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Frankfurt preview: Production Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid

August 15, 2011 at 9:33 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Toyota

Toyota is finally ready to launch its Prius Plug-in Hybrid, which will make its debut in Frankfurt in production form. The user rechargeable Prius is Toyota’s first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) to go on sale, and also its first to use a lithium ion battery. In case you’re wondering, this is a Prius that you can plug in to your home’s wall socket to recharge, like a full EV and your mobile phone.

Calling it the “next major milestone in Toyota’s ongoing, 40 year quest for sustainable mobility and the ultimate eco car”, the Prius Plug-in Hybrid features the latest development of the company’s modular Hybrid Synergy Drive full hybrid platform, which has clocked some 200 billion kilometres of driving worldwide.

The new compact lithium-ion battery has been developed to “meet Toyota’s rigorous standards for reliability”. The Prius PHEV’s extended EV cruising range enables it to achieve remarkable fuel efficiency of just 2.2 l/100 km, while CO2 emissions drop to an unprecedented 49 g/km. Other than that, Toyota gives little away than to say that “affordability of its proven HSD technology will make it widely accessible.”

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New Toyota Camry exposed by Canadian buyer’s guide!

August 12, 2011 at 10:32 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Spyshots, Toyota

The new Toyota Camry will be officially launched simultaneously in four locations across the US on August 23, but it has already been exposed, thanks to a French language Canadian car buyer’s guide. The mag scans reveal familiar evolutionary design and a redesigned dashboard. Info gained from the mag are as follows:

The North American Camry starts with a 2.5-litre four-cylinder with 171 PS and 226 Nm of torque, good for 0-100 km/h in 9.8 seconds, before reaching a top speed of 190 km/h.

A step up is the Hybrid, which sees an electric motor paired to a 2.4-litre petrol engine. The combined output is 190 PS and 270 Nm. 0-100 km/h in done in 8.9 seconds and top speed is 200 clicks. The headline fuel consumption figure is 5.7 litres per 100 km.

There has to be a big V6, and its a 3.5-litre unit with 272 PS and 335 Nm of torque. This range topper does the century sprint in just 7.2 seconds and has a top speed of 220 km/h. There will be three trim levels – LE, SE and XLE.

The full scan of the double page spread is after the jump, as well as an official Toyota teaser of the rear end, which wasn’t shown in the mag. Might be useful if you can read French!
[Read more...]

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Toyota to launch diesel powered Etios in India next month

August 10, 2011 at 5:01 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, India, Toyota

Toyota’s decision to make a small saloon for India, and its first hatchback for the country, seems to be paying off. Sales of the Etios is currently above expectations – in the seven months since it was launched, the Etios has found 37,000 new homes, 7,000 above Toyota’s estimates. The Etios Liva hatchback received 1,400 bookings in just four days after its June 27 launch.

The Etios was launched with a 2NR-FE 1.5-litre engine (90 PS/132 Nm), while the Liva is powered by a 1.2L with 80 PS and 104 Nm of torque. While they should be entirely adequate for the compact duo, Toyota will be wheeling out a diesel powered Etios sedan, and the estimated date of arrival is in September, a festive season in India where sales peak.

According to Autocar India, the oil burner in question is a 1,364 cc turbodiesel that also powers India’s Corolla. However, the version in the cheaper Etios will not get the bigger car’s Variable Nozzle Turbo (VNT), and will make do with fixed geometry boost.

The mag speculates a max power figure of 75 hp, 12 horses less than in the Corolla. But we all know that diesels are all about low rpm torque and the D-4D in the six-speed manual Altis makes 205 Nm at 1,800 to 2,800 rpm.

Sounds good, and fuel consumption in the 900-plus kg Etios should be brilliant. While it looks rather bland, the Etios has the same 2,550 mm wheelbase as the Vios (meaning it’s quite roomy) and a huge 595-litre boot.

Do you think something like this will work in Malaysia?

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2012 Toyota Camry – teased ahead of US launch

August 8, 2011 at 11:57 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Toyota

Plenty coming this month from Toyota – the new Lexus GS 350 is being launched at Pebble Beach on August 18, and five days later will see the unveiling of the 2012 Camry for the North American market, with the fifth-generation car being introduced simultaneously in four locations across the US on August 23.

