23 May 2011
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NHTSA closes Corolla steering investigation with no defects found

2009 Toyota Corolla XRS

Toyota has dodged a bullet after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration closed its investigation of the power steering system in the 2009-2010 Corolla without finding a defect. To say another recall is the last thing Toyota needs right now would be putting it lightly.

In fact, Toyota should be enjoying a decent boost in consumer confidence after NHTSA also said that the company’s electronic throttles were not to blame for the 2009-2010 recall fiasco. Despite increased consumer confidence, Toyota still has to deal with a setback in the form of parts shortages thanks to the Japanese earthquake disaster.

[Source: Reuters | Images: Copyright Dan Roth / AOL]

 

23 May 2011
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Toyota and Subaru to unveil production sport coupes in Tokyo?

Scion FR-S Concept

Scion FR-S Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

The wait is over… almost. According to a report from Inside Line that jives with what we’ve been hearing ourselves, Toyota (or Scion, or both) and Subaru are set to use the Tokyo Motor Show to jointly unveil the hotly anticipated rear-wheel-drive sport coupes that they have been working on together since what seems like the beginning of time.

Yes, that means we need to sit back and keep waiting until December, but at least it’s some sort of real real date to mark on the calendar, right? Until then, you’ll just have to be content with what is sure to be an endless series of spy shots and leaked information on the affordable sportscar duo.

Inside Line also offers something of a timetable for production, saying that the Scion FR-S will hit American shores sometime in 2012 (rather nebulous, no?) while the unnamed Subaru version will begin production in the spring of the same year.

Gallery: Scion FR-S Concept: New York 2011

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[Source: Inside Line | Images: Copyright 2011 Drew Phillips / AOL]

23 May 2011
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7th-generation Camry coming this fall, Prius expected to take top sales spot

2011 toyota camry

2010 Toyota Camry – Click above for high-res image gallery

The current Toyota Camry has been carrying the mid-size sedan torch since 2006, so it’s high time for a remake. According to WardsAuto.com, Toyota is busily prepping the next-generation car, and it could be here by the fall.

The Japanese automaker has been seeing increased pressure from the latest offerings coming out of Korea and the United States, and now it’s time to update its own high-volume money maker. While Toyota sold 327,084 Camrys in 2010 – still at the very front of the midsize family sedan class – that figure represents the lowest sales total for the vehicle since 1994.

Somewhat interestingly, though, Toyota apparently sees the Prius hybrid range taking over for the Camry as Toyota’s best-selling model. Time, as they say, will tell.

[Source: Autoblog]

23 May 2011
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Toyota Announces its Own Social Network

The automaker has announced that it’s creating a…


There isn’t a Trent Reznor score attached to this story, but Toyota must’ve finally received The Social Network courtesy of its Netflix queue. The automaker has announced that it’s creating a virtual online hangout of its own. Dubbed Toyota Friend, the service will connect Toyota owners with a shared love for the Japanese automaker.

Toyota has teamed up with cloud computing solutions company Salesforce.com. One of the tech firms products is called Salesforce Chatter, which is a private social network designed to allow a specific group to communicate. For the automaker’s purposes, Toyota Friend will allow vehicle owners to interact with dealers, the manufacturer and each other. In fact, Toyota Friend will even connect owners to their cars by tapping into the vehicles telematic systems.

Initially, Toyota Friend will roll out to Japanese customers. Specifically those that have purchased 2012 model year electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

This partnership involves more than shared technology. Toyota is investing 442 million yen (approximately $5.4 million USD) into the company that oversees the application of the automaker’s global cloud computing development, which is called Toyota Media Services. Salesforce is supplying 223 million yen ($2.7 million USD). Additionally, Microsoft has agreed to provide 335 million yen ($4.1 million USD) as part of the recently announced strategic partnership between the computing giant and Toyota.

