Archive for Toyota

Toyota has announced the new facelifted Toyota Avanza which was already available in Indonesia since July, and with the new look comes a new engine option in the Toyota Avanza 1.5G.

The new engine is not to be confused with the 1.5 liter 1NZ-FE found in the Toyota Vios and the Toyota Yaris, but instead it is one from the Daihatsu stable, the newly developed 3SZ-VE “Topaz” engine, which makes 107hp at 6,000rpm and 141Nm of torque at 4,400rpm.

The new Toyota Avanza 1.5G will be available in 4-speed automatic transmission only. Prices and more details will be available when the Toyota Avanza is launched officially by UMW Toyota on Friday. The Toyota Avanza currently makes up 40% of Toyota sales here in Malaysia, which translates to about 16,800 units for the first six months this year. Thats 2,800 Toyota Avanza 7-seater MPVs a month, which is amazing for a Japanese make considering last I heard, the Waja sells between 2,500-3,000 a month.

UPDATE – New Toyota Avanza Prices: The Toyota Avanza 1.3E will sell for RM62,309 and RM57,813 for the automatic and manual transmission versions respectively, while the new Toyota Avanza 1.5G with automatic transmission’s price is set at RM74,600. All prices are for Individual Private registrations in Peninsular Malaysia.

Related Posts:
Toyota Avanza facelift launched in Indonesia – click for changes

Toyota has revaled the new flagship Toyota Yaris model called the Toyota Yaris TS at the 2006 Paris Motor Show. The new Toyota Yaris TS is powered by Toyota’s new flagship Dual VVT-i 1.8 liter engine which makes 130bhp at 6,000rpm and max torque of 173Nm at 4,400rpm, compared to the Yaris 1.5 liter’s 109hp at 6,000rpm and 142Nm of torque at 4,200rpm. With the new Dual VVT-i engine, Valve timing is adjusted on both intake and exhaust valves. This engine is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. The little hatch goes from 0-100km/h in 9.3 seconds.

Other enhancements to the Toyota Yaris TS over the base model include suspension improvements – the front suspension has been reinforced, gains a thicker anti-roll bar and a linking rod has been introduced between the rear suspension members. The ride is also lowered by 8mm.

Other than ride height, further external differences include a new black mesh grille with a TS badge, darkened headlamps, a deeper bumper with integrated foglights, a new rear bumper with integrated exhaust tailpipes and fog lights, as well as new LED rear lamp clusters. Look from the side and you will see nice 17 inch alloy wheels that fill up the wheel arches as well as deep side skirts. There is also a roof spoiler for the rear.

Both three-door and five-door versions of the Toyota Yaris TS will be on sale from February 2007. More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2007 Toyota Yaris TS 1.8 Dual VVT-i

After a few artist’s impressions mostly from Japanese auto magazines, Toyota has revealed to the world the Toyota Auris space concept, which will be the base design for the future Toyota Auris hatchback, the replacement for the Toyota Corolla hatchback in the European market.

“The Auris space concept is tall and spacious. The high waistline, short overhangs and forward balance of the cabin architecture ensure it retains a sense of dynamism and agility, a quality we call perfect imbalance,” says Wahei Hirai, Toyota Global Design Managing Officer, explaining the rationale behind Toyota’s latest interpretation of it’s Vibrant Clarity design philosophy.

The Toyota Auris space concept is equipped with a panoramic glass roof, which helps increase the overall feel of interior space and lighting. The Latin word for gold is Aurum, which is similiar to the Auris name, hence the new Toyota Auris space concept is painted in gold.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Auris Space Concept

The next Toyota Corolla-based hatchback that will be sold in the European market will be called the Toyota Auris – a Latin word which means ‘good taste’. Toyota had trademarked the Auris name way back in April 2005, more than a year ago! The sedan models will continue to be called the Toyota Corolla though, but Toyota is of the opinion that the modern refresh of the hatch needs a new name.

The Toyota Auris takes on similiar design cues to the Toyota Yaris hatch, with a pronounced bulgy bonnet, a familiar front grille and bold headlamps. The bumper looks similiar to the design of the facelifted Toyota Vios. Engine options will feature Toyota’s new flagship 1.8 liter unit, as well as a 2.2 liter D4-D turbodiesel.

