Toyota

While I'm usually the first to jump into new product, I had, up until today, not had the pleasure (?) of tooling around in a new gen Camry... Severe dissapointment, bordering on real issues. The interior of this 4 cyl LE was, in a word, rentalcarolicious... Of note: Bad plastics, everywhere. Crooked fittings and moldings, everywhere. And worst, a weird seam where your hand naturally grabs the door pull. Felt unfinished and potentially harmful. Now, it looked OK, in a generic, modern way, but you can see where Toyota has cut corners. Not Nissan Altima bad, but dissappointing. Oh, did I mention the driving experience? Not really necessary. Exactly as expected.…

Last night in Las Vegas, Toyota introduced everyone to the forth-generation Prius. The new model promises to be more efficient and sportier than the previous model. The 2016 Prius shares a resemblance to the Mirai hydrogen car in terms of looks. From the overall profile to the shape of the rear taillights, the fourth-generation Prius is very polarizing. Size-wise, the 2016 Prius is 2.4 inches longer, 0.6 inches wider, and 0.8 inches lower than the outgoing model. This is due to the new Prius using Toyota's New Global Architecture (TNGA). The interior for the Prius retains a number of characteristics from previous models such as the instrument cluster positioned in…

Don't know if anyone else has posted this When is a coupe not a coupe?

In today's Akron Beacon Journel they reported a local Toyota Dealer [Ganley Toyota] had discovered 1995-2000 Tacoma pick up trucks with frames rusted through just in front of the rear spring mount. They included pictures and all. They say Ganley found the first one last fall and now have 20 broken frame trucks on the lot. Toyota has sent in engineers and have been looking into this. Here is the odd thing... The trucks are worth about $3,000- $5,000K and Toyota is paying over Blue Book for them. Some of these trucks have 200,000 miles and they are giving $11,000-$12,000 for these trucks. I know companies will do some good will but if one dealer has 20 trucks alrea…

http://www.automobilemag.com/multimedia/vi...s460_auto_park/

printer friendly version from wards auto regular link wards auto haha. you asked for it. you got it. toyota.......i guess you are American now........

do you think .05% is a plausible no.? anyone feel free to answer. i wanted to get a poll going but i have no idea.

Toyota says may recall 1.05 million exported vehicles Revolution 11/09/05 11/09/05 TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. said on Wednesday it may recall a further 1.05 million vehicles due to trouble with bolts used in their diesel engines. Toyota said it was looking into the ways the vehicles, including the Hiace and 24 other models that were exported to Asia and Europe, were used to see if a recall was necessary. On Tuesday the company notified the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport it would recall 246,592 of the vehicles that had been sold in Japan. We're investigating how the exported cars are used, a spokesman said. If the conditions are the…

http://toyota.jp/corollaaxio/ http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/386879

Here's my reaction: I think it looks like a fusion of a Scion XB, Popemobile and a London Taxi. It's just so...goofy. But I guess it's super practical, because it's a just another ugly box on wheels.

Toyota is promising the public the ultimate road tripper in their all-new Grand Highlander, three-row SUV. The 2024 Grand Highlander will be the most sophisticated and spacious Grand Highlander leading the 44-vehicle lineup, largest ever shown at an auto show. Chicago will be the start of a massive blitz of ICE and Hybrid new and updated autos. The car show will have from production vehicles to NASCAR and SEMA specialty autos such as the Trailhunter Concept Vehicle and SEMA specialty products. A trio of all-new production autos starts with the 2023 Prius, 2023 GR Corolla and 2023 Crown. The Prius is the most fuel-efficient Prius ever with an estimated 57 M…

RAV4 Owners Fume Over Toyota’s Handling of Transmission Glitch By Christopher Jensen Although consumer satisfaction studies have often given Toyota’s RAV4 “cute ute” high marks for quality, some owners are furious at the automaker because it failed to warn them of a serious transmission problem. Had Toyota warned them, they say, they could have avoided expensive repairs. Benjamin Birkbeck of Yarmouth, Me., who owns a 2002 RAV4, is one of those consumers. His wife, Rhonda, was trying to merge into traffic when a suddenly faulty transmission meant she was “almost run over by a semitruck,” he wrote in a complaint on the Center for Auto Safety Web site. “This is a safet…

