Archive for Toyota

Reader KH Chee sent in these scans from a Japanese car magazine “New Model Magazine X” showing how the new 2007 Toyota Corolla could look like. There seems to be two grills, one a horizontal bar grille and the other a vertical bar grille similiar to the one found on the Toyota Harrier. This is apparently the JDM model, and according to the magazine it will make it’s debut in October 2006. At 4450mm x 1690mm x 1470mm, the car is slightly smaller than our Toyota Corolla Altis which measures 4530mm x 1705mm x 1480mm. The car also looks like its lost some weight.

The Toyota Corolla Altis was originally developed for those who wanted a larger and more luxurious car than the Corolla, but did not want to get a Toyota Camry. This might be the new Corolla that we are going to get, or we might get another new Corolla Altis version which is bigger and more luxurious. Which explains the shrinkage in dimensions. The USDM Toyota Corolla uses the Toyota Corolla Altis model, not the Toyota Corolla. Anyhow, speculation is exactly that – speculation. Enjoy the photos.

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Click here to read the rest of JDM 2007 Toyota Corolla Magazine Scan

The upcoming replacement for the Toyota Corolla Altis here in Malaysia might see the introduction of a CVT transmission, thanks to a new pair of engine and transmission announced last month by Toyota as part of it’s efforts to revamp it’s gasoline engine and transmission line-up by the year 2010.

The new engine is the 1.8 liter 2ZR-FE, which replaces the 1ZZ-FE in Toyota’s line-up. The 2ZR-FE has a few enhancements over the 1ZZ-FE found in our current Toyota Corolla Altis. For one, the new 2ZR-FE has Dual VVT-i which varies valve timing optimally for various engine speeds and loads on both the intake and exhaust valves. The previous 1ZZ-FE only has variable valve timing on the exhaust valves. Maximum torque has increased from 170Nm at 4,200 rpm to 175Nm at 4,400 rpm. Horsepower has increased from 132hp at 6,000 rpm to 136hp at 6,600 rpm. Fuel efficiency is supposed to be 5% higher compared to conventional engines.

Note that our local Toyota Corolla Altis actually has abit more power and torque than the Japanese specifications thanks to differences like an increased compression ratio of 10.5:1 instead of 10.0:1. Our Toyota Corolla Altis 1ZZ-FE engine makes 136hp and 171Nm of torque, slightly higher than it’s Japanese counterpart.

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PT Toyota-Astra Motor has launched a new Toyota Avanza facelift for the Indonesian market, together with the new 2007 Toyota Camry as well as a special 50-unit limited edition of the Toyota Yaris with a Superman theme called the Yaris Superman. The new Toyota Avanza facelift gains a new front grille design, a new front bumper, as well as new side protection mouldings on the doors. The interior also gains a new ivory colour scheme, and the third row of seats gets seatbelts. It’s K3-VE 1.3 DOHC VVT-i engine also benefits from better fuel emissions, now complying with Euro II standards, but there doesn’t seem to be any gains in horsepower or torque.

I do not have any information on whether or when UMW Toyota will be launching the new Toyota Avanza facelift here in Malaysia. 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. That’s 2,800 Toyota Avanza 7-seater MPVs a month, which is very good for a Japanese make considering the Proton Waja sells about 2,500 to 3,000 units a month according to Proton Edar CEO Datuk Maruan Mohd Said.

UPDATE: Toyota Avanza 1.5 now available in Malaysia, facelifted model. Click here for details.

UPDATE: The new 2008 Toyota Corolla Altis has been launched in Malaysia! – click for more details, specifications, photos and pricing.

Toyota Motor Corp will be delaying the new Toyota Corolla until 2008, citing engineering resource constraints as the reason. Toyota says the current Corolla, available on Malaysian soils as the Toyota Corolla Altis will keep it’s current design for a sixth year in the USA, only to be replaced in 2008. The Toyota Corolla is normally kept for 5 years, with a mid-life facelift, after of which it is replaced with a new model. Photo shown above is the US market Toyota Corolla S with a Sport Plus Package. The USDM Toyota Corolla is similiar to our local Toyota Corolla Altis, different from the Singaporean Corolla which seems to be based on the European Corolla instead.

Toyota has had to focus all of it’s engineering resources to make sure the 2007 Toyota Camry launched on time, and is confident that the current Corolla will do well for another year. The Toyota Camry is Toyota’s best-selling US model, therefore it was put on a priority and most resources were allocated to it. UMW Toyota plans to launch the 2007 Toyota Camry by end-2006.