Source: AutoBlog

18 May 2011
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Spy Shots: Scion FR-S sprouts a wing at the ‘Ring

Scion FR-S spy shots

Scion FR-S spy shots – Click above for high-res image gallery

 

A lot can change in two days. Remember that Scion FR-S prototype we spied heading to the Nürburgring earlier this week? Well, it’s turned into the car you see here, now complete with a more aggressive body kit and a proper wing out back.
Adding the body kit makes the FR-S look much more like the concept car that debuted in New York, and while that big rear spoiler will certainly look more appropriate on the Subaru-badged version of the FT-86 joint venture, it still makes us swoon. (Supra Turbo, anyone?)
We fully expect to see more of the Toyobaru rear-wheel-drive sport coupe as it goes through the full gauntlet of summer testing. Stay tuned for more information as the swirly camouflage gets peeled away.

Gallery: Scion FR-S: Spy Shots

  • Scion FR-S: Spy Shots Scion FR-S: Spy Shots Scion FR-S: Spy Shots
  • Scion FR-S: Spy Shots Scion FR-S: Spy Shots Scion FR-S: Spy Shots Scion FR-S: Spy Shots
[Images: CarPix]

18 May 2011
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Spy Shots: Scion FR-S caught prepping for ‘Ring runs

spy shots scion fr-s

Spy Shots: Scion FR-S – Click above for high-res image gallery

We’ve been waiting, rather patiently we might add, for Toyota to bring out its latest sports car for what seems like millenniums. This new coupe will be wearing a Scion badge and go by the name FR-S, which stands for “front-engine, rear-wheel-drive sport.” It’s the “R” and “S” that has enthusiasts eager to lay eyes on this Scion in the flesh. A concept version was trotted out at the 2011 New York Auto Show, but spy photographers managed to capture a camo-covered development mule adding “Germany” to the stamps in its passport book.

What specific area of Germany, you ask? Just a little town called Nürburg, which is home to a slice of asphalt you may have heard of before. This means Toyota engineers are fine-tuning the sports car, and the Nürburgring is sure to provide lots of data points for them to dissect. Data points make engineers happy, and happy engineers make fun-to-drive cars.

Looking over the pics, it appears those engineers have ditched the concept’s rear diffuser but added in a rear spoiler. We can’t wait to see what else is in store once that swirls come off.

Check out the spy photos of the Scion FR-S by clicking through the gallery below.

Gallery: Scion FR-S: Spy Shots

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[Images: KGP Photography, CarPix]

18 May 2011
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Official: 2012 Toyota Prius V still on track for U.S. launch this fall

Toyota Prius V
2012 Toyota Prius V – Click above for high-res image gallery
False alarm, Prius fans. According to Toyota, the Prius V MPV is on track to hit the market as scheduled. Reports recently began circulating indicating that the Japanese automaker was delaying the vehicle’s launch due to the lingering impact of this year’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters. Word was that a battery shortfall was causing the hold-up, though the manufacturer has now confirmed that the large hybrid will debut this fall as originally scheduled.

Unfortunately, the arrival of the Japanese-market Prius Alpha is still slated to experience a delay of indeterminate length. Hit the jump for the brief press release.

Gallery: 2012 Toyota Prius V

  • 2012 Toyota Prius V 2012 Toyota Prius V 2012 Toyota Prius V 2012 Toyota Prius V
  • 2012 Toyota Prius V 2012 Toyota Prius V 2012 Toyota Prius V 2012 Toyota Prius V

[Source: Autoblog]

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18 May 2011
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Toyota Tundra earn IIHS Top Safety Pick Award

Like their body-on-frame SUV cousins, full-size pickup trucks are more prone to roll over than a standard passenger car. That’s exactly why it’s so important to have a vehicle that earns good marks in roof-strength tests. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has just released the data on its recent volley of tests on full-size pickup trucks, and both the 2011 Ford F-150 and 2011 Toyota Tundra earned the coveted Top Safety Pick designation. The vehicles earned the highest possible rating of ‘good’ in the institutes crush test, where a large steel plate is pressed against one corner of the roof to calculate a strength-to-weight ratio.