Appears to be pretty nice looking...the Landcruiser is one of those vehicles that Toyota seems to have kept true to its roots. Pics below: http://www.worldcarfans.com/spyphotos.cfm/...ota-landcruiser http://www.worldcarfans.com/spyphotos.cfm/...ota-landcruiser http://www.worldcarfans.com/spyphotos.cfm/...ota-landcruiser link http://www.worldcarfans.com/rsslink.cfm/ar...ota-landcruiser

Mark Rechtin Automotive News July 30, 2007 - 12:01 am LOS ANGELES -- Toyota's inexorable climb through the sales ranks has led to a popular belief that success in America was preordained for the Japanese automaker. Not so. There have been plenty of hiccups, nervous times and downright edgy situations during Toyota's 50 years in America. For instance, the launch of Lexus has become the stuff of legend. But did you know that there was a staunch cadre within Toyota that wanted to see Lexus perish before it was even born? That Toyota's American brass fought with Japan over building a real full-sized pickup with V-8 power more than 20 years ago? That dealers initia…

Toyota bZ4X is their start of catching up to the rest of the auto industry in having BEVs. Toyota announced the details of this new BEV with the following bullet points per their press release: Contribution to SDGs based on the concept of "home planet" Toyota's approach to carbon neutrality is "practical and sustainable," aiming to reduce CO2 with products that are easy to use and highly appealing. The TOYOTA bZ series adopts a BEV-dedicated platform that aims for a value greater than zero ("beyond Zero"). The bZ4X has the excitement of an SUV-style BEV, driving appeal, and is the first model of the Toyota's bZ series, which emphasizes safety and…

Lindsay Chappell Automotive News July 10, 2009 - 7:22 pm ET Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it might close its large California car and truck assembly operation, New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., now that General Motors has exited the 50-50 partnership. “We are carefully evaluating our options with respect to the NUMMI joint venture as a result of General Motors’ actions,” Toyota said in a statement released Friday. “Under the current business circumstances, Toyota regrettably must also consider taking necessary steps to dissolve the joint venture.” “We need to determine whether it can be economically feasible to contract with NUMMI without GM,” the stateme…

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/for...sion=2007052305

Sarah Webster Detroit Free Press Link to original story is HERE . See original story for links to other stories referenced (i'm too lazy to link them)

Straight from Auto Consumerguide: Looks better, I guess (though strangely smaller...), and the powertrains are much improved. http://auto.consumerguide.com/Articles/ind.../act/sneakpeeks

Toyota's latest 2006 sales volume projection outstrips its earlier estimate for 8.5 million units, as demand for environment-friendly vehicles such as its Prius hybrid vehicle is increasing globally amid high gasoline prices. Next year Toyota said brisk overseas sales will again lead the firm's global sales expansion. Toyota said it now forecasts global vehicle sales for the group to rise 9 percent to 8.85 million next year, as it moves ever closer to replacing struggling General Motors as the world's largest automaker. The entire Toyota group includes mini-vehicle maker Daihatsu Motor and truckmaker Hino Motors. Challenging GM Toyota owns 51 perce…

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/prob...-body-rips.html

http://www.autospies.com/news/WORLD-EXCLUS...ttle-plan-7935/

Toyota Boss Steps Down Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Hiroshi Okuda left the helm of the No. 1 Japanese automaker Friday after holding the posts of president and chairman for 11 years. Vice Chairman Fujio Cho will replace Okuda as chairman and Okuda is expected to remain a director and executive adviser at the Nagoya-based automaker to continue supporting President Katsuaki Watanabe. Read "Okuda ends 11-year Toyota reign" @ The Japan Times

New ES350 Leaves Lienert Cold It would seem those robots in the new ES350 commercials were more enthused with it than one of the Lienerts was. (It isn't clear which Lienert wrote this preview because it is credited to both of them but clearly one person wrote it. Since Anita usually does the solo act, I'll assume it's her.) She called it comfortable and competent but it wasn't something she got excited over. Read "Uninspired, costly Lexus ES 350 fails to impress" @ The Detroit News

http://www.bluewaternetwork.org/ Dang, even the treehuggers are hatin' on Toyota Sorry if it's been covered on another thread.

