Toyota News

  • Toyota's Ontario plant delayed over quality concerns

    Despite a reputation for quality and reliability, Toyota is no stranger to recalls and production delays. Perhaps such growing pains should be expected given Toyota's meteoric rise to the top of the auto industry. But whatever the cause, the quality control issues are cropping up again, this time in relation to an environmentally friendly painting process for the RAV4 at the Woodstock, Ontario plant. Already being used successfully at the RAV4 plant in Japan, the method itself is proven, but the Ontario plant's ability to turn out quality examples is apparently not up to par. A delay of...

  • Toyota and Honda top Consumer Reports’ brand perception study
    Toyota and Honda top Consumer Reports’ brand perception study

    Influential magazine Consumer Reports has come out with its annual list of the top rated car brands and once again Japanese makes have dominated the field. First and second places were taken up by Toyota and Honda but this year’s result also saw U.S. automakers improve their standings, with...

  • UPDATE: GM beats Toyota for overall sales title - or not
    UPDATE: GM beats Toyota for overall sales title - or not

    UPDATE: It turns out GM may not have edged Toyota out at all - in fact, GM may be the No. 2 auto maker in the world for the first time in 76 years if the most recent reports on sales numbers prove accurate. According to Automotive News the American company's earlier totals of 9.369 million vehicles...

  • Toyota prepping hybrid racer for Le Mans
    Toyota prepping hybrid racer for Le Mans

    Toyota has already proven the capability of its hybrid racing technology, winning the Tokachi 24-Hour Race last year in Japan with its Supra HV-R hybrid race car, so now the carmaker wants to take it up a notch by entering a new green machine in the international Le Mans 24 hour event. According to...

  • Toyota lays down green offensive
    Toyota lays down green offensive

    Governments around the world are bowing down to public pressure to reduce the levels of greenhouse emissions and one of the industries set to bear the biggest cost from impending changes to regulations is the automotive one. One of the most influential changes will be the stricter CAFE standards...

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    Toyota wants you to buy 1 million hybrids - every year

    Hybrid-electric vehicles have been alternately portrayed as the saviours of modern transportation or the last gasp of the dying oil-based economy. Either way, Toyota has capitalized on their popularity with its world-beating Prius hybrid, and is aiming to increase the success of the hybrid further...

  • Toyota’s plug-in hybrid moves closer

    Consumer demand in the United States is driving Toyota’s move to produce a plug-in hybrid car that can run off grid power alone for a short stint. Toyota won’t let the vehicle come to market without adequate quality control and research into the batteries that will power the car, however. Last week the maker delivered two plug-in Prii for use by California universities at Irvine and Berkeley as part of a three-year study that will aid in development of the new car. Consumer behavior and opinion will be the focus of the university studies. The battery technology research will go on...

  • Aussies go drag racing in a Toyota Camry
    Aussies go drag racing in a Toyota Camry

    Usually there’s nothing special about drag racing teams using a standard production sedan as the basis for their new dragster, but when a team chooses to adopt a vehicle normally reserved for the over fifties and cardigan wearers we start to get a little curious. A team in Australia are about...

  • Toyota presents tuned S3 Corolla at SEMA
    Toyota presents tuned S3 Corolla at SEMA

    Toyota only took the covers off the 2009 Corolla sedan today and already we have first images of a new high-performance version dubbed the S3. Although there are no plans for production, the new S3 shares some of its accessories with the regular production model such as the sports bodykit and...

  • 2009 Toyota Matrix unveiled at SEMA
    2009 Toyota Matrix unveiled at SEMA

    More reveals from the SEMA showroom floor today, this time from Toyota. The second-generation Matrix evolves the five-door crossover utility vehicle concept that the first Matrix helped to pioneer. Toyota says more coupe-like styling and better performance are the focus of the new model. A variety...

  • SEMA debut for the 2009 Toyota Corolla
    SEMA debut for the 2009 Toyota Corolla

    Like the new Matrix, Toyota’s 2009 Corolla is all-new. The tenth generation of the Corolla features a balance between utility and performance in its five trim levels. It’s still a subcompact sedan, but the new design cues give it a sportier, more modern shape and feel. It’s cute...

  • Toyota suspends sales of RAV4 V6 because of engine fault
    Toyota suspends sales of RAV4 V6 because of engine fault

    Toyota’s reputation for building reliable cars is continuing to crumble with news today of yet another engine problem, this time with officials in Australia holding back sales of the V6-powered RAV4 SUV. The latest problem surrounds an issue with regard to models equipped with Toyota’s...

