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Toyota Etios – compact sedan for Indian debut

January 1, 2010 at 9:56 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, India, International News, Toyota, Videos

Think of a car designed especially for India and I bet that most of you (including myself) will imagine a small el-cheapo hatchback designed to be as cheap to buy and run as possible so that people are able to upgrade to covered four wheeler transportation from their usual bikes.

And so when Toyota announced that they would be unveiling a “for India” compact at the Delhi expo this month, I had imagined that sort of car. After all, Toyota has Daihatsu K-car expertise at their disposal. Boy was I wrong! Just watch the video above, which teases the Indian-bound concept that has been named the Toyota Etios, and you’ll see what I mean. In case you were wondering, the word Etios means ‘the origin of’.

Although Indian streets are full of small Maruti Suzuki hatchbacks, the demand for sedans there are also sufficient enough not to ignore. Which is Suzuki took the trouble to sedan a sedan version of the Swift. The Toyota Etios compact concept car is in fact a small sedan, and since the video says this car is going to be available globally as well, we could potentially be looking at the next generation Toyota Vios replacement, or at least a car that shares a common platform and engine range with a future Vios. Or this could be a sedan that slots in under the Vios. We will know once we find out what the size of this car is exactly.
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Hybrid Mazda3 with Prius drivetrain coming soon?

December 21, 2009 at 12:25 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Mazda, Toyota

Toyota and Mazda have reached an agreement in which the hybrid champion will supply Mazda with key components used to build a hybrid car that Mazda plans to launch in 2013, according to Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun.

The deal will see Toyota provide Mazda with the motor, control system and other hybrid components from the Prius. Batteries for Mazda’s hybrid will be supplied by a joint venture set up by Toyota and Panasonic. The report also says that Mazda will probably fit all these into its Axela, which the rest of the world knows as the Mazda3.

This will be a win-win situation for both parties. For Mazda, it provides much-needed green tech (it already lags behind rivals in this area) without a huge R&D outlay that a company its size may not afford. For comparison, Mazda’s R&D spend for the financial year ending March 2010 is expected to be 92 billion yen, which is about one-eighth of Toyota’s mammoth 800 billion yen.

Toyota meanwhile should be happy with better economies of scale for its hybrid components, most of which is self-developed at high costs.

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Toyota introduces plug-in Prius in Japan

December 16, 2009 at 12:51 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Toyota

toyota plug in prius

Toyota has introduced the Prius Plug-in Hybrid in Japan. As its name suggests, this is the plug-in version of the third-generation Prius. Other than the ability to recharge via an external source, the Prius Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHV) uses lithium-ion batteries, a first for hybrid champ Toyota.

The 5.2 kWh Li-ion battery pack replaces the standard Prius’s nickel metal hydride unit. Battery capacity has been expanded and Toyota claims that the PHV can move in battery only EV mode for longer distances (23 km) compared to the current Prius. Max speed in EV mode is also up from about 45 km/h to 100 km/h. The official average fuel consumption is 57 km/l in the Japanese test cycle.

Other than the battery and charging system, the THS II system is as before, which means there’s a 1.8-litre Atkinson cycle engine with 98 bhp and 142 Nm of torque supplemented by a 81 bhp/207 Nm permanent magnet motor under the hood. Charging time is 180 minutes for 100V current and 100 minutes for 200V.

The PHVs will be leased to Japan’s governments, corporations, universities and research agencies while Toyota collects real-world driving data for the development of battery-charging infrastructure. About 600 units will be introduced in Japan, USA and Europe over the first half of 2010. Showroom sales will begin two years from now.
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Aussie made Camry Hybrid to go on sale next year

December 12, 2009 at 5:26 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Toyota

toyota camry hybrid

Toyota has announced that it will begin producing the Camry Hybrid next year, with sales starting in February 2010. The Camry Hybrid will be Australia’s first locally built hybrid, and it will have a production run of about 10,000 units per year, including exports to New Zealand.