Ahead of that, the company has teased the upcoming car with a cropped three-quarter front angle photo via a Twitter post, revealing just the headlamp and side profile of the front bumper assembly. It looks like the grille is different than that suggested by the grainy scan from a month back, supposedly showing the car in all its glory.

The hybrid version of the sedan is also slated to be unveiled alongside the US market SE and XLE versions of the XV40′s replacement. Guess we’ll all just have to wait and see how it finally shapes up, when it comes.

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Toyota reveals tech for future vehicle safety systems

August 4, 2011 at 1:30 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Technology, Toyota

Some news on the passive safety development front, from Toyota. The Japanese automaker has announced a quartet of future vehicle safety systems, currently under development, which it is looking at introducing into its vehicles. Aimed at protecting older drivers and pedestrians, their development is in response to Japanese road accident statistics that show that more than half of road traffic deaths are of people aged 65 and over, and that pedestrians now account for more fatalities than vehicle occupants.

The first of these is an extension of the Pre-Crash Safety (PCS) system, now with collision-avoidance assist. Currently, the system can predict when a collision is imminent and instigate measures to reduce damage and the risk of injury. The latest development of the technology is designed to help avoid a collision happening altogether. Using the same millimetre-wave radar and miniature camera to monitor the road ahead, it works to help avoid a collision if the driver fails to apply the brakes, and is being further developed to help the driver steer a safe course in an emergency.

Second on the list is what the company calls emergency response technology, which incorporates a new system that can monitor cardio-vascular functions through the driver’s grip on the steering wheel and detect risks. Similar in essence to that being pursued by BMW in its Emergency Stop Assistant under its ConnectedDrive programme as well as Ford’s heart rate monitoring seat, Toyota is planning further research with a view to bringing a system to market.

Next is the adaptive driving beam. The company introduced an automatic high beam function on some of its cars two years ago, which switches the headlights to low beam when a camera detects the tail lights of vehicles ahead or the headlights of oncoming traffic, then restores high beam as soon as the road is clear.

It has now improved this technology with an Adaptive Driving Beam (ADB). This partially shields the high beam light so that it doesn’t shine directly in the face of drivers in vehicles ahead. This means it can prevent glare while maintaining best possible forward illumination of the road, reducing the risk of accidents.

Then there’s the pop-up bonnet, which can reduce the risk of head injury in a pedestrian-related frontal collisions. It automatically raises the rear of the bonnet to increase the space between it and the engine, which means it can be effective even on vehicles where the bonnet is set low, with limited clearance underneath.

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Toyota raises Thai plant output by 40% for Hilux, Fortuner

August 2, 2011 at 9:33 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Toyota

It looks like the temporary setback that was the Japanese earthquake and tsunami is now firmly in the rear view mirror, and it’s full steam ahead for the auto industry. Toyota, for one, is raising the capacity of its Ban Pho plant in Thailand by 40% to meet growing demand. The expansion will start in September.

The biggest automaker in Thailand will invest 3 billion baht to expand the plant, which churns out Hilux Vigo pickup trucks and Fortuner SUVs, both of which received facelifts recently. Currently capacity is about 18,000 to 20,000 vehicles per month. Another round of expansion is expected next year.

“Even though pickup truck and SUV production has been expanded, we believe the total cumulative supply remains short of local and overseas demand,” said TMT president Kyoichi Tanada, who added that Fortuner production will continue to be shared between Thailand and Indonesia even after the expansion.

Besides Ban Pho in Chachoengsao, Toyota has another Samrong plant in Samut Prakan, and it has been investing to improve assembly speed there to increase production volume, as there’s no room for expansion. Combined, the two plants produce over 45,000 units of trucks and SUVs per month at present.

The Hilux (now called Hilux Vigo Champ in Thailand) and Fortuner are hugely important models for Toyota, which sold around 2.3 million units of both models worldwide from 2005 to 2010. Made in Thailand, they are exported to some 113 countries across the globe.

The facelifted Hilux and Fortuner made their debuts at the recent Indonesia International Motor Show. Click here and here to read our previous posts. They should be heading to our shores soon too, perhaps by the end of this year.

