For years, Toyota was seen as an infallible, safe choice for consumers seeking high-quality, reliable and safe vehicles. That may still be the case, but recent events have made it abundantly clear that Toyota is as capable of making major mistakes as any other giant automaker.

Perhaps some of that lost image will be restored after a series of independent investigations into Toyota safety are concluded, assuming of course that the findings are favorable for the automaker. Steve St. Angelo, Toyota's North American quality chief, believes they will be. At the Council for Automotive Research's annual Management Briefing Seminars, St. Angelo [...]

Apple's much-hyped iPad tablet PC was only just launched this past Saturday, April 3, yet we already have the first in-car application of the computing gadget. The people responsible for the lightning-fast installation of the iPad on a vehicle (a Toyota Tacoma, to be specific) are the guys from SoundMan Car Audio located in Santa Clarita, California.

Here's what 'SoundMan' had to say about the iPad project:

"We chose to use the iPad as the only source for the vehicles entertainment system. The dock connector will plug into a cable that runs to a Onkyo ND-S1 which will send the digital signal [...]

Toyota CEO, Mr Akio Toyoda, has, after initially declining the offer, accepted United States House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Mr Ed Towns’ invitation to testify in Washington next week.

“I have received Congressman Towns’ invitation to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on February 24 and I accept,” Toyoda said in a statement.

“I look forward to speaking directly with Congress and the American people.”

The news comes as mounting public concern over Toyota’s recent wave of safety recalls forced the US government to increase pressure on the manufacturer for a response.

Mr Toyoda, grandson of Toyota’s founder, [...]

Toyota has announced that it will halt sales of eight models due to its ongoing problems with unintended acceleration. At issue are accelerator pedal mechanisms that could get stuck in the open position due to wear, causing the vehicle to accelerate uncontrollably. Earlier this month, Toyota announced a recall of 2.3 million vehicles with the possible defect.

Late last year, the Japanese automaker recalled nearly four million vehicles for floor mats that could trap accelerator pedals, also causing unintended acceleration. The two issues are apparently unrelated, though a total of 1.7 million vehicles are affected by both issues.

The following eight models [...]

Revealed to the public for the first time in production trim at last week's Detroit motor show, the Honda CR-Z hybrid sports coupe is one of the most anticipated new cars of the year.

In this first official film, the CR-Z's project leader, Norio Tomobe, and one of its chief engineers, Terukazu Torikai, provide an insight into the development process behind the new model focusing primarily on the car's handling qualities.

"During the development if the CR-Z we drove many cars and also bought several models for comparison and benchmarking including the MINI, the VW Scirocco coupe and also a Lotus Elise. [...]

Toyota has revealed the GRMN (Gazoo Racing Master of Nurburgring) Sports Hybrid Concept at the Tokyo Auto Salon.

Based on the MR-2, the concept is a four-wheel drive hybrid which uses a mid-mounted 3.3-liter V6 and Toyota's THSII hybrid system. At slow speeds, the concept is powered exclusively by an electric motor that turns the front wheels. When more gusto is required, the V6 kicks in to motivate the rear wheels. With more than 392 bhp (total), the 1500kg concept can likely accelerate from 0-60 mph in less than 4.5 seconds.

While nothing is official, Autocar is reporting Toyota may be working [...]

No sooner than Toyota dropped the covers on its FT-86 G Sports Concept model at the Tokyo Auto Salon today, and the makers of the Gran Turismo 5 released a video showing the souped-up prototype tearing up the virtual circuits of the much anticipated racing game.

We remind you the FT-86 G Sports is a conceptual proposal based on the prototype version of Toyota's forthcoming rear-wheel drive sports coupe featuring all sorts of aero and performance upgrades, including a turbocharged version of the FT-86's 2.0-liter boxer engine. Follow the jump for the video and a photo gallery. [...]

In anticipation of next week's New Delhi motor show in India, Toyota has released a video teaser of its new small sedan that appears to be more pre-production than pure concept. Media reports from India suggest that the production version of the low-cost sedan will be called the Etios and will be offered with a small displacement diesel and gasoline engines when it arrives in the market towards the end of 2010.

From what we understand, the Etios is a similar proposition - both in terms of size and philosophy - to the Renault-Nissan alliance's Dacia Logan sedan.

The Japanese firm's low-cost [...]

The oddly shaped coupe covered in layers of metal and camouflage tape that you see in this spy video undergoing tests at the Nurburgring race track is none other than a test mule for the upcoming Toyota / Subaru co-developed rear-wheel drive sport coupes. Understandably, there's no way of knowing if it's a prototype for the Toyota-badged model that will be previewed at this week's Tokyo Motor Show with the FT-86 Concept or for Subaru's derivative that has yet to be revealed or even named.

Not that it matters as both compact sport coupes will share the same mechanical underpinnings including [...]

Here we are with some of our Miscellaneous stories of the day. Today’s edition focuses around the increasing popularity of hybrids and how being green is actually pretty cool.

20% of U.S. cars will be hybrids by 2020: According to JPMorgan, the global market for hybrid cars will grow to 11.28 million by 2020. The United States, will capture 19.4 percent of the hybrid market by then. Global hybrid-vehicle volume totaled 480,000 in 2008.

Casual Mafia "In My Prius" : LA-based entertainment company Casual Mafia has produced a rap song about the Toyota Prius called "In My Prius." Listen to it [...]

In the following series of videos you can see the new technology and accessories available on the new Toyota Prius. The hybrid has already reached its third generation and the updates are essential in maintaining sales in the US market.

The Smart Key function will be present, along with Drive Mode, park assist, multifunction display, bluetooth connection and new XM Nav Traffic sat nav. Other options available will be the Moonroof, active cruise control and remote control air conditioning.

 




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Don’t expect any Toyota Supras or Celicas anytime soon. Bob Carter, Toyota Division General Manager, said that the Japanese automaker will focus more on hybrid vehicles in its future United States lineup instead of high-performing sports cars.

“It is just a reprioritization of where we think the customer is today and where the customer is going to be 24 and 36 months from now,” Carter said in an interview with Automotive News at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show.

The much anticipated Toyota FT-HS Coupe Concept was expected to enter production by 2011. Carter said that sports car just have a lesser priority [...]

Toyota's newest Prius already gets an astounding 50 mpg but according to reports the upcoming plug-in version is averaging upwards of 65 mpg US (78mpg UK, 3.6 liters/100km) in early testing.

Perhaps the most significant detail about the 65 mpg number comes from the fact that it was gained from real world testing and not from the engineering lab. Toyota's US alternative-fuel vehicle manager, Bill Reinert, [...]

Over the weekend, we saw the latest 'leak' in the 2010 Toyota Prius saga in the form of a new video of the hybrid starring the renowned Blue Man Group. The three and-a-half minute long video doesn't reveal anything new on the Prius but the blue-faced actors offer us a theatrical perspective of the five-door hybrid that will make its worldwide debut at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show in mid-January.
 
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This first Toyota iQ commercial shows the Japanese car is working hard on its chic image for the difficult market of a European metropolitan audience. The car was presented at the Paris show, and costs 13,600 euros. The jury is still out on whether it will be successful or not. Time will tell.
 
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