Archive for Toyota

This is one sure sign of the shift in consumer preferences towards smaller vehicles: Toyota’s global production (for all Toyota brands) was down by 12.6% to 791,665 units for the month of October and its sales in Japan dropped by 6.9% for the month compared to October last year at 177,606 units, but its Daihatsu brand improved its output by 11.5% to 82,780 units mainly thanks to increase production and demand in Indonesia. This is just going to go up even further when the new Toyota/Daihatsu/Perodua MPV (artist impression shown above) is launched early next year.

For the overall first 10 months of 2008, the Toyota Group produced 8,004,661 units, up 1.4% from the same period in 2007.

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Toyota has replaced the 1.4 liter VVT-i engine (4ZZ-FE) in the Toyota Auris with a new 1.33 liter Dual VVT-i engine (1NR-FE) that produces more power, more torque, more mileage, less CO2 emissions, yet has a smaller displacement and also weighs 13kg less despite having a more complicated Dual VVT-i drivetrain, thanks to pistons that are 36% lighter among other improvements. It’s also more compact, and Toyota claims it is the same size as the inline-3 1.0 liter VVT-i engine.

The new engine also has stop-start capability, which automatically stops the engine when the car is stationary, the transmission is in neutral and the driver’s foot is off the clutch pedal. When the driver presses the clutch, the engine is restarted, and Toyota claims a potential fuel savings and CO2 reduction of up to 15% thanks to this.

For a smoother restart, Toyota says this new engine is 9dB quieter and 0.3 seconds quicker to start compared to the outgoing 1.4 liter engine.

The following is a comparison table between the two engines.

With the new engine also comes a new 6-speed manual transmission with ratios to match the new torque curve. Both the 5th and 6th gear are overdrive gears for a reduced cruising engine RPM during highway driving. Toyota says this new transmission can handle more torque than the outgoing 5-speed unit and is 11% smaller and has 15% less components despite having one extra gear ratio.

All these improvements come with a price of course. The new Auris 1.33 liter models are on average about £200 more expensive than the outgoing 1.4 liter models.

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Auris gets new Toyota 1NR-FE 1.33L Dual VVT-i engine in UK line-up

Toyota launched a minor facelifted version of the Toyota Rush in Japan on the 13th of November 2008. The version of the Rush sold in the Japanese market is the short wheelbase version of course, which is sold here as the Perodua Nautica while the Toyota Rush that UMW Toyota Motor sells is a long wheelbase 7-seater version.

The new Toyota Rush features a new front bumper, new tail lamps, and a new alloy wheel design for the G trim level. The 2WD automatic model also scores 15.4km/l on the Japan 10-15 mode fuel economy test, which is a 5% improvement over the original Rush.

The Toyota Rush is also known as the Daihatsu Be-Go, Daihatsu Terios in different markets, and the Perodua Nautica in Malaysia. It is available in both short wheelbase and long wheelbase versions with the option of 7 seats, depending on the market it is sold in.

Daihatsu also unveiled its facelifted Be-Go in Japan on the same day, as they are parallel products – the same thing sold under different badges in the same market.

Look after the jump for more shots of the new Toyota Rush.

Click here to read the rest of 2009 Toyota Rush Facelift unveiled in Japan

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UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd will soon begin selling TRD accessories from the TRD Sportivo range, a special range that has been developed and tested for durability in South East Asian conditions. These accessories will be offered with a 3 year warranty for manufacturing defects.

We’ve already seen a TRD Sportivo kit offered on a car sold by UMW Toyota Motor, which is the Toyota Fortuner facelift with a TRD Sportivo kit, so you can expect other offerings to be in a similiar tune – mostly aesthetics.

But for the next car that’s getting the TRD touch which is the Toyota Vios, UMW Toyota Motor says it will also offer a sports suspension kit developed by TRD and manufactured by TEIN, which will offer better handling as well as an approximately 30mm lowered ride height. Other possibilities (though a very distant one, unfortunately) which were shown to the media today include full bucket FIA-approved Recaro TRD racing seats and a performance exhaust system which sounded pretty bassy and grunty, quite an unlikely sound to be coming from the tame 109 PS engine inside.

The accessories will first be offered as a TRD Sportivo package to be fitted on existing Vioses and there is also a Toyota Vios TRD that may come early next year, just in time to keep the Vios fresh in the face of the 2009 Honda City.

Toyota is working on a compact car to sell in India and reports say that they’ve set a target price tag of US$5,000 which is about 2.4 lakh INR or RM 17,600. This is about double the price of the Tata Nano’s expected retail price. The new compact car is set to hit the Indian roads in 2010, where it will also be produced for export to emerging countries such as Brazil, which has been referred to as the world’s biggest emerging market.

Although some of the media abroad have reported that the car will be based off a Daihatsu which is becoming rather common practice for the two Japanese automakers lately (Toyota owns a majority stake in Daihatsu), apparently Toyota Kirloskar Motor India managing director Hiroshi Nakagawa found it important to say that the new car will be very much a Toyota development, not a Daihatsu. Hmm, is there something wrong with Daihatsu’s reputation in India or something?

Nakagawa also declined to comment on the reported US$5,000 price tag, only saying that it would be in a different class than the Tata Nano – presumably this means it’s not as barebones as the Nano and will be higher up in the food chain.

Left: Artist’s rendering, Top-right: Mag-X thumbnails

We finally have some pretty solid but unofficial details on the upcoming compact 3-row MPV that Toyota and Daihatsu have been working on, scheduled to be launched next year. This is also the same vehicle that will be the base of the new Perodua MPV to be launched in Q3 of 2009, just in time for Hari Raya.

The word is that the Toyota version will be called the Toyota Passo Sette while the Daihatsu version will be called the Daihatsu Boon Ruminous, and will cost between 1,380,000 yen to 1,880,000 yen in Japan.

