Archive for Toyota

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Toyota has unveiled a single photo of the production version of the small three-seater Toyota iQ, and it will be shown to the public for the first time at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show in March 2008. Unlike the Tata Nano, the iQ is aimed at the premium city car market instead of the affordable city car market.

The Toyota iQ will take 3 adults, and 1 additional child if the boot space is sacrificed for a child seat. The driver will have gadgets like a heads up display for important information like vehicle speed and satellite navigation instructions.

Safety is provided by a strong safety cell, which functions much like smart’s tridion safety cell. No information on the drivetrain has been provided at this time.

Wait for Geneva to roll by for more information on the production Toyota iQ.

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As reported in November last year, Toyota will be displaying a compact SUV destined for the European market at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, and it will be called the Toyota Urban Cruiser. At that point I mentioned that the new small SUV would be based on the Toyota ist/Scion xD underpinings, but what I did not expect Toyota to do was to give Europe a copy with minimal exterior styling differences and a jacked up suspension!

Expect either a 1.5 liter VVT-i from our Vios or a 1.8 liter Dual VVT-i engine to be slotted in the new Toyota Urban Cruiser SUV. Only one front three quarter photo have been released by Toyota at the moment, so wait for more photos and details to be revealed when the vehicle is displayed at Geneva 2008.

Related Posts:
Toyota to develop new small SUV for Europe
Scion xD 5-door urban subcompact

The new Toyota Rush has been launched in Malaysia and UMW Toyota showrooms will start taking bookings from today onwards. Read more about the new 7-seater fully imported 4X2 Toyota Rush 1.5 liter SUV after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of New 7-seater Toyota Rush SUV launched!

The new 8th generation Toyota Land Cruiser V8 has replaced its predecessor the Land Cruiser Amazon in the UK market. It continues the Land Cruiser’s trademark body on frame construction, which Toyota says tackles tough terrain better.

The new Land Cruiser V8 is powered by a new 4.5 liter D-4D common rail turbodiesel V8 engine. It produces 282 horsepower and 650Nm from a low 1,600rpm. It is engineered to work in temperatures from -30 to 50 degrees Celcius. It channels power through a 6-speed automatic gearbox with manual sequential gear selection and a set of low ratios. New to the Land Cruiser is the worlds first four-wheel Active Height Control and Adaptive Variable Suspension (4-Wheel AHC & AVS), a fully adjustable system that also provides spring rate control. It enhances wheel articulation to a point that the Land Cruiser is able to crawl over steps with a 630mm height difference without lifting a wheel off the ground! The Land Cruiser is also able to switch from H4 to the L4 set of low ratios without stopping - at up to speeds of 4.8 km/h.

The interior seats 7, and occupants are protected by 14 airbags including front knee airbags and curtain shield airbags along the entire length of the cabin. Creature comforts include four-zone climate control air conditioning, full-map satellite navigation, Bluetooth, rear parking monitor, nine-speaker sound system with six-DVD autochanger and leather upholstery. The ICE may be upgraded to an optional JBL audio system with iPod integration and rear LCD screens for watching DVDs.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Land Cruiser V8 launched in the UK

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UPDATE: The 7-seater Toyota Rush has been launched in Malaysia! - Click for details, specifications, photos and pricing.

Two units of the Toyota Rush - one goldish and one blue have been snapped on the Putrajaya-UPM highway by reader Halim. These are definitely long wheelbase units, and whispers through the grassroots say that Toyota SAs around the country have informed of a launch before the end of the month, which is less than a week away!

Just as a recap, the Toyota Rush is available in various configurations around the world, but all come with a 1.5 liter VVT-i engine. You can have either a 4X4 or a 4X2 drivetrain, and either 5 seats or 7 seats. We will have to wait and see which models are offered here in Malaysia - the only thing that’s for sure now is the long wheelbase, with the short wheelbase model most likely to be used a Kembara replacement sometime in mid-2008.

View a short ad clip of the Toyota Rush after the jump - it’s been posted before but serves as a refresher.

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Toyota Rush long wheelbase suitable for Malaysia
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Click here to read the rest of Toyota Rush snapped with taped up badges!

A couple of months ago I posted about how a long wheelbase version of the Toyota Rush would be suitable for the Malaysian market. Now an anonymous reader has sent in snapshots of what appears to be a long wheelbase version of the Toyota Rush being transported on trailers to an unknown destination. We know this is the long wheelbase version because it has a much longer rear overhang than the short wheelbase version.