  • Unified design theme for future Toyota hybrids

    One of the key reasons Toyota has had such success with the Prius is the instantly recognizable green image the car projects. That’s one of the major reasons why the Prius has gone on to sell almost 140,000 units in the U.S. this year whereas the similarly efficient Camry Hybrid sold just under 40,000. People buying hybrid vehicles not only want the peace of mind that they’re doing their part to help the environment but they also want people around them to know it. Toyota and most other carmakers for that matter have realized this and that’s why for its next-generation of...

  • Toyota Hi-CT plug-in hybrid concept
    Toyota Hi-CT plug-in hybrid concept

    At first glance Toyota’s Hi-CT could be mistaken as being a basic box on wheels but look a little closer and you’ll see that it features plenty of innovations that’s sure to attract the youth market. The vehicle’s plug-in hybrid drivetrain features 1.5L motor mated to an...

  • Toyota i-REAL previews future of personal mobility
    Toyota i-REAL previews future of personal mobility

    Toyota’s personal mobility concept, the i-Real, is an evolution of the I-Swing that debuted at 2005’s Tokyo Motor Show and the model has certainly not lost any of its older brother’s unique looks. The i-Real does, however, offer up some interesting technologies in an attempt to...

  • Toyota RiN ‘Well Being’ Concept
    Toyota RiN ‘Well Being’ Concept

    The Tokyo show just wouldn’t be complete without a concept so outrageous and unthinkable that it would cause you to question the sanity of its designers. Luckily, Toyota stepped up to the plate with its RiN concept, which can be summed up as a greenhouse on wheels. Some of its earth-inspired...

  • Toyota’s 1/X carbon-fiber plug-in concept
    Toyota’s 1/X carbon-fiber plug-in concept

    Toyota’s 1/X concept, (pronounced one/Xth) is a hybrid concept that doubles the fuel efficiency figures of the Prius hybrid in a mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive four-door body. While the interior space remains similar to that of a Prius, the concept ways a mere 420kg, or around one third the...

  • Toyota prepping nine concepts for Tokyo
    Toyota prepping nine concepts for Tokyo

    Toyota’s focus at this month’s Tokyo Motor Show is sustainable motoring and to show its dedication in the field it will be displaying no less than nine eco-friendly concepts. The vehicles range from tiny personal mobility solutions to luxury sedans and high-performance sports cars, and...

  • 'Two-faced' Toyota takes heat from environmentalists

    Toyota gained its first real foothold the U.S. auto market during the oil crisis of the 1970s by offering small, efficient cars. Since then, it has come to dominate the global hybrid market with its green-machine Prius. But some see the company's environmentalism as little more than lip-service, as the Japanese auto maker apparently isn't ready to give up its darker, more lucrative trade in trucks. The clamor, led by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, and the environmental group National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), is over Toyota's history of lobbying against tougher fuel-economy...

  • Toyota's overseas output passes domestic
    Toyota's overseas output passes domestic

    Toyota’s overseas production will exceed output from its Japanese facilities at the end of the year for the first time in the company’s history. Global output for Toyota will top 8.6m units this year, with more than 4.3m cars planned for production in factories outside of Japan. Strong...

  • Toyota surges ahead in fuel-cell development
    Toyota surges ahead in fuel-cell development

    Toyota has reached a new milestone with the unveiling of an upgraded version of its fuel-cell prototype claimed to be 25% more fuel efficient than the current model. The car also has the added benefit of using less electricity to power its onboard equipment than previous versions. After completing...

  • Toyota Europe drops Land Cruiser citing climate concerns
    Toyota Europe drops Land Cruiser citing climate concerns

    Europe's CO2 regulations are strict, and becoming more so, and car makers are taking action to meet the tough standards. For Toyota, that means cutting back on RAV-4 sales, and eliminating the Land Cruiser from Europe altogether. The Japanese maker seeks to reduce its fleet average CO2 emission to...

  • Toyota minicar arriving in 2009
    Toyota minicar arriving in 2009

    Hoping to share in the success of the European minicar segment, Toyota is planning to release a production version of its iQ concept car as early as 2009. According to the Nikkei business daily, this model would help feed the increasingly growing demand for fuel-efficient small cars in a market...

  • Toyota withdraws performance model
    Toyota withdraws performance model

    Only a month after the launch of its first official TRD model, Toyota has been forced to suspend sales following the report of an engine failure last week. The car is the 323hp (241kW) supercharged and FWD Toyota Aurion sold in Australia, and this latest occurrence is a rare blip on the...

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