LTC was able to demonstrate 125 miles per gallon equilavent with their converted Prius. No price was mentioned in the article, but I expect that the batteries added a substantial amount of money to the cost of the car.

[Source: Gizmag]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

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A brief introduction to Toyota Altezza. Altezza was introduced to compete against the BMW 3 Series and the Nissan Skyline/Infiniti G. The first-generation Altezza (codename XE10) was launched in Japan in October 1998, while the Lexus IS 200 made its debut in Europe in 1999 and the IS 300 in North America in 2001.
All car […]

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This is the second priciest car that Toyota has sold after sedan Lexus LS. The car can catch zero to 60 in 5.5 seconds with its powerful engine delivering 438 horsepower. Some other latest automotive technologies like Bluetooth and voice activation…

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We had recently reported on the fact that Toyota was planning to cut the cost of hybrid vehicles but contrary to this the company has launched its most expensive gasoline-electric vehicle ‘ the $124,000 luxury sedan Lexus LS’ in Japan….

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