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Toyota to introduce a low-priced car for China in 2013

July 29, 2011 at 12:11 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Toyota

According to reports, Toyota is planning to introduce a low-priced small car designed for the Chinese market as early as 2013, with production planned at two factories in the country.

The new car is likely to be based on the its existing small sedan designs, led by the Etios, which made its debut in India last December. While the company intends to keep costs down by using Etios parts, the new vehicle – to be powered by a 1.5 litre engine – is to be slightly larger than the Etios to accomodate preferences in the Chinese market.

The reports add that Toyota is set to spend about 40 billion yen in preparation for local production of the car, which it aims to sell around 200,000 units a year of. Two factories, joint venture plants in Tianjin with China FAW and in Guangzhou with Guangzhou Automobile, will churn out the new tyke when the time comes.

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2011 Toyota Innova facelift – exterior and interior updates

July 22, 2011 at 5:07 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under 2011 Indonesian International Motor Show, Cars, Toyota

The last of the trio of facelifted IMV vehicles making their debut at the 2011 Indonesia International Motor Show is the Toyota Innova.

At first glance, the new facelifted front end reminds me of the current generation Toyota Camry facelift, thanks to the similar shape of the grille and the lower bumper air intakes.

The updates are quite minor at the rear – a redesigned tail lamp cluster with three sections instead of the current two section design and that’s pretty much it.

On the inside, the dashboard has been slightly redesigned. The wood no longer surrounds the central air cond outlets. Now there are just two slim vertical strips of wood that flanks the area which contains the entertainment and climate controls (both manual and auto available – see pic above). There’s also a redesigned steering wheel.

There are many more variants of the Innova in Indonesia as compared to Malaysia. We have the choice of a 2.0 litre petrol with an automatic G spec and both manual and auto E specs, but in Indonesia there are basic J, E, G, V, G Luxury and V Luxury specs, which even go so far as to add stuff like captain seats to the specs, allowing you to turn the Innova into an Alphard-like IMV.

Look after the jump for a full gallery of the Toyota Innova facelift.
[Read more...]

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Toyota Corolla Altis – a minor upgrade for 2011

July 22, 2011 at 2:04 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Toyota

Some news away from IIMS, then. UMW Toyota teases that a change is coming for the Corolla Altis, so, interest piqued, we checked with the company to see what was on the cards. It looks like it’s just a very minor upgrade, primarily with the colour of the interior.

From now, the Corolla Altis gets a new shade for its leather seats – dark grey replaces the beige that was introduced with the car, and this is available on both 2.0V and 1.8G variants. The new shade brings things closer to the all-black interior seen on the Thai-spec 2.0V at the model’s preview drive last year, and the dark shade should work well for the car.

Elsewhere, a new option has also come about for the vehicle – a DVD-based multimedia system with navigation. The 2-DIN head unit comes with a 6.1-inch colour LCD touchscreen, and features MP3, USB and iPod compatibility as well as an Aux jack.

The DVD-AVN package, as it’s called, also features Bluetooth connectivity and a reverse camera, and ticking the option adds RM2,990 to the final price.

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2011 Toyota Fortuner facelift unveiled at IIMS Jakarta

July 22, 2011 at 1:26 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under 2011 Indonesian International Motor Show, Cars, Toyota

Toyota has unveiled the latest update to the Toyota Fortuner at the 2011 Indonesian International Motor Show. This is the second time the Fortuner has been facelifted, which is expected as this has been the trend for Toyota’s IMV models for developing countries. The Fortuner was last updated in 2008.

Toyota seems to be making the Fortuner look bolder and bolder, which was also the trend when the original Fortuner was changed in 2008. Toyota gave the 2008 facelift a wider and stronger front end compared to the original, and with this latest 2011 update, the Fortuner takes on a similar look to the flagship Toyota Landcruiser at the front.

The rear tail lamps have been given a clear lens look, which reminds me of the first generation Toyota Harrier.

On the inside, the Fortuner gets an updated steering wheel design, as well as some minor changes and rearrangements to the upper half of the dashboard.

Look after the jump for a full gallery of the new 2011 Fortuner.
[Read more...]

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