Meanwhile, the 2011 Nissan Titan took home an acceptable rating in the rollover evaluation while the 2011 Chevrolet Silverado, 2011 GMC Sierra and 2011 Ram 1500 netted marginal scores.

IIHS says that the roof on the Toyota Tundra stood up to 4.5 times the truck’s weight while the F-150 handled 4.7 times the pressure. A vehicle must withstand 4 times its weight before five-inches of crush is detected before being awarded a Good rating.

[Source: IIHS, Autoblog]

18 May 2011
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More Details on the 2012 Toyobaru

Toyota and Subaru plan to formally unveil their versions of the jointly developed “Toyobaru” in…

Toyota and Subaru plan to formally unveil their versions of the jointly developed “Toyobaru” in December at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Show. While Toyota will market its version of the new boxer-engined, rear-drive sports coupe in North America next year as the Scion FR-S, the Subaru 2.0-liter coupe is slated to begin production in spring 2012, with U.S. sales to begin soon after.

The car’s production launch comes nearly four years after the program was announced in April 2008. Since then, several prototypes have been displayed at international auto shows, with the FR-S unveiled last month at the 2011 New York Auto Show, following the March introduction of its sibling, the Toyota FT-86 II, at the 2011 Geneva Auto Show. Also in Geneva, Subaru showed a transparent concept detailing the car’s boxer engine, rear-drive architecture and suspension.

Although Subaru has made all-wheel drive an integral part of its brand DNA, the sports car is built on a unique rear-wheel-drive platform, and Japanese sources familiar with the program say there are no plans for an AWD version, as per Subaru’s iconic Impreza WRX STI. Nor is a turbocharged version of Subaru’s latest high-revving 2.0-liter four-cylinder flat-4 envisioned, since the whole concept of the coupe is decidedly Old School.

The Toyobaru aspires to be a 2012 reboot of the original born-to-drift AE86 Corolla. Under the joint development program, Toyota is handling product planning and design, while Subaru is in charge of development and production. There will effectively be one model for both companies, with yet-to-be-defined styling differences to set them apart.

Beyond the coupe, there has been considerable speculation that further developments are planned — a convertible, for instance, though sources in Japan also talk of a compact sedan to target the BMW 1 Series.

The motivating force behind this compact rear-drive sports-car program (as well as the Lexus LFA) is Toyota boss Akio Toyoda, an unashamed auto enthusiast who loves high-speed driving. Along with other Toyota engineers, he has wanted to do a new AE86 Corolla for years.

Subaru, in turn, is immensely proud of its latest-generation boxer engine, and the program at last gives it the chance to do a meaningful collaboration.

Source: InsideLine

15 May 2011
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Toyota Bumps BMW as World’s Top Auto Brand

Despite its long reputation for quality having been sullied by safety defects…

Despite its long reputation for quality having been sullied by safety defects that triggered millions of recalls over the past year, beleaguered Japanese automaker Toyota somehow has managed to overtake BMW as the world’s most valuable automotive brand, according to global advertising giant WPP.

The results were part of the annual BrandZ Top 100 study released this week by WPP’s research subsidiary Millward Brown, which values the Toyota brand at $24.1 billion and said, “Toyota has successfully proven that having a brand that consumers trust and are loyal to can help companies survive crises.”

The study placed BMW’s brand value at $22.4 billion and that of number-three Mercedes-Benz at $15.3 billion.

Ford is the most valuable U.S. automotive brand, at $7.4 billion, and the only Detroit-based automaker to crack the top 10, according to Millward Brown, placing eighth behind Honda, Porsche, Nissan and VW and ahead of Audi and Lexus.

Toyota, however, still has a long way to go to catch Apple, the world’s number-one brand, according to Millward Brown, with a brand value of $153 billion.

Source: Inside Line

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