It looks like it will be some time until Toyota refreshes the Corolla here in Malaysia, so in my opinion the new 2006 Honda Civic will remain the king of the mid-sized sedan market here in Malaysia until 2008. I’ve heard that the Civic has waiting lists of 2 months for the 1.8S and up to 4 months for the 2.0S model, unconfirmed though.

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UMW Toyota gave us an insight into their plans for the rest of the year at their AGM yesterday. There are plans to introduce the new 2007 Toyota Camry by year-end 2006, and also bring in the Lexus marque in CBU form.

However to proceed with these plans Toyota requires more Approved Permits (APs) from the government. Even with the current situation with three CBU models (Yaris, Wish, RAV4) there are not enough APs to go around, so sales of the Yaris and Wish could not be pushed as much as they would like to, but still manageable.

Looking at Toyota Japan’s line-up and the current grey-import market in Malaysia, the new CBU models would likely be the Toyota Harrier luxury SUV and the Toyota Estima large MPV.

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Do you remember the Toyota Aygo football match? Top Gear actually took a few Toyota Aygos and used them in a field to play football with a huge blown up football. This is something else altogether – we see Top Gear pitch the Japanese against the Germans in this car football match between the Toyota Aygo and the Volkswagen Fox. In the spirit of the world cup, video is after the jump!

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Aygo and Volkswagen Fox Football

If you look at photos of car interior overseas, you could most likely notice that the area where we normally have our 2-DIN sized CD players is taken up by a little computer, with navigational information as well as entertainment functions. Most of the cars in Malaysia do not have such features, as it’s pretty pointless with the lack of map data on Malaysian roads. Plus it would drive up the costs of our already expensive cars.

These navigational systems normally run on either Microsoft Windows Automotive, or a proprietary OS based on a set of specifications called uITRON. uITRON is not an OS, but a set of specifications for a small-scale industrial RTOS (Real Time Operating System).

Toyota feels that a single control system OS would be more beneficial, as it would reduce the development load between car manufacturers. It is developing a new OS in a joint effort with Nagoya Unviersity’s Center for Embedded Computing Systems. A car’s automotive computers are normally divided into two parts – the information systems OS and the control systems OS. Toyota’s efforts with Nagoya are on the information systems OS, and will be based on a Unix base.

It will use a multi-core processor for the heat reduction benefits that comes with a reduced CPU frequency, and it will have a firewall for the communication between the two operating systems. Toyota intends to allow other car manufacturers to use this operating system once it is complete, but is currently heading development to control the direction it takes.

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This is Toyota’s “Human Touch” advertisement campaign. It features a few Toyota Cars including the Toyota Belta (Toyota Yaris Sedan), and some higher end models that we do not see here in Malaysia.

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Human Touch Advertisement

The Toyota RAV4 was a concept born in 1989. The moniker RAV4 means Recreational Active Vehicle with 4-wheel drive. 5 years later, the first Toyota RAV4 was launched at the 1994 Geneva Motor Show. UMW Toyota is now offering the third generation Toyota RAV4 on our local shores. The previous two Toyota RAV4 compact SUVs were commonly called RAV4.1 (top left) and RAV4.2 (top right). The Toyota RAV4.2 was available here in CBU form through either UMW Toyota or through grey importers. Both three-door and give-door versions were available. Let’s have a look at the third generation five-door 2006 Toyota RAV4, or the RAV4.3, which comes to Malaysia in CBU form.

Click here to read the rest of 2006 Toyota RAV4 in Malaysia

Toyota has begun exporting it’s export version of the Toyota Hiace 2.5 liter turbodiesel van to Thailand, targetting a total sales of 1,300 units (RM143 million) by the year end, with a production of 200 units a month. UMW Toyota currently produces 200 units a month for the local market, so this would be doubling the production output for the Hiace. The van has 40% ASEAN content.

There is a high demand for the Toyota Hiace in Thailand, with 1000 units sold a month. Toyota will be exporting the 2.5 liter turbodiesel model which makes 102hp @ 3600rpm and 260Nm of torque at 1,600-2,400rpm. The 2KD-FTV turbodiesel motor is also found in the Toyota Hilux. There is also a 160hp, 241Nm 2.7 liter VVT-i petrol version available for sale locally but only the turbodiesel models are going to be exported.

UMW Toyota has invested RM9 million in the form of additional facilities to cater for the production of the export model.

Click here to read the rest of UMW Toyota exports Toyota Hiace to Thailand