toyota iQ
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Grand Prix racing legend Sir Stirling Moss might have a shiny new Aston Martin Cygnet parked on his driveway, but he's currently in a minority. Dr. Ulrich Bez, chairman of Aston Martin, has admitted that initial sales have been slow - though rather than disinterest in Aston Martin's controversial "ugly duckling", supply issues are to blame. "We can't deliver as many as the customers want," said Dr. Bez to U.K. magazine Autocar. "We don't have enough stock. It is the sort of product a customer sees and decides they want on the spot". The long times between placing an order and the Cygnet being...
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You Don't Own, You Don't Even Drive: The Future Of Cars?
It's enough to make the car enthusiast's skin crawl. Visions of autonomous cars making their way along the highway while the occupants go about their daily business. If you love driving and cars, handing over control of your car to a machine is like handing over a child. Bill Reinert, a mechanical...
Antony Ingram -
Video: Toyota iQ Gets Thrashed On Holiday Shopping Trip
The sporty little iQ will be coming Stateside as a Scion iQ sometime in 2010.
Nelson Ireson -
BMW To Team Up With Toyota For Isetta?
A new report has Toyota swapping the iQ to BMW and getting the Mini Coupe platform to use in return.
Nelson Ireson -
Scion-branded iQ hatch concept rolls into New York Auto Show
The iQ hatch has been winning hearts and awards ever since its debut at last year's Paris Motor Show thanks to its cute face and its innovative design. Now it is catching second looks as it shows up in New York wearing a Scion badge and a special urban look. Targeted directly at Scion's already...
Nelson Ireson -
Scion badged Toyota iQ headed to New York Auto Show
Toyota’s new iQ minicar has gone on sale in Japan and most parts of Europe already, but there are now indications that the diminutive hatch could make its way to the United States. A Scion badged version of the car has been snapped by spy photographers on the back of a truck as it was heading...
Kenneth Hall -
Innovative and interesting designs are rewarded each year with a 'red dot', from world renowned design institution, the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, one of Europe's oldest and most highly reputed design centers. This year a number of interesting entries in the automobile category came away with red dots, including the Kia Soul - the first Korean car to have ever been given a red dot award. Other awards went out to BMW's stunning new Z4 roadster, as well as other BMW's such as the K1300R and K1300S motorbikes. BMW's new F01 7-Series limo also managed to garner an award, giving BMW a...
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Scion confirms ”micro-subcompact” concept car for New York Auto Show
Scion has confirmed plans to unveil a new “micro-subcompact” concept car at the upcoming New York Auto Show. The concept will reflect Scion's youthful image and represents a new segment for the brand aimed toward the growing urbanization trend. This basically means that Scion will be...
Ralph Hanson -
Toyota to add 1.3L four to iQ lineup at Geneva Motor Show
The 2009 Geneva Motor Show will play host to a wide range of concepts and production vehicles, from speedy supercars to family sedans and even raw engine technologies. One of Toyota's additions to the show will be a new variant of the iQ, powered by a peppy 1.3L gasoline four-cylinder. The current...
Alex Kaufmann -
Toyota confirms 2012 U.S. launch for electric vehicles
Toyota used last week’s Detroit Auto Show to unveil its new FT-EV concept, a compact urban runabout based on the iQ minicar and powered by an all-electric drivetrain. The carmaker also used the Detroit event to announce plans to launch an urban commuter ‘battery-electric vehicle’...
Alex Kaufmann -
Toyota reveals iQ-based FT-EV Concept
Toyota has announced that it will display its new FT-EV concept at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, while also confirming that it will launch an urban commuter ‘battery-electric vehicle’ (BEV) by 2012. The world's largest carmaker also revealed that it will start consumer trials of a fleet...
James Martinez -
U.S. market primed for minicar resurgence
With the global economic crisis forcing consumers to tighten their purse strings, small cars with low sticker prices and high fuel efficiency are becoming more and more popular. While European and Asian markets have been popular with small cars for some time now, it is only recently that selling...
James Martinez -
A cryptic press release from Toyota today revealed that a new battery-powered concept car would make its global debut at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Speculation as to what the concept might be has already taken hold of the motoring press, but a few hints gathered from Toyota's recent remarks could point the way toward one possibility. A teaser image of the car, revealing an 'EV' logo to match the FT-EV name of the car and a gold color scheme accompanied the news of the concept, shows nothing of the vehicle's design. Toyota is already expected to reveal a new Prius hybrid at the show, so the...
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VW working on new 'two-liter' microcar
More than a year ago, Volkswagen announced it was working on a project to bring its 1-Liter concept from 2002 to production reality. The three-wheeled low-slung extremely aerodynamic design still seems a bit unrealistic, but now VW is thought to be building a slightly larger, more functional city...
Alex Kaufmann -
Fiat may launch family of new cars under 'Topolino' name
Talk of the revival of the Topolino nameplate has been circulating for nearly a year, and in April Fiat took a positive step in the process of building a new B-segment car by buying a former Zastava plant in Serbia, and now new details reveal that the new car will be targeting newcomers like the...
Alex Kaufmann -
Toyota iQ takes top honors in Japan's COTY award
Though it was up against the likes of Godzilla, the tiny Toyota iQ has come out on top at the 2008 Japan Car of the Year (JCOTY) awards. The win is seen as a potential selling point against competition like Daimler's Smart ForTwo micro car, especially in a segment that's differentiated largely on...
Nelson Ireson -
Toyota reveals Modellista enhanced iQ
Toyota’s iQ minicar officially went on sale in Japan this month and to coincide with the launch the company also revealed several new styling packs under the guise of its in-house accessories brand Modellista. Two different Modellista iQs are on offer - the Maxi and Mixture - and both are...
Ralph Hanson -
Toyota announces pricing and specs for iQ minicar
Following the launch of the iQ minicar at the recent Paris Motor Show, Toyota has now announced final pricing and specifications for its striking minicar. The company has already started taking orders in the UK and other parts of Europe, and is currently offering two different trim levels. First...
Jeremy Weber -
Ford’s upcoming second-generation Ka isn’t the only fuel-efficient urban runabout being considered for a United States launch, with latest reports indicating both Audi and Toyota are also considering bringing their latest minicar creations Stateside. Such an idea was almost unheard of less than a year ago but changing consumer tastes, increased awareness of environmental issues and rising fuel prices have possibly forever changed the landscape of the U.S. new car market. Two of the latest cars currently being considered for the U.S. include the Audi A1, which was previewed in...
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Toyota introduces rear-window protection airbag
Since its humble beginnings as an optional feature on cars in the 1970s, the airbag has become a must-have safety feature for any new car on the market. The development of curtain airbags have also increased the number of airbags in new cars to eight – or more – however Toyota is...
Siddarth Raja -
Small cars still too small for U.S.?
The floor dropped out of the market for SUVs and pickups this year, and Americans were supposedly replacing them with small cars. But what's small in America isn't what's small in the rest of the world, and truly small cars appear to continue to get short shrift. The latest evidence of this fact is...
Nelson Ireson