Related Posts:
More next-gen Toyota Corolla previews
JDM 2007 Toyota Corolla magazine scan

Thailand’s reluctance to reduce duties for incoming Malaysian cars to the AFTA CEPT tax rate of 5% is making it difficult for UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd to export it’s locally assembled Toyota Hiace vans to Thailand. UMW Toyota has raised this issue with our Ministry of International Trade and Industry, in hopes that it will be settle soon between the two governments. For context, read the related blog posts.

Related Posts:
Rafidah says we are entitled to 5% CEPT rates
Philippines joins Thailand and Indonesia in opposing Malaysian Non-Tariff Barriers
Thailand and Malaysia negotiation on tariffs
Thailand: “Malaysia non-compliant under AFTA”
UMW Toyota exports Toyota Hiace to Thailand

The new 2007 Toyota Camry should be coming very very soon. These photos were sent in by reader Adam from Shah Alam. It looks like we are not getting the USDM version of the Camry, but another version similiar to the one found in Taiwan and Thailand.. I must say I really like this new Camry, it has the muscular more box-like shape that looks more upmarket than it really is, as compared to the previous model available on the roads now. More Lexus DNA. More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2007 Toyota Camry coming soon?

Subaru has had enormous success with their recent small car, the Subaru Stella in Japan. Subaru had originally set a target for 5,000 units per month in orders for the Stella, but it managed to surpass that goal within it’s first week on the market, clocking up 5,438 orders by June 20th 2006. This shows a shift in the automotive industry particularly in Japan towards small K-cars or superminis. The Subaru Stella comes with 660cc inline-4 engines options either in normally aspirated or supercharged form. This engine is mated to an i-CVT (intelligent continuously variable transmission) gearbox.

The soaring gas prices are likely to set the world purchasing trends rolling towards smaller cars as well. Toyota and Subaru are now jointly developing a new B-segment small car, which will debut likely in the year 2008. The car will be built by Toyota but will be marketed under the Subaru badge, likely in the European market only.

The Star reported recently that vendors have urged the Malaysian Government to limit incentives for CBU vehicles of over 3,000cc. A local motoring analyst said the entry of more CBU vehicles might have a negative impact on parts vendors in the long term as the industry matures to produce more high-powered vehicles. I disagree with this local motoring analyst and think this is highly unlikely, since purchasing trends have actually been moving towards smaller cars with better fuel economy.

Source

These are new scans from Japanese magazines depicting how the new next generation Toyota Corolla sedan (JDM) will look like. It looks pretty much similiar to the previous scans by New Model Magazine X which I posted in mid-July, but these images have much more detail than the plain ones I posted before. It’s not as futuristic as the current Honda Civic, but it does look sportier than the current Toyota Corolla Altis. More details and photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of More next-gen Toyota Corolla previews

Toyota intends to drop the name Corolla when the next generation of the hatchback version of the car is unveiled in the UK. Toyota says the new model will be a radical change, so much that a name change is needed to reflect that. Toyota says it is hoping to repeat what Ford managed to achieve when it dropped the Escort badge for the new Focus name.

Honda had actually considered putting a new name on it’s European Honda Civic because of it’s radically different nature and having moved slightly more upmarket, but in the end they decided to stick with the Civic moniker.

Despite the used car market facing difficulties due to loss of stock value due to the NAP as well as difficulties in getting second hand car loans, UMW Toyota is confident of it’s used car division TopMark contributing at least 5% towards total revenue this year. TopMark mainly handles used Toyotas as well as cars which are traded in when buyers purchase a new Toyota.

UMW Toyota plans to invest close to RM110 million over the next 4 years to open 17 new TopMark centers, with 4 of them expected to open this year. UMW Toyota currently has 3 TopMark centers, in Petaling Jaya, Butterworth and Johor Bahru. The 4 new centers this year will be based in Cheras, Selayang, Seberang Prai, and Sungai Petani.

TopMark handled 9,000 trade-in cars last year, and 5,000 cars to date this year. This figure is expected to hit 12,000 by year end, and 40,000 by 2010 with a total of 20 TopMark centers.