Tag: toyota

Official: 2014 Toyota Corolla and Tundra production underway

Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Truck, Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

2014 Toyota Corolla reveal

2014 Toyota Tundra Doublecab - front three-quarter view, blueAfter months of leaked photos and speculative reports, Toyota finally unveiled its 2014 Corolla to the world in early July at a star-studded California party. The confetti has been swept up and the champagne flutes washed and stored, and now the real work can begin: production. Toyota has announced that its new C-segment player has begun rolling off the lines at its plants in Mississippi and Ontario, Canada this week ahead of the planned start of sales in September. What’s more, the refreshed 2014 Tundra pickup has also segued into production in San Antonio, Texas.

Corolla production in Mississippi is still a relatively recent phenomenon, with the plant having begun assembly of the outgoing model in the fourth quarter of 2011, while Toyota’s Cambridge, Ontario plant has been churning out the compact volume king since 1988. Conversely, the Tundra has been in production at the Texas facility since 2006, and Toyota projects that the plant will build its milestone one-millionth new vehicle in September, right around the time the reworked fullsize pickup goes on sale.

Continue reading 2014 Toyota Corolla and Tundra production underway

2014 Toyota Corolla and Tundra production underway originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 Aug 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Official: 2014 Toyota Corolla and Tundra production underway”

Read This: Toyota donates engineers, not money, to country’s largest anti-hunger charity

Filed under: Etc., Toyota

The Food Bank of New York City

Key to production of any kind is efficiency – the ability to achieve maximum productivity with minimal effort or waste. Toyota has become a master of efficiency, with streamlined manufacturing operations around the world. In fact, the Japanese brand has become so well known for efficient operations that it now offers consulting services for organizations and companies outside the auto industry.

It also offers the same consulting for non-profits, free of charge. The New York Times took an in-depth look at the transformative impact that Toyota’s engineers had on the city’s charities, including The Food Bank, the country’s largest anti-hunger charity. The auto manufacturer helped revolutionize the way these organizations served the community, showing that there’s more to corporate philanthropy than just donating money.

Head on over to the Times‘ website and give the story a read.

Toyota donates engineers, not money, to country’s largest anti-hunger charity originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Aug 2013 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Read This: Toyota donates engineers, not money, to country’s largest anti-hunger charity”

Official: Toyota sells six of 10 of hybrids in California

Filed under: Car Buying, Hybrid, Ford, Toyota

Toyota highlights its hybrid vehicle market dominance in California.

In an apparent shot back at Ford’s increasing market share of electrified vehicles and claim that it accepts more Prius trade-ins for its own hybrids than any other car, Toyota has flexed a muscle and played the numbers game to put the Blue Oval in its place.

Leaning on its hybrid market dominance in California, the Japanese automaker stated that six out of 10 hybrids sold in the Golden State are Toyota models. And it keeps coming: Year-to-date through May 2013, Toyota sold five times more hybrids than Ford. One of every two hybrids in California is a Prius model. In addition, Toyota notes that it has sold 1.5 million Prius vehicles in the US, 90-percent of which are still on the road today.

Want more? We’ll let Bill Fay, Toyota’s group vice president and general manager of sales lay the smack down:

“The hybrid industry has become competitive, but our wide range of hybrid vehicles continue to deliver high value and strong attributes to both new and loyal customers. With sales of 5.3 million hybrids globally and over two million in the US, we are the undisputed leader in hybrid vehicle technology and remain committed to building on our momentum and growing the acceptance of hybrid technology throughout the US.”

And to think Toyota and Ford just ended their collaboration to make hybrid trucks together.

On one hand, those are indeed very impressive statistics, but there’s a flip side, as well. If 6 out of 10 Toyota hybrid sales come from California, that’s more ammunition that hybrids still aren’t a factor for most American new car buyers. As of 2012, only about 3.3 percent of new cars sold in the US were hybrids, of which California sales would clearly represent an inordinately large percentage. So while Toyota may be looking to take upstart Ford to the gas-electric woodshed, it’s clear larger struggles remain on the road to hybrid acceptance.