20 per cent of the first year run is already accounted for – Victorian Premier, John Brumby has declared the Government’s commitment to purchase 2,000 Camry Hybrids for its fleet. Victoria is the home state of Toyota’s Altona plant tasked with producing the green Camry alongside its standard siblings and the Aurion.

Toyota received part of the Government’s AUD $1.3-billion Green Car Innovation Fund to start this project. Australia is the fifth country in the world to produce Camry Hybrid, after Japan, USA, China and our neighbour Thailand. No chance of this car coming to Malaysia, whether from Thailand or Australia, as it would be prohibitively expensive without the hybrid car duty exemption, which is applicable only to cars below 2,000cc (Camry Hybrid uses a 2.4-litre).

For more pictures and details of the Camry Hybrid, check out our previous post.

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Toyota compact car for India to debut at Delhi

December 10, 2009 at 9:04 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, India, International News, Toyota

Toyota LogoIndia is a place where you can sell cheap and cheerful mini cars with completely insane volumes, and everyone wants to cash in. The current market leader is Suzuki but more companies have announced that they have a compact car for India in the works.

Tune in to the New Delhi auto show coverage come 5th January 2010 to find out what Toyota has in store for India. The Japanese company revealed today that they will be unveiling a new compact car “concept” designed for the Indian market in January next year, alongside 13 other concept and production cars including the facelifted Prado, facelifted Fortuner, Innova, i-REAL, Fine-S, etc.

This is not new news to us. We previously heard back in October this year that Toyota and Daihatsu are working on a new small car that can be sold for less than US$11,000 (RM37,268) in emerging economies like India and Brazil. That is certainly possible, considering in our very own market the Toyota/Daihatsu-linked Perodua Viva BX is sold for RM25,300, a good amount lower than the threshold price set by Toyota/Daihatsu.

I won’t be surprised if the concept car will have loads of Daihatsu genes in it, after all it is Daihatsu which are the small car specialists in the Toyota group, and tight Japanese roads have given them loads of practise on how to really optimise space and NVT in a tiny car.

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2009 LA Show: Third-generation US-market Toyota Sienna MPV is new but looks familiar

December 3, 2009 at 5:42 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under 2009 LA Auto Show, Cars, Toyota

toyota-sienna

One of the world premieres at the ongoing LA show is the new Toyota Sienna MPV. Our part of the world may be more familiar with Sienna the actress than Sienna the minivan because the latter, now in its third generation, is a US specific model bulit in America for Americans. Its rival is the US market Honda Odyssey, which is bigger than the JDM model we get here – some of you of may know it as the Honda LaGreat.

Toyota promises a sedan-like drive for the Sienna, besides offering comfort and cargo space required of a minivan (that’s what Americans call their MPVs). The new car is much more dynamic looking than its predecessor, and incorporates much of Toyota’s new MPV design language, as seen on its Japanese market people carriers. To these eyes, the Sienna looks much like the new Wish from the front three-quarter view and resembles the current Estima from the rear. What do you think?

toyota-sienna-back

Two engines are available: a 266bhp 3.5-litre V6 or a 187bhp 2.7-litre four-cylinder. Both powerplants have Dual Variable Valve Timing with intelligence (VVT-i), roller rocker arms and an Acoustically Controlled Induction System (ACIS) that changes the length of the air-intake pipe to supply more torque on demand. A six-speed automatic gearbox with sequential shift is the only transmission available. The Sienna is unique in its segment by having AWD as an option, useful in winter.

The Sienna’s rear-seat Dual View Entertainment Center is a Toyota first. It uses two side-by-side displays to create a joint 16.4-inch widescreen image from a single source – the two individual screens can be used seperately with different inputs, of course. With displays combined, it can be easily seen from the third row, and is controllable from any seat via remote control.

Toyota Sienna Seats

Buyers can choose between seven or eight-seat cabin configurations. In the former layout, the second row captain chairs slide by almost 60cm, creating legroom for the longest legs and for easy ingress/egress. They can be pushed forward close to the front row – useful for parents with young children or for good access to the last row. An illuminated sliding center console can be shared between the front seats and second row passengers.

