With recently announced plans to unveil a Prius family of vehicles at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show, Toyota believes the vehicle that’s synonymous with hybrid technology will be the most popular car in America by 2020. “We will end the decade with Prius being the number one nameplate in the industry,” said Toyota’s U.S. VP...
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There’s no doubt that 2010 has been a monumentally important year for the auto industry and one worth looking back on. From the Toyota recall crisis, to the success stories at Hyundai and Ford, to the launch of the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf, there have been no end of major news stories in the...
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Few people pay attention to minivans, but an interesting sales war is heating up, with what could be Chrysler’s first major sales victory in their post-bailout era. Chrysler‘s Town & Country minivan, which just underwent a pretty substantial refresh, is the leading minivan according to sales data, moving 102,495 units through November. The perennial leader,...
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In recent years the big three have lost market share, particularly in the mid-size and compact car segments, however, that might be set to change.
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Toyota is projecting sales of 8 million units in 2012, according to parts suppliers who have been briefed by the auto maker. The projections do not include units sold by Toyota subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino. The last time Toyota sold such a volume was in 2007, when the company moved 8.42 million vehicles. Toyota expects...
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Baker maintains the evidence from the accident investigation was flawed and that the real problem was caused by faulty electronics in the vehicle.
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A design sketch of what is rumored to be the logo for the upcoming Toyota FT-86 has surfaced online, clearly highlighting the Japanese sports car will be powered by a boxer engine. The design sketch shows two horizontally opposed pistons; an engine design that has earned the ‘boxer’ title because of its visual similarity to...
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Toyota will officially announce the launch of the Prius as its own vehicle line at the Detroit Auto Show in January with the introduction of two new versions of the popular hybrid. The unnamed new production model has been teased in the past and is believed to be an MPV-style vehicle with more functionality and...
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Toyota has officially taken the wraps off its new Japanese Vitz model, sold here as the Yaris. That might not at first be obvious, as the sub-compact has received quite the makeover, with an edgier design. It might not get your heart racing, but it won’t send you into a coma where you’ll dream about...
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In addition, Lexus will broaden the range of sport packages, offering them on the RX and new entry-level CT models as well as the IS sedan. These sport packages will incorporate different suspension and chassis tuning and where applicable, more performance oriented driveline features.
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Toyota has agreed to pay a $32.4 million fine in order to settle an investigation into the timeliness of the recalls it issued. The fine is the maximum allowable by law, bringing the total value of fines Toyota has paid to government agencies like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to $48.8 million for...
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Analysts at Goldman Sachs’ Japanese arm have a dim forecast for Toyota, projecting an operating loss through the 2013 fiscal year, with Goldman predicting continued sales downturns in the United States, Europe and Japan, which comprise Toyota’s three biggest markets. Toyota sales, hammered hard by recalls earlier in 2010, are not projected to keep pace...
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Armored cars are an expensive proposition, nearly always costing well above $100,000, and for this reason, they’re rarely anything but luxury sedans or SUVs. The problem with this phenomenon is that the places where armored cars are really needed, discretion is often better than driving an ostentatious bling-mobile. Texas Armoring, one of the leading armored...
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Automakers know how important customer loyalty is to the success of their companies. That’s why the good ones concentrate not only on making a safe and reliable vehicle, but one that’s fun to drive as well, and then back it up with great service. And J.D. Power is on top of which automakers are doing...
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The Honda Fit and Mazda 2 will headline a new racing class, known as B-Spec, that’s been designed as a new showroom stock racing series. The rule set is expected to be finalized within the next 60 days, and both the SCCA and NASA sanctioning bodies have expressed interested in adopting the class. Using OEM...
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Toyota has just announced a recall for it’s new ‘Swagger Wagon’ Sienna minivan for an issue related to the braking system. Unrelated to any past brake recalls the recall involves the parking brake bracket that could become damaged by repeated use of the foot-actuated parking brake pedal. Toyota warns that damage to the bracket could...
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Despite a year filled with recalls and bad press, Toyota‘s reputation appears to be mostly untarnished, as is evidenced by Kelly Blue Book announcing the Japanese automaker’s cars are the most considered by new car shoppers. Toyota has just re-established itself atop the most recent Kelly Blue Book (KBB) Market Intelligence Brand Watch study for...
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Toyota announced pricing for their updated 2011 Corolla and Matrix, with a base Corolla starting at $15,600. A base model Matrix will retail for $18,545, with both base trims coming equipped with a 5-speed manual. The Corolla base trim with an automatic will retail for $16,400 while the mid-level LE will cost $17,300 while the...
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Now, Toyota is apparently suing the remnants of the ‘old’ GM (known as Motors Liquidation Company) for breach of contract, claiming $73 million in damages, namely to cover research and development costs, before GM pulled out of NUMMI last year.
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Honda is cutting the base price of its slow-selling Insight hybrid by $1,600, and offering a base model that retails for $18,950, putting it $4,610 below the cheapest Toyota Prius. Honda achieved the price cut by removing features like Bluetooth connectivity and a GPS navigation system, while using cheaper seat fabric and a two speaker...
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Toyota’s FT-86/FR-S sports car is set to arrive in 2012, with a sedan version to follow. While past rumors have suggested the FR-S (as it’s believed to be called in production form) will spawn a compact sports sedan, R0ad & Track reports that this four-door FR-S will in fact be the next Lexus IS. The...
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Toyota has announced it will recall 650,000 Prius models to replace the water pump. Technically, this is not actually a recall as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) isn’t involved and it is not deemed to be a safety issue. Toyota will, however, contact owners of affected cars (dating from the 2004 to 2007...
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The results of the crash tests are awarded ‘stars’ based on the ‘level’ of injury risk related to a defined average from those individual front, side and roll-over tests – five stars being the best above average, one star being the worst.
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Thanks to a slight bump in sales and continued struggles by Toyota, Hyundai is now the number one Asian automaker in Europe by volume. So far this year Hyundai (including Kia) has seen a four percent rise in units moved, while Toyota (including luxury brand Lexus) has seen its sales drop drastically by 17 percent....
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