Archive for Toyota

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.

Toyota’s A-BAT Concept (Advanced Breakthrough Aero Truck) could preview the upcoming rumoured Scion light pickup truck in the US market. It was developed by the TMS Advanced Product Strategy group and Calty, Toyota’s North American-based, research and design center located in Newport Beach, California. The A-BAT Concept was designed for a buyer group with a unique combination of lifestyle activities.

The Toyota A-BAT Concept is built on a monocoque platform and is powered by Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive, paired with an inline-4 gasoline engine. The rear has a 4 feet long bed, with a translucent roof panel that slides open to allow for tall cargo in the cab. A pass-through midgate can be folded down to lengthen the bed by an extra 2 feet.

The bed includes tailgate lighting for illuminating the load in the bed, a first aid kit and flashlight integrated into the tailgate, sliding tie downs, and an AC power outlet. The bed walls have lockable storage drawers. There is also a large sliding drawer beneath the bed, accessible without opening the tailgate.

The Toyota A-BAT’s monocoque chassis should provide for a more comfortable car-like driving experience, making the A-BAT a real urban warrior instead of an offroader.

More photos after the jump.

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Toyota Mark X ZiO

Toyota will be launching a new US model at the 2008 Detroit Motor Show in January next year called the Toyota Venza. Toyota has kept us in the dark about what model this is, without even a concept sketch but they say it’s a “crossover sedan” which will be a “unique blend of sedan and sport utility vehicle, offering seating for five, easy ingress and egress, a car-like ride and functional utility.” The Toyota Venza was esigned and engineered in the United States and will be assembled at Toyota’s plant in Kentucky.

This so-called crossover sedan will most probably be a restyled version of the Toyota Mark X ZiO (shown above) with unique SUV-like styling more suited to the American market tastes. Design inspiration will likely be drawn from the Toyota FT-SX concept - of which photos are available after the jump.

Related Posts:
Toyota Mark X ZiO launched in Japan

Click here to read the rest of New Toyota Venza (USDM) to debut at Detroit 2008

[ UPDATE: 2008 Toyota Corolla Altis launched in Malaysia - Click for more details! ]

Toyota displayed the ASEAN Toyota Corolla Altis at the 2007 Thailand Motor Expo, but only as a preview as they did not reveal anything about specifications and prices - these are expected to be released to the public early 2008.

So for the moment, enjoy photos of the ASEAN Corolla Altis in this post after the jump courtesy of our Thai correspondent.

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Toyota is developing a small SUV to contend in the increasing small SUV segment in the European market, currently dominated by the Suzuki Jimny and the Suzuki SX4 (according to 2006 sales results), with Toyota-owned Daihatsu coming in third place with the Daihatsu Terios.

Instead of coming in with the Daihatsu-based Toyota Rush which would be pointless in a mature market that already has the Terios, Toyota is developing a new small SUV that will be based on second generation Toyota Ist/Scion xD underpinings (which also form the base of the Yaris), with styling largely drawn from the Toyota Urban Cruiser concept back unveiled last year.

Looking at the choice of platform and its competitors, it would most likely be an urban “cross” SUV rather than one that can do any offroading.

View more photos of the Toyota Urban Cruiser concept after the jump.

Related Posts:
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Since the 2009 Toyota Corolla for the US domestic market was launched at the SEMA show, Toyota decided to follow the whole tuning convention theme and display a tuned up Toyota Corolla at the show called the Toyota Corolla S3.

The Toyota Corolla S3 is fitted with a rather showy bodykit complete with a matching paint job. Underneath the hood, the 2.4 liter VVT-i engine that makes a paltry 158 horsepower in stock form is supercharged and intercooled, with the huge intercooler mounted at the front.

Toyota has released no figures on how much power this concept car makes, but you can check out more photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Corolla S3 Concept: supercharged Corolla

We’re still waiting for the new Toyota Corolla Altis to be launched next year, while the Americans have just received theirs at the 2007 SEMA Auto Show a few weeks ago. The 2009 Toyota Corolla is set to come in 5 trim levels - Standard, LE, XLE, S and XRS,

The first three trim levels is to be equipped with the new Dual VVT-i 1.8 liter engine putting out 132 horsepower and 174Nm of torque, while the S and the XRS receives a larger 2.4 liter VVT-i engine, putting out a rather uninspiring 158 horsepower despite a much larger displacement. In comparison, the US market Accord Sedan and Accord Coupe’s 2.4 liter engine puts out a nice 190 horsepower.

Have a look at photos of the new USDM Corolla after the jump. It’s not much different from the Corolla launched elsewhere, except the US market Corollas seems to be equipped with a very basic meter panel design that threatens to bore you to sleep while you are driving. Available elsewhere in the world is a very nice self-illuminating meter panel in a golden hue, similiar to the one in the Auris.

On to more photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2009 Toyota Corolla for US market unveiled

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The Toyota Hi-CT is a small hybrid car concept with 3,330m x 1,695mm x 1,780mm dimensions. It uses plug-in hybrid technology, allowing it to be charged with an external power source. Power from the on-board battery can also be used to power devices through an on board 100V AC socket.

Looks like it dropped on us from the future, but rather boring at the same time… most of the concepts at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show were of this genre. Apparently everything started going this way in the past few years, boring “green” concepts that looked pretty much the same - small and light with tiny engines or motors.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Hi-CT Concept

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Toyota’s 1/X Concept is pronounced one-Xth, not one over X. The X also does not mean 10, instead 1/X means the vehicle is only “1/Xth” the weight of other vehicle in its class, whatever class it may be. It represents a new idea of what it means to be environmentally considerate.

This particular 1/X Concept car shown at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show takes the current Toyota Prius as a basis of comparison. It maintains the same interior space with that of a Toyota Prius, but only weighs 420kg, which is one third the weight of the Toyota Prius. The result is a target of double the fuel efficiency of the Toyota Prius.

This reduced weight is thanks to a light but highly rigid carbon fiber reinforced plastic body frame. This also allows narrower pillars for better visibility from inside the cockpit.

The 500cc hybrid powertrain is a combination of a FFV (Flexible Fuel Vehicle, capable of running on a mix of gasoline and ethanol) combustion engine and an electric motor hooked up to batteries with plug-in charging capability. This hybrid system is located at the rear of the car under the rear seat bench, effectively giving the car a midship rear wheel drive configuration.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Toyota 1/X Concept: lightweight hybrid vehicle

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The Toyota RiN, whatever that stands for, is the world’s biggest car company’s take on designing the car of choice for the health freak of the future. With a massive greenhouse, seats that keep your spine in its proper position, an oxygen-level conditioner and humidifier, plus a meter that gauges your mood through the steering wheel and then displays a colour based on your psychological state, Toyota thinks it can make better, happier motorists, that are more aware of nature and the society that infuses it.

Focusing on “increased comfort” and “serene, healthy living” features include leaf-shaped foot pedals and sliding doors with glass that wraps underneath the floor providing a view of the road below. Plus, you can motor along (supposedly) knowing that when your headlights are on, you won’t blind any pedestrians or oncoming motorists because the light is thoughtfully being distributed to avoid such stresses.

The design language is based on the deep-rooted and tall-growing Yakusugi tree (a variety of Japanese cypress) for its exterior and interior design to express both “harmony with nature” and “healthy mind and body”.

But seriously, if Toyota could implement a few of the less crazy ideas into future models then perhaps we may see a world without road rage and happy, smiling faces in every car and less occurrences of heart problems on the road.

Click here to read the rest of TOKYO 2007 LIVE: Toyota RiN Concept