Toyota has introduced its flagship Land Cruiser V8 in its 2012 model year form at the Brussels Motor Show. The vehicle features reworked exterior and interior styling, as well as improved mod cons and a host of additional tech.

The external styling changes are led by a new oversize front bumper with integrated fog lights and a new grille that pairs chrome and silver-finished vertical bars across its width. The headlamp units have also been reconfigured, incorporating LED daytime running lights and cylindrical high and low beam HID bi-xenon headlights, and the turn indicators now extend outwards, increasing their side visibility.

The rear bumper is new too, as are the rear combination light clusters, which now feature a new double-cylinder form that echoes the look of the new headlamp units. Also slapped on are new side protection mouldings – with chrome detailing – and new-design 20-inch wheels, as well as redesigned door mirrors, which now get LED turn indicators and side view cameras.

Inside, changes made to the Land Cruiser V8′s cabin focus on raising the level of perceived quality in the look and feel of the interior. Extensive changes have been made to the dashboard layout, including the introduction of a new audio panel, a piano black paint finish for some elements, with bright silver-finish trim and chrome-plated details on the switchgear and air vents. There’s also a new, lighter interior colour scheme, matched with high-gloss wood grain trim elements and bright silver-finish details.

Meanwhile, the driver’s instrument binnacle has white Optitron dials that are backlit with blue illumination and a large, colour TFT multi-information display. The front seats, upholstered in perforated leather, gain a cool air function in addition to built-in heaters, plus a position memory setting, and active headrests have also been introduced. A Toyota Touch Pro advanced multimedia and navigation system with voice command control, Bluetooth and rear-view camera is also in the mix.

Technical revisions include an uprating of the 4.5 litre V8 turbodiesel engine, which offers 286 hp at 3,600 rpm and 650 Nm between 1,600 and 2,800 rpm – it’s now compliant to Euro 5 standards, with the introduction of a diesel particulate filter and new G3 200mPa piezo injectors in the common rail injection system. The main exhaust silencer has also been reduced in size and weight, improving fuel efficiency and reducing noise and vibration.

Of course, the ability to tackle the toughest off-road conditions has been fundamental to all Land Cruiser models, and the flagship gets new tech to extend the vehicle’s capabilities even further. The raft of new handling features includes the world-first Turn Assist, which works in conjunction with Land Cruiser V8′s Crawl Control function, plus Multi-terrain Select (MTS), Multi-terrain Monitor and Tyre Angle Display.

The Multi-terrain Monitor works in conjunction with the MTS, displaying images from four external cameras (including the ones on the door mirrors) on the multi-information screen to provide a comprehensive view of the area immediately around the vehicle in off-road situations.

As for the Tyre Angle Display, this one complements the predicted tyre path guidelines presented on the Multi-terrain Monitor – guidelines linked to the steering angle are projected in real time on the display, showing the driver changes in steering angle between zero and 45 degrees.

The hydraulic power steering also gains a new Variable Flow Control, which provides direct response and feel when travelling at cruising speed and easy operation at parking speeds. A unique, dedicated off-road setting delivers a constant level of steering assistance, whatever the terrain condition.

The Toyota Prius hybrid was the best selling car in Japan last year, a position it has sat on for three years running. A total of 252,528 units of the Prius were sold in 2011, assisted by strong sales of the Prius Alpha, an MPV version of the car that debut in May.

It’ll take a brave man to bet against the Prius retaining the position this year. This is because the range is further strengthened by the Prius c variant, a smaller and more affordable Prius. The Prius c has been teased on UMW Toyota’s website, with full specs, and at the Avanza launch on Wednesday, bosses said it will be launched next month in Malaysia.

Honda’s Fit (we know it as Jazz) was the second best selling car with 207,882 units, up from fourth spot in the previous year’s rankings, while Suzuki’s Wagon R minicar was third with 160,439 units.

2011 was a difficult year for the industry in Japan, which was hit by an earthquake and tsunami in March, so total sales were down by 20%. Local production suffered, and imports took advantage – sales of foreign cars crossed the 10% mark for the first time ever last year.

Of the foreign brands, Volkswagen sold the most for the 12th straight year with 50,635 units, an increase of 8.4%. Other top foreign marques were BMW (34,195 cars, up 5.5%) and Mercedes-Benz.

It’s called the NS4 advanced plug-in hybrid concept, and it’s supposed to signal a new styling direction for Toyota aimed at making an emotional connection with consumers. The Detroit debutant is nonetheless packed with a veritable array of tech, and is essentially an innovations showcase for the brand.

Design-wise, the lift back design features powered swan-wing doors and a distinctive trapezoid grille among the styling cues, but it’s all really about the whizz-bang with this one.

Inner and outer rear view mirrors have been replaced with cameras that provide the driver with a panoramic view to the rear. The rear-view camera displays images on a dashboard-mounted screen, and provides the driver with a much wider field of vision when compared to a traditional rear view mirror.

Inside the cabin, the NS4 concept features a human-machine interface (HMI) centred around a multi-touch screen that has the look and feel of a smartphone. The simple, intuitive operation conveys information quickly with the minimum of distraction to the driver, and is even capable of “learning” driver preferences to anticipate driver responses in specific environments and situations.

As for the powertrain, the hybrid plug-in system on this one features a reduction in component size and weight, and benefits gained are an improved overall fuel economy, better acceleration and longer all-electric range, as well as a short charge time.

Among the active safety kit on the NS4 are a next generation pre-collision system (PCS) with lane departure and pedestrian collision avoidance technologies, adaptive driving beam (ADB) headlights, and blind spot monitor (BSM).

Even the glass does the tech tango – four new glass technologies are integrated into the windscreen, front and rear windows to improve driver visibility, fuel economy and electric driving mode mileage efficiency.

The flourine-coated glass has a high UV absorbing inner-layer and also features an anti-solar film with radio-wave transparency, the latter to reduce the internal vehicle temperature and improve electronic device functionality. The flourine provides for a rain-resistant ‘hydrophobic’ coating, offering improved visibility and rain drop elimination, and there’s also an anti-fog coating slapped on for good measure.

Toyota’s production Yaris Hybrid is set to make its official debut at Geneva in March, and with that, the first official images of the car have come about.

The car was effectively previewed as the Yaris HSD Concept in last year’s Geneva show, and the word then was that the production version was to be launched in Europe in the second half of this year, rolling out of the company’s Valenciennes plant in France.

When the car makes its market debut on the continent, it’ll be the first full hybrid model in the European B-segment, the company says. Its Hybrid Synergy Drive system has been downsized, and the 1.5 litre petrol engine is partnered to a more compact electric motor, transaxle, inverter and battery pack.

The result is a system that’s 20% lighter than that in the Auris Hybrid, which was launched in Europe in 2010. Lighter as the HSD on this one may be, it’s still good enough to give the car 98 hp, and the Yaris Hybrid offers the same occupant space and 286 litre luggage capacity as its conventional petrol and diesel siblings.