Toyota
Toyota To Begin Sudden Acceleration Trials In February 2013
Toyota will begin its first trial related to its sudden-acceleration issues in February 2013, says a U.S. District judge. The first of the lawsuits will happen in federal court, and will pertain to a 2010 crash that killed two people in a 2008 Camry. The families of the victims are suing Toyota, alleging that a…
Toyota Dealer Targets Guinness World Record for Longest Hybrid Parade
A group of green car enthusiasts are looking to set a Guinness World Record in Madison, Wisconsin on Sunday, July 24 for the longest hybrid vehicle parade. The event know as Hybrids On Parade, will allow hybrid owners from throughout the Midwest to converge in Madison with 500 hybrids stretching over six miles to break…
Honda, Toyota Falling Behind in Key Market Segments
According to Eric Nobel, of the Orange, California based consulting firm The Car Lab, both Honda and Toyota are losing ground because their products haven’t been competitive in crucial market segments since the first half of the last decade.
All-New Toyota Tacoma to Arrive Before Year’s End
Believe it or not, they still build the Toyota Tacoma. And like other formerly-compact compact trucks, it’s been neglected for some time now: 2005 was the last major redesign. But according to Ward’s Automotive, Marty McFly can lust after a new Toyota truck as soon as this year. Toyota division chief Bob Carter told Ward’s Auto…
Nissan And Chevrolet Drivers Have Highest Car-Crash Death Rates
In a report released today by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers of sport-utility vehicles, had the highest instances of death in crashes because of rollovers, however they are now those with the highest probability of survival. In fact, drivers of Nissan’s 350Z sports car and the Titan pickup as well as GM’s Chevrolet…
Toyota Prius, Venza and Sienna Recalled
Toyota has announced a recall on 52,000 2001-2003 Prius’ as well as a handful of Venza and Sienna vehicles. The recall is regarding the possibility of nuts securing the pinion shaft for the steering box assembly. These nuts may become loose from repeated full-lock turning of the steering wheel. Toyota says that over time, the…
Future Of Toyota Matrix In Doubt, Even With Strong Sales in Canada
With Matrix sales slumping in the U.S, Toyota may not invest in a next-generation version when the 2013 Corolla hits dealerships. Only 14,592 Toyota Matrix’s were sold last year in the U.S which is down from 66,836 units in 2002. Matrix sales are still doing well in Canada, but Corolla sales are double that of…
Top 10 Selling Cars in May: Honda and Toyota Absent from List
The May auto industry sales numbers are in and things continue to look down for Honda and Toyota. Both brands saw big drops in their May sales, with Honda down 23 percent and Toyota down 33 percent. While the earthquake and tsunami are to blame for supply issues, it’s hard to ignore the fact that…
Subaru FT-86 Variant Won’t Get a Turbo: Report
Subaru’s version of the Toyota FT-86 front-engine, rear-wheel drive sports coupe will finally debut at this December’s Tokyo Auto Show. Toyota will sell its version as a Scion in the U.S. As for the Subaru model, well, according to the latest reports, there won’t be a powerful, turbocharged STI version. Subaru has planned to produce…
FT-86 Rumored to Wear ‘Celica’ Badge
Perhaps the fact that there’s more interest in the car’s name than what’s under the hood is a sign that the Toyota FT-86 will be a bigger hit with hard-parkers than track fanatics. According to an unsubstantiated report by the notoriously rumor-filled AutoCar, the FT-86 could wear the ‘Celica’ badge when it makes in to…
Toyota Prius Recalled for Power Steering Issue
Toyota has announced a recall on its first generation Prius models for an issue with the power steering system. The recall affects 52,000 Prius vehicles from the 2001 to 2003 model year sold in the U.S. In total 106,000 Prius models are included in the safety bulletin globally. According to a statement released by Toyota,…
Despite A Slow May, Auto Sales Expected To Reach Highest Level Since 2008
Nevertheless, the overall outlook remains optimistic. Among the automakers; Toyota says it expects production to return to around 70 percent of normal levels by June, while Honda says it will resume full capacity by August.