Perodua has previously indicated that the new Kembara replacement will be launched mid this year, so this is a bit too early for a Perodua Kembara replacement to be sighted on trailers. This leads me to believe that we might soon see two different versions of the same SUV being sold under two different badges - a short wheelbase Rush sold by Perodua badged as a Kembara, and a long wheelbase Rush sold by Toyota!

This strategy has been employed by Toyota and Daihatsu in Indonesia for quite some time now, as their market have both the Daihatsu Bego and the Toyota Rush, as well as the Daihatsu Xenia and the Toyota Avanza. Whether this strategy will work in Malaysia or not remains unknown, but it will be interesting to find out!

One more shot after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of SPYSHOT: Toyota Rush long wheelbase on trailers?

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Toyota is now offering the Toyota Camry in a new colour and with a new aerokit, of which both is shown above. The new colour is called White Pearl CS (070), with CS being an acronym for crystal. The new colour is only offered on the Toyota Camry 2.0G and the Toyota Camry 2.4V. Specifying this colour will cost an extra RM800.

As for the new Toyota Camry aerokit, it can be fitted on all models and all colours, but only as a factory-fit. Aftermarket retrofitting for existing Toyota Camry owners is not possible as Toyota says it will tamper with the vehicle’s original specifications as approved by Toyota Motor Co Japan. The aerokit is optional and costs RM2,200. It consists of a front lip, a rear lip, side skirts and a trunk lid spoiler. Warranty for the aerokit follows the Camry’s 3 year or 100,000km warranty.

One more rear shot after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Camry with Aerokit available in Malaysia

A teaser button on UMW Toyota Motor’s website leads to a registration page where you can sign up for updates on the new Toyota Corolla Altis, which according to the page will be launched sometime in March 2008.

No other details about the car is revealed, so we’ll have to keep guessing at the moment what different trim level and specifications we will be getting on Malaysian soils, but a good guess would be a line-up that is similiar to the Thai line-up, which is also unrevealed.

Related Posts:
New Toyota Corolla Altis preview at Beijing 2006
ASEAN Toyota Corolla Altis at the Thai Motor Expo

As expected, the Toyota Venza - a new American-only car with the performance of a sedan and the functionality of an SUV turned out the be version of the Toyota Mark X ZiO reskinned inside and out - the Venza is wider and longer than the Mark X ZiO, but shares the same wheelbase. Someone needs to remind Toyota North America that a sedan with the functionality of an SUV is actually a station wagon.

The new Toyota Venza is available with two engine options - an unspecified 2.7 liter inline-4 (all-new, not the 151 PS unit from the Toyota Hiace van) or a nice 268 horsepower 3.5 liter V6 with 333Nm of torque. Both engines drive either the front wheels or all four wheels via a 6-speed automatic transmission with manual sequential shifting.

The wheels that Toyota have put on this one are huge - 245/50R20 tyres on 20 inch alloy wheels for the V6 version, while the 2.7 liter 4 cylinder version comes with 19 inch wheels as standard, with 20 inch wheels being optional. Unlike the Japanese market Toyota Mark X ZiO, the Toyota Venza is strictly a 5 seater. The rear seats can recline up to 14 degrees for better passenger comfort. The Venza will be equipped with 7 airbags which include a driver’s knee airbag.

A first for a Toyota in the US is the Automatic High Beam headlight system. With this system, when you are using your high beams, the system automatically switches headlights to low beam when it detects oncoming traffic. When the system detects the oncoming traffic has passed, it switches back on the high beams automatically.

Full details on the Toyota Venza’s specifications will be available towards the end of 2008 when the car actually goes on sale.

More photos after the jump.

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Click here to read the rest of New Toyota Venza unveiled at Detroit 2008

UMW Toyota Motor has a new Managing Director - Mr Kuah Kock Heng, who was previously the Executive Director of the Groups Industrial Equipment Division, the division which handles the Toyota forklift franchise in Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and also in China – Shanghai and Zhejiang Province.

“Mr Kuah has had an excellent track record in managing the Industrial Equipment Division prior to his appointment to UMW Toyota Motor. I am confident in Mr Kuahs capabilities in carrying out his new duties as the Managing Director and to lead UMW Toyota Motor to face future challenges in the competitive automotive industry,” said Tan Sri Asmat Kamaludin, Group Chairman of UMW Holdings Berhad and Chairman of UMW Toyota Motor Sdn. Bhd.

Mr Kuah has been with UMW for 25 years. He replaces Dato’ David Chen, who has retired from the managing director position, a position he has held since June 2004. Dato’ Chen has been credited with increasing Toyota’s market share as well as establishing the Lexus brand.