"Lexus is Pitiful," says two German auto analysts. From the Detroit News.

Recall: 30K Scion tCs for Side Airbag Problem Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it was recalling about 30,000 Scion tC sports coupes over concerns that the side air bags could inadvertently deploy if the door is slammed forcefully. The recall affects about 20 percent of the tCs produced during the 2005 and 2006 model years, Toyota said. The vehicle is only sold in the United States. The automaker said seat-mounted side air bags and side curtain air bags could deploy if the door on that side of the vehicle is closed forcefully while the ignition is on or within 90 seconds of when the ignition is turned off. Read "Toyota recalls Scion tC sports coupes" @ Yahoo

Sorry, can't post pictures. CLICK FOR IMAGES

I know there's already a thread about the panel dropping on the Toyota SUV's, but I was just watching the news (CNN American Morning), and I caught the blurb on the panel dropping on the SUV's. Another thing I caught is that the 2003 Altimas and Sentras are having some form of stalling problem. Can anyone give me some insight onto this one?

Toyota says it's targeting Russia, India, China and Brazil to grab market share HANS GREIMEL http://www.canadaeast.com/cp/business/arti...articleID=66939 TOKYO (AP) - A leaked copy of Toyota Motor Corp.'s (NYSE:TM) "global master plan" calls for grabbing 15 per cent of the world car market by 2010 in the company's quest to unseat rival General Motors (NYSE:GM), a newspaper said Monday. Toyota declined to comment on the report in The Wall Street Journal, but confirmed that the world's No. 2 automaker is betting on surging demand in Russia, India China and Brazil to fuel rapid expansion. Toyota, on pace to end GM's half-century reign as the world's biggest carmaker, …

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070119/ap_on_...s/toyota_recall WASHINGTON - Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it was recalling 533,000 Tundra pickup trucks and Sequoia sport utility vehicles because of potential steering problems. Toyota said the recall involved 2004-2006 Tundra trucks and 2004-2007 Sequoia full-size SUVs. The automaker has received reports of 11 accidents and six injuries connected to the recall, said Toyota spokesman Bill Kwong. The automaker said there was a possibility of excessive wear to a front suspension lower ball joint that could make it difficult to steer the vehicle and stay in the center of the lane. Drivers may also notice more noise coming…

http://economy.autoblog.com/2006/01/05/toyotas-yaris-trd/

Toyota to Expand Output Capacity in Canada TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp., whose solid growth could soon put it ahead of General Motors as the world's largest automaker, said Wednesday it will increase output capacity at a new assembly plant it is building in Canada. Annual production capacity at Toyota's planned factory in Woodstock, Ontario, will be raised to 150,000 units, from an initial target of 100,000 units, the company said in a statement. The plant, now under construction, is scheduled to come online in 2008. Total investment in the Woodstock facility, Toyota's second plant in Canada, will now amount to about $950 million with a total employment of 2,000 people…

Weekend Drive Yaris is cute, but Toyota's skimping isn't Dan Neil / Los Angeles Times Toyota Motor Corp. is the colossus of roads. It is, or soon will be, the largest car company in the world. Its worldwide sales are up year after year, as are its profits, as are its stock prices. In the U.S., the world's largest car market, Toyota's sales rose 12.5 percent in 2006, grabbing even more market share from the oxygen-starved domestics. To meet the demand, the company is putting down factories and expanding facilities in this country like it was playing automotive Monopoly. The company builds Lexus, the best-selling luxury brand in the U.S. It builds the Prius, the hybrid …

With the increasing strength of Yen, Japanese automakers are finding it harder to make a profit on vehicles built in Japan. The situation is becoming so bad, that Toyota is thinking about making a drastic change; move Lexus production. Fortune reports that Toyota CEO, Akio Toyoda wants more compact Toyota models, the least profitable models in its lineup to be produced outside of Japan. Toyoda acknowledges that Lexus models may follow. But where would they head to? Most likely to the US where most of Lexus models are sold. However, there is a problem. Lexus’ U.S. chief Mark Templin said Toyota's "pride," which stems from manufacturing its most prestigious models in its…

This was posted at the Top Gear boards. I don't know how much credibility it has, though; see if you can spot the major flaw of fact in this article.