The Toyota version has a front end and headlamps that are very similiar to the current generation Toyota Vios. In classic Toyota style in knowing exactly how some Japanese love individuality and customization, the Japanese version will also get an alternate front end that is more sporty and aggressive. The Perodua version will naturally have its own front end, with a new grille, bumper and headlamps.

Toyota also has an existing compact 3-row MPV called the Toyota Sienta so it would be fair to compare this new MPV to the Sienta, and also the Passo/Boon/Myvi. And why not throw in the new Honda Freed into the mix. Let’s have a look:

From the table above we can see that the new MPV is wider as well as longer in both length and wheelbase compared to the Sienta and the Myvi. A 2750mm wheelbase is impressive – that’s as long as the Subaru Exiga, which is quite a big vehicle!

It’s also quite obvious from even photos that the new Perodua MPV will be between the Sienta and the Myvi in terms of height as the Sienta is quite tall, but this new MPV loses some of that height for a sleeker profile that is generally more acceptable outside of Japan. After all, Indonesia is expected to be a production center for the car in ASEAN.

Something also very interesting is the fact that it is equal to the Wish in terms of wheelbase but significantly shorter and also narrower. Another key difference between this new MPV and the Toyota Sienta is the fact that the Sienta has sliding doors for the rear doors while this car uses conventional swing doors.

The primary engine for the Japanese market will be the 1.5 liter 3SZ-VE producing 109 PS at 6,000rpm and 141Nm of torque, but a 1.3 liter version could be available for the ASEAN market since the Avanza 1.3 was accepted quite well here.

The Japanese market interior will feature a dashboard with a centrally-mounted speedo and also a dash-mounted shifter (CVT for FWD, 4-speed auto for 4WD). ASEAN versions could see this shift lever moved to the area between the seats instead as we’ve seen this happen before with the Myvi (Passo) and the Nautica (Terios).

From the Toyota product photos of the interior leaked by MagX, the second row looks like it can either fit 3 adults but I think 2 adults and 1 child would be more comfortable. At least it comes with 3 headrests, though this may be omitted in our market for cost cutting. The third row is a strict 2-seater.

The second and third row can be folded down for a flat loading area. The loading area is 1330mm wide at the rear-most area but when you fold down the rear seats, this width reduces to 1045mm because of the rear wheel arches protruding into the cabin. The loading area height is 858mm.

So, there you have it. There’s no telling at the moment which market will get the new Toyota compact MPV first, but it’s either between one of the ASEAN countries (Indonesia in particular), or Japan. One possible unveiling schedule could see a more “sophisticated” (dash-mounted shifter, option for DVD player, etc) Japan version unveiled first, then a low cost ASEAN version, and finally the Perodua version in Q3 2009.

Look after the jump for one more side profile shot of the new Toyota/Daihatsu/Perodua 3-row compact MPV.

Click here to read the rest of New Toyota MPV: details of the new 3-row compact that Perodua will also build!

Japan’s Mag-X carried a story earlier this year claiming Toyota is working on a production version of the Toyota 1/X Concept (shown above) based on the next generation Toyota Yaris chassis (which will be a development of the Toyota iQ’s chassis), set to hit the production lines towards the end of 2011. It will probably be displayed to the public at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, which is the next motorshow after the 2009 show, as the show is only held every two years.

Toyota is apparently targeting a fuel economy of 44km per liter according to the Japanese 10-15 mode measurements. It will be one of Toyota’s smallest hybrids to keep true to its lightweight roots in the 1/X concept, and will measure slightly less than 4 meters long. It will also be one of Toyota’s cheapest hybrids, so to keep costs down NiMH batteries are likely to be used rather than lithium ion batteries.

The moment Toyota started selling the Toyota iQ in Japan, you knew this was going to happen. Toyota has wasted no time in getting out Modellista styling kits for the Toyota iQ. There are two styling kits available – the Maxi and the Mixture.

The Modellista Maxi focuses more on the bodykits itself with custom bumpers, side skirts and even a center exhaust tailpipe on the rear, while the Mixture adds some funk such as orange wing mirrors and other decorations such as decals, all done up in orange or another colour of your choice.

Look after the jump for more angles of the kitted up iQ.

Click here to read the rest of Toyota iQ Modellista comes in two flavors

The smart fortwo spawned the smart roadster, which was designed to give people the experience of old compact and light British roadsters such as the Triumph Spitfire and the MG MGB. The Japanese are at it again, taking an existing concept and innovating it for their own product.

Compact city car – check. Name that signifies intelligence (smart… iQ?) – check. You can probably already expect that the next step is for the Toyota iQ (shown above) to be followed by a compact roadster that’s designed to be both economical and fun at the same time, as long as you can fit in it of course! And after that came the smart forfour equivalent, this will come in the form of the next generation Toyota Yaris based on the iQ’s platform components.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport claims that the iQ-based roadster is in fact in the works and a concept version will be unveiled at next year’s 2009 Tokyo Motor Show in October 2009. An indicated name is the Toyota Spider Concept.

But its not like Toyota doesn’t already have such a product, its just not sold under the Toyota brand. It’s called the Daihatsu Copen.

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These photos of what appears to be the next generation Toyota Prius appeared on the internet sometime earlier this month, and in a surprising move Toyota’s PR division has gone ahead and confirmed that these pics are indeed photos of the new Toyota Prius.

The new second generation Toyota Prius is set to be fully revealed in January 2009 at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. This comes soon after Honda revealed its second generation Honda Insight concept at the 2008 Paris Motor Show.

The statement by Toyota confirming the photos did not reveal any other details about the car other than the fact that in terms of dimensions its about the same as the outgoing model but it offers better interior room and better fuel economy.

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