It doesn’t look like a box on wheels and has the makings of a perfect family car, but sadly the left-hand-drive only Sienna is not making its way out of North America anytime soon.

More pictures after the jump.
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Toyota quitting Formula 1?

November 4, 2009 at 1:28 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports, Toyota

Toyota F1

Toyota F1′s race at the Abu Dhabi GP is apparently their last, as strong and intense rumours point to a Toyota board meeting to be held on the 15th of November to come to a conclusion that the company should leave the sport. We could actually know the outcome as early as 8th November 2009.

If Toyota really leaves the sport, this would open a grid position for then new Qadbak Sauber team, the team that used to be the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Toyota was supplying F1 engines to Williams this year but Williams will go with Cosworth engines next year.

Another Japanese company also announced it would be leaving F1 recently. Tyre supplier Bridgestone has announced it will leave at the end of next year’s season to focus its resources on other development. Bridgestone has been the sole supplier of F1 tyres for the past 2 years, and have been a supplier since 1997.

As for Kobayashi who was standing in for Timo Glock who has a back injury, the promising driver says he would most probably have to go back to Japan to work for his father’s sushi restaurant. Maybe he can build the business and then recruit all the chop shop owners here that will be out of a job soon.

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Tokyo 2009: New Toyota Mark X

October 27, 2009 at 9:31 am By Paul Tan Filed Under 2009 Tokyo Motorshow, Cars, Toyota

toyota-mark-x-live-1

The new Toyota Mark X’s Mazda-like wheel arches are even more obvious in real life than in photos. Toyota has basically taken the existing Mark X design and litreally did a facelift on it, seemingly stretching the front design outwards and upwards.

toyota-mark-x-live-2

As for the rear end, the car’s bangle butt design has been toned down a little and the tail lamp design now stretches onto the car’s bootlid. Kinda reminds me of the Sylphy really. Look after the jump for more live photos of the Mark X at Tokyo 2009.
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Toyota FT-EV II concept: Live images from Tokyo

October 24, 2009 at 7:47 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Toyota

Apart from unveiling the highly anticipated FT-86 concept, Toyota also revealed the FT-EV II concept at the 41st Tokyo Motor Show. The all-electric concept features a lithium-ion battery that enables the concept to deliver over 90 kilometers with a full charge. It also has a top speed of 100 km/h. The zero emissions vehicle has no steering wheel or foot pedals, instead it has only two control levers which are used to control the car.

There is also an enhanced communications system that enables the linking of the driver’s information to a network, that can allow the vehicle to connect with services beyond car navigation such as recommending information tailored to the driver’s preferences and downloading music and movie content.

The concept can also connect to home networks to help store energy and save large volumes of data. According to the auto maker, “The FT-EV II is not simply an electric vehicle designed for a post-fossil fuel era, but is a sustainable concept car that focuses on the relationship between cars, people and society of the future.” Look for more live images of the FT-EV II after the jump.
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Toyota FT-86: live from the Tokyo Motor Show

October 23, 2009 at 12:52 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under 2009 Tokyo Motorshow, Cars, Concept Cars, Toyota

Perhaps considered as one of the most anticipated reveals at Tokyo 2009, the FT-86 Concept (“86″ pronounced “hachi roku”) is one vehicle many of us are eager to see on our roads. The good news is that the production version is already being developed as it was recently seen lapping around the Nurburgring circuit.

The rear wheel drive FT-86 Concept is powered by a 2.0 litre D-4S boxer engine that is paired with a 6-speed manual transmission. Unfortunately the automaker has yet to release official output figures so your guess is as good as mine. Speculators are looking at a horsepower figure between 160hp and 200hp.

The concept that measures 4,160mm long, 1,760mm wide, and 1,260mm high with a wheelbase of 2,570mm also features ADVICS brakes. Inside, the 2+2 concept features an instrument panel with a gray and white base, gauges with red neon lights and digital displays as well as a navigation system.

Subaru will also produce its own version of the FT-86 and there is also word that an STI version may join the line up as well. The STI variant could produce about 250hp.

Continue reading to more live images.
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