Continue reading Toyota sells six of 10 of hybrids in California

Toyota sells six of 10 of hybrids in California originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Official: Toyota sells six of 10 of hybrids in California”

First Drive: 2014 Toyota Tundra

Filed under: Truck, Toyota, First Drives

Raising A White Flag To The Competition

2014 Toyota Tundra

We all benefit from highly competitive battles. In the automotive sector, few campaigns are so closely fought as the decades-long struggle for supremacy in the fullsize half-ton pickup truck segment. The Ford F-150 has dominated for ages, but Chevrolet, Ram and GMC have been closing the gap with freshly redesigned trucks that are rocking the industry.

Today’s half-ton trucks are better than they’ve ever been, and we have fierce competition to thank for that.

But where does the segment leave a truck from an automaker that has chosen to no longer fight and deliver its best product? What kind of vehicle comes from a company that has relinquished any desire to strive for the top of the class – one who is now content offering nothing more than minor updates and mediocrity in an aim to placate brand loyalists?

Such a calculated underachiever would look a lot like the 2014 Toyota Tundra.

Continue reading 2014 Toyota Tundra

2014 Toyota Tundra originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 30 Jul 2013 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “First Drive: 2014 Toyota Tundra”

Read This: Toyota recounts past Supra glories

Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Toyota

It could just be a slow start to the news week around the Toyota offices, but its UK blog has posted a brief history on its legendary Supra sports car. Read into however you’d like, but there has been plenty of speculation as to the return of the Supra nameplate in recent years (including last month from incoming Toyota chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada).

Built from April 1978 through July 2002, Toyota’s sports coupe made quite a name for itself as both the Celica Supra (shown above) and the Supra, and the blog post charts many of the changes and highlights through the years. Head on over to the Toyota UK blog to read more about this Supra’s history, and then be sure to check out the gallery of images from Toyota spanning all four generations.

Toyota recounts past Supra glories originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 29 Jul 2013 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Read This: Toyota recounts past Supra glories”

Report: Toyota reaffirms commitment to body-on-frame SUVs

Filed under: SUV, Toyota, Off-Road

2014 Toyota 4Runner front three-quarter

Toyota sold 121,055 Highlander CUVs in 2012, according to Automotive News. By comparison, it sold 78,457 examples of four different body-on-frame, truck-based SUVs (4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Sequoia and Land Cruiser). One could argue then, that the traditional SUVs aren’t pulling their weight from a sales perspective. Yet that isn’t stopping Toyota from reaffirming its commitment to a segment that has seen its former champions – Ford, General Motors and Chrysler – abandon it with alarming speed. Ford and GM still offer body-on frame utilities, but only in the very largest offerings, catering to seven or even eight passengers. Everything outside of the Expedition or Tahoe rides now on a unibody.

Toyota’s decision to stick with the technology is good news if you’re in the market for smaller SUVs that are still capable of heading well off the beaten path. Outside of the Jeep Wrangler, Grand Cherokee (a unibody) and perhaps Nissan Xterra, there’s not much in terms of capable SUVs between $20,000 and $50,000. As the Toyota brand’s US head, Bill Fay, says, “Clearly, the trend has shifted, but there is still an owner base that is interested in these vehicles.”

We don’t doubt Fay on that, but it may also be somewhat telling that Toyota’s SUV lineup is aging, and we haven’t seen or heard much about replacement models in the pipeline. Admittedly, the 4Runner (pictured) has been facelifted for 2014, but it’s mostly cosmetic in nature. Despite Toyota’s posturing, we still expect its body-on-frame lineup to thin in the coming years as sales dwindle and escalating fuel-economy standards make business cases even tougher. Here’s hoping that Toyota manages to keep at least one rough-and-tumble SUV in its lineup in the coming years.

Toyota reaffirms commitment to body-on-frame SUVs originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 29 Jul 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Report: Toyota reaffirms commitment to body-on-frame SUVs”

Official: Toyota investing $30 million in Indiana for more Highlander production

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

2014 Toyota Highlander front three-quarter

Indiana seems like the place to be if you’re looking for work in a car factory. In May, Subaru announced plans to invest $400 million in its Lafayette, Indiana plant, creating 900 new jobs in the process and increasing capacity to 300,000 units per year. Now, Toyota has announced plans to invest $30 million in its Princeton, Indiana plant, 170 miles south of the Subaru factory, which also builds the Camry.