Toyota believes there is a need in the market for a mid-size SUV that prioritizes interior comfort for all-three rows and their answer is the Grand Highlander. Lisa Materazzo, group VP of Toyota Marketing made this statement: “This 3-row model takes the Highlander legacy to an entirely new space while also keeping on our promise to deliver on electrification. Highlander was the first model in its segment to offer a hybrid powertrain back in 2006 and Grand Highlander further expands on our electrification leadership.” Toyota is clearly standardizing their auto lineup with a standardized powertrain lineup as used in their Crown family and now will be used ac…

Just read this and it literally blew me away. The similarities between this incident and the Lexus ES incident in San Diego are pretty alarming. Seems pretty damning to me... And eerily similar to the Lexus incident. I was talking about this with my dad in the early days of the recall and he (retired police) always suspected there was more to this than the pedals because anyone with the level of training he had to go through to serve on a police force would have been able to survive that ES350 accident mainly because they apparently show you in training at least five different ways to make an out of control car stop. His guess was that the car was at the mercy of th…

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm...ar/13962/page1/ Here is a discussion I started over at Grassroots motorsports. A lot of guys over there are really into asian cars and...they don't like the TC either. Interesting to hear it from the other side. Chris

And he went to start it and nothing happened, he was like wtf... We opened the hood and I could not believe my eyes. The car had no engine or transmission, so much empty space.

G. David Felt Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer www.CheersandGears.com Yesterday Toyota announced a 690,000 truck recall for the Toyota Tacoma truck covering 2005 to 2011. Toyota notified NHTSA that they would be recalling Tacoma's with 3 or 4 rear leaf spring systems due to them fracturing due to stress or corrosion. If this happened and the truck was continued to be operated, it could move out of position and puncture the fuel tank causing leaks and potential fire. Toyota is not aware of any accidents, fires or other issues caused by this and is taking a proactive action. http://pressroom.toyota.com/releases/toyota+tacoma+recall+sept29.htm Owners wil…

More at http://www.autoblog.com/2012/04/23/scion-xb-XD-models-getting-the-axe/

TOKYO — Toyota is considering producing its mid-sized Camry sedan at new partner Fuji Heavy’s U.S. plant in Lafayette, Ind. Toyota Motor Corp. President Katsuaki Watanabe said Monday details are being worked out on the alliance with Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., the Japanese maker of Subaru cars. Both sides have said the factory in Lafayette will produce Toyota vehicles. The Camry was the best-selling car in the United States last year for the fourth year in a row and eight of the last nine years. Toyota introduced the remodeled Camry in the United States and Japan this month. In October, U.S. automaker General Motors Corp. said it was ending its alliance with Fuji He…

More Prius Variations Could Emerge Toyota Motor Corp., the world's top seller of gasoline-electric autos, may turn its Prius car into a line of vehicles as the company tries to triple annual U.S. sales of hybrids. The U.S. will account for more than half of the 1 million hybrid cars and light trucks Toyota plans to sell worldwide each year by early next decade, Jim Lentz, executive vice president of the company's U.S. sales unit, said yesterday. Prius-based models might include a wagon and a smaller car, he said. Bloomberg

Spied: 2008 Lexus LX The brawny Lexus LX470 was introduced in 1998, and since then has had a couple of minor updates. Now these latest photos capture a future LX470 that is restyled and updated inside and out. Read "SPY SHOTS: AutoSpies.com breaks the first spy photos of the next Lexus LX470!" @ AutoSpies

Asian Marques forum was disgustingly all-Toyota-all-the-time. Made it a bore and snore to read about nothing but Camrys, Prii, and Tundras everytime I came in. This is a welcome relief.