Lotus Looking to Partner With a Major Automaker Says Company CEO
Lotus CEO Dany Bahar has made numerous changes to the storied British brand since he joined the company in 2009 and he’s not done yet. In a recent interview he made known his desire to see Lotus split off from its current Malaysian owner Proton, in search of a major global automaker – like Toyota….
Toyota Hands Over Development Clout to U.S. Operations
Toyota is taking product development authority away from Japanese bosses and putting it in the hands of North American executives as part of a larger change aimed at fixing quality control issues that hurt the automaker’s reputation last year. Until now, vehicles produced and designed and developed in North America had to be approved by…
Mazda Marks Production Of 3 Million Mazda3 Compacts
Mazda announced today they have reached a production milestone of three million Mazda3 units as of April 26, 2011. The car is built in three factories (Japan, China, Thailand) and sold in roughly 90 countries and regions. In North America alone, over 1.1 million Mazda3s have been sold, becoming the fastest-selling model in Mazda’s…
Toyota To Add Wrong Way Driving Alert To Navigation Systems
Toyota will be adding a function to its onboard navigation systems that gives on-screen and voice alerts to wrong way drivers. The system was developed with Aisin AW Co., Ltd. and Denso Corporation and the function will monitor the vehicle’s direction. This system will work on highways and selected toll roads, including tollgates, service area…
Hyundai-Kia Will Overtake Honda and Toyota In May
Hyundai–Kia will outsell Toyota and Honda in May sales, according to TrueCar. TrueCar expects Hyundai-Kia to sell 115,434 units in May. This number represents an increase of 43.4 percent over May 2010 making the Korean group a 10.9 percent market share putting it number three behind Ford and GM. Hyundai-Kia has gathered a momentum caused…
Toyota Claims 90% of Production Capacity By This Month, 100% In August
Toyota’s plans to resume full production capacity have been reported pretty frequently, but they are moving on track faster than those reports suggest: the world’s largest automaker believes that it can bring Japanese production back to 90% of pre-earthquake levels, by next month. Toyota also believes that given until August, production will be right where…
Toyota FT-86 / Scion FR-S Spied Sans Wing [Video]
Spied last week sporting a rather suitable-looking Supra-esque spoiler, the Toyota FT-86/Scion FR-S has been nabbed again, this time without the Fast & Furious flare. Believed to be in the final stages of development, the FT-86 is powered by a 2.0-liter Subaru-sourced Boxer engine mated to a Toyota direct-injection system and is believed to make…
2012 Toyota Camry to Bow This Fall
The most popular mid-size sedan in the North American market is the Toyota Camry, and later this year we should see an all-new model. The seventh generation model is set to debut this fall, as indicated by Toyota’s vice-president and general manager Bob Carter. Toyota sold 327,804 Camry’s last year, and while that would be…
Mazda RX-9 Could Get Hybrid Technology From Toyota
Here’s a fun question for your upcoming pub quiz: name the only hybrid rotary car ever produced. If you named the Mazda Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid, then congratulations! But next year you might be able to name the RX-8’s successor, the aptly-named RX-9, as another car that’s hybrid Wankelin’. According to Mazda’s Hiroshima headquarters, the…
Hyundai Plug-In Hybrid To Debut In 2013, Targeted At Toyota Prius
Hyundai will apparently launch a competitor to the Toyota Prius in 2013, but the new hybrid Hyundai will be a plug-in hybrid vehicle from the get-go, unlike its Japanese rival, which is slowly rolling out its own plug-in variant. While the news came from an anonymous source within Hyundai, the Korean automaker is making a…
2012 Toyota Prius v Gets Improved 42-MPG Average Fuel Economy
After first introducing the Prius v at the Detroit Auto Show in January, Toyota has now released complete specifications on the new hybrid wagon with one important change; the car’s fuel economy. Back at Detroit, execs said they expected the car to achieve a 42/38-mpg (city/highway) fuel economy rating with a combined 40-mpg number. Toyota…
Toyota In Need of Safety Management Changes
r Since the fall of 2009, Toyota has recalled more than 20 million vehicles. According to an advisory panel appointed by the company, Toyota has not adopted enough change to address the slew of safety problems that have arisen over the past decade. This issue lies within Toyota’s centralized decision-making that remains based in Japan, and a 60…