Toyota’s investment will create an additional 200 jobs and increase the factory’s volume by 15,000 units. Toyota announced an investment in the plant in February of 2012 that bumped volume up from 300,000 to 350,000 units. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana, as the Princeton facility is officially known, produces the recently revised Toyota Highlander, the Sequoia and the Sienna. It employs 4,500 people, and this announcement represents Toyota’s tenth production increase in under two years.

Scroll down below for the official announcement.

Continue reading Toyota investing $30 million in Indiana for more Highlander production

Toyota investing $30 million in Indiana for more Highlander production originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 28 Jul 2013 11:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Official: Toyota investing $30 million in Indiana for more Highlander production”

Report: Toyota hangs on to title of world’s largest automaker for first half of 2013

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota, Earnings/Financials

Toyota USA Headquarters

General Motors and Ford can have all the success they please, but it doesn’t seem like America’s two largest manufacturers are going to topple Toyota in the first half of 2013. According to Reuters, Toyota moved 4.91 million vehicles in the first six months of 2013, representing a 1.1-percent drop from the same period in 2012.

GM is on the rise, though, with a four-percent increase in global sales, to 4.85 million. Volkswagen, still sitting in third, saw a 5.5-percent jump to 4.7 million vehicles in the first half of 2013.

If this pace continues for Toyota, it’ll finish 2013 in the top sales spot for the second year in a row. The manufacturer fell to third, behind GM and VW, in 2011 after earthquakes and tsunamis ravaged its production capacity.

Toyota hangs on to title of world’s largest automaker for first half of 2013 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 26 Jul 2013 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Report: Toyota hangs on to title of world’s largest automaker for first half of 2013”

Toyota begins testing Segway-like Winglet in Japan [w/video]

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Transportation Alternatives, Toyota, On Two Wheels, Japan

Toyota has just now started testing a two-wheeled Segway-like vehicle that it first trumpeted almost five years ago, but when the vehicle in question tops out at less then four miles per hour, these things do take time. Toyota’s Winglet, which the Japanese automaker first announced to the world in August 2008, has started public trials on the streets of Tsukuba, Japan, as the company looks to get more information on the stand-up vehicles safety and maneuverability.

The Winglet, Toyota says, is an illustration of the “development of a society where mobility is safe, freely accessible, and fun.” Tsukuba, which is 40 miles northeast of Tokyo (or, theoretically, about 12 hours by Winglet), is apropos because of its position as an “environmental model city.” The vehicle, which is said to have a single-charge range of about six miles and can be recharged in about an hour, is being tested on public sidewalks. So watch out, brave citizens of Tsukuba.

Meanwhile, read Toyota’s press release and check out footage of them in full flight by scrolling below.

Continue reading Toyota begins testing Segway-like Winglet in Japan [w/video]

Toyota begins testing Segway-like Winglet in Japan [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 26 Jul 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Toyota begins testing Segway-like Winglet in Japan [w/video]”

Report: Next Lexus RX previewed with JDM Toyota Harrier?

Filed under: Japan, Crossover, Lexus, Toyota, Luxury

Next-Generation Toyota Harrier/Lexus RX front three-quarter

Japanese site CarWatch has revealed images of the next-generation Toyota Harrier, known to US and European buyers as the Lexus RX. The new model features a considerably more aggressive fascia in keeping with some of the latest Lexus design trends, while the back features a pair of wide, wraparound taillights.

The profile features a revised greenhouse, with a rather complex rear window treatment, while a subtle character line connects the front and rear taillights. According to the badging, the model shown features a hybrid powertrain, although there’s little information on which engine is being used. We’d wager it’s an evolution of the same 3.5-liter V6 hybrid found in the current RX450h.

This early look doesn’t have a great deal of other info, and there are no images of the interior. We’re not yet clear on how closely the North American RX will adhere to the Harrier seen here, but historically the two models have been quite close. That said, we’d expect a more prominent ‘spindle’ grille on the Lexus version than the baleen strainer on the vehicle shown here.

A page on Toyota’s Japanese website says the new Harrier/RX will receive a winter 2013 debut. That makes for a difficult determination of what auto show the new CUV will arrive at. Both the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show and 2013 Tokyo Motor Show (not to be confused with the Tokyo Auto Salon) take place at the end of November, but neither is technically a winter show.

Next Lexus RX previewed with JDM Toyota Harrier? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 25 Jul 2013 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Report: Next Lexus RX previewed with JDM Toyota Harrier?”