The upcoming Toyota Supra is considered to be one of the most highly anticipated vehicles to come out. It has also garnered a fair amount rumors, partly due to it sharing some bits with the next BMW Z4. But some leaked internal documents may dampen some of that anticipation. A member on the Supra MKV forums obtained a BMW model code document listing out the various combinations for the upcoming Supra and Z4, along with which market they will appear on. For the Toyota, the document shows that it will be offered with the 30i and 40i engines. This likely means the Supra will get BMW's 2.0L turbo-four (248 horsepower) and 3.0L turbocharged inline-six (335 horsepower). In…

Toyota set to cut truck production in U.S. PrintE-mailDisable live quotesRSSDigg itDel.icio.usBy Chris Oliver, MarketWatch Last Update: 11:42 PM ET Sep 12, 2006 HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's leading automaker, is set to lower its U.S. production target for some vehicle models because of higher fuel prices and concerns the economy could slow, according to a media report Wednesday. Toyota is considering trimming production at its new pickup truck assembly plant in Texas, the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported. The plant, scheduled to open in November, has an annual capacity of 200,000 units, but Toyota is targeting to make 150,000 pick…

I read somewhere here that its a strong possibility, i completely forgot where; but DAMN! what went wrong??? Does anybody know the thread I am talking about??

Yet another... http://www.nyse.com/interface/jsp/NHDetail...isdowjones=true

Toyota OK With Losing No.1 Spot William Maley - Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com June 13, 2011 Since 2007, Toyota has held the title of being the world's largest automaker. However, quality problems would cause sales to drop during 2009 and 2010. Toyota would blame the rapid growth they experienced over the past few years. Then the earthquake hit Japan in March, crippling production of vehicles and causing Toyota lose they No.1 position. Currently, Toyota predicts their global sales for the fiscal year will stand at 7.24 million, a drop of 1%. Toyota doesn't seem to mind losing the No.1 spot at all. "There is no meaning in us being the global No. 1,"…

Toyota Stages World Debut of All-new 2007 Tundra CrewMax At The 2007 North American International Auto Show http://www.pressroom.toyota.com/Releases/V...YT2007010483060

[source: Wall Street Journal] TOYOTA POSTS $816 MILLION LOSS Sees Outlook Improving By YOSHIO TAKAHASHI TOKYO -- In the latest demonstration of the economic crisis continuing to whack even the mighty, Toyota Motor Corp. Tuesday reported a net loss for the fiscal first quarter ended June due to prolonged slack demand in key markets, and the yen's strength offsetting cost-reduction efforts and recovering sales in China. However, the world's largest car maker by sales volume now sees narrower losses than initially expected for the fiscal first half ending Sept. 30 as well as for the full year through March 31, as it speeds up c…

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/story/2011-11-09/Toyota-recall-cars-steering/51130852/1?csp=YahooModule_News In the United States, the automaker is recalling 283,200 Toyota brand cars, including the 2004 and 2005 Camry, Highlander, Sienna and Solara, the 2004 Avalon and the 2006 Highlander HV. Its recall of 137,000 Lexus vehicles includes the 2004 and 2005 ES330 and RX330 and 2006 RX400h.

Will Scion Add More New Models? A fourth line – or a hybrid – may be in the works. by Paul A. Eisenstein | Link to Original Article @ TheCarConnection Three's company - but would four be a crowd for Toyota's trend-setting Scion division? What sounds like a riddle is actually a serious issue for the youth-oriented brand. Since its launch in 2003, Scion officials have insisted on offering a maximum of just three models in the lineup. For the '08 model-year, they're dropping the original xA to make room for the new xD. But as sales grow, so might the model count, according to Scion corporate manager Steve Haag. "We have to expand a bit," Haag said, adding that "We hav…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD0UVI99R8Q&search=top%20gear Any mortal car would be dead after the ocean test...not this thing. The audio messes up near the end of the vid, but you get the idea

The Car Connection

http://www.km77.com/00/toyota/iq/t01.asp

DETROIT — Toyota Motor Corp. sells more hybrid vehicles than any other automaker, but an environmental group is targeting the company anyway, saying the average fuel economy of Toyota vehicles is worse than it was 20 years ago. San Francisco-based Bluewater Network, which advocates government action to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, plans to run newspaper ads this week with the headline, "Is Toyota a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing?" The ads feature a photograph of Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe alongside a wolf in a business suit. Bluewater Network says Toyota belongs to organizations that are suing California over its new smog regulations. It also say…