Toyota has given its RAV4, the car that invented the soft-roader class, a facelift and added a new entry-level model to the range.
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The newcomer is the 2.2 D-4D XT-R with two-wheel drive and the option of a six-speed automatic transmission. The price for this entry-level model is £22,410 and it's on sale from the first of next month.
In an effort to attract new buyers to the hybrid market, Toyota today launched the all-new Toyota Certified Used Hybrid (TCUH) program, an extension of the Toyota Certified Used Vehicles (TCUV) brand which provides added inspection and warranty coverage on certified used Toyota hybrids.
“The program is a great way to increase awareness of certified used hybrid vehicles,” said TCUV Marketing Manager, Steve Gallagher.
“As more hybrids enter the used vehicle marketplace, Toyota Certified Hybrids offer high-quality options to customers interested in purchasing these fuel-efficient vehicles.”
Buoyed by the overwhelming response of its newly-launched 'Corolla Altis' and to fulfill its customer's needs in every possible way, Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM), is planning to roll out its diesel version in the Indian car market. It has been learnt from knowledgeable sources that TKM is considering to power the model with a 1. 4L turbo-diesel engine that is currently strapped on to the Yaris hatchback (in other countries), though it could not be officially confirmed by the company.
The car manufacturer senses that diesel luxury saloons are gaining popularity in the Indian car market as such cars offer improved power, performance, and fuel-efficiency. Market sources claim that the diesel version of 'Corolla Altis' would be available in the Indian showrooms by mid-2009. Toyota sold on 40,000 units of Corolla in five years but now plans to sell 20,000 units of Corolla Altis per year.
Shown here are the latest spy photos the 2010 Toyota Prius, sporting what looks to be a significantly redesigned front end. Both longer and wider than its predecessor, the new Toyota Prius is playing host to rumors that have everything from a station wagon to convertible variant in the works.
While we're not sure about either of those predictions (especially with Toyota's hybrid lineup scheduled to grow with entirely new models), what we do know is that the new Toyota Prius hybrid will eventually be built at Toyota's new U.S. assembly plant, currently under construction in Mississippi.
With an aim to increase its presence in the fast-growing Indian automobile market, Toyota Motor Corporation (TKC) plans to launch an array of new vehicles, and will roll out its next-generation Corolla sedan and new compact offroader Fortuner this year.
“We aim to become a full-range car company in the next few years, and, realistically, it’s a big task. We are finalising plans to introduce several new vehicles from the our stable, aiming a much higher market share in India than the current 3%,” said
Toyota’s newly appointed India head Hiroshi Nakagawa. “The new vehicles will be both imported and locally manufactured at our Bangalore facility,” he added.
The company is looking at products across the segments, including the luxury marquee Lexus and compact car Diahatsu, that could hit the market in the next few years. “We are in the final lap of bringing in new vehicles in the premium segment, the volume generating small-car segment will be rolled out sometime in 2010,” Mr Nakagawa said.
Toyota is one of the major players when it comes to hybrid cars. In fact, some of its hybrid models are well-preferred by environmentalist celebrities. Among them is one of my favorite actresses, Julia Roberts. A Toyota Prius costs around $22, 305, but I’m sure Julia is not after the cost or the savings she can get from driving a gas/electric hybrid vehicle. For her it’s more about helping save the environment with less emission.
Aside from being a hybrid, what other characteristics make Prius a great car to have? As you can see, it has a great and streamlined form. It features spoke-alloy wheels, multi-reflector halogen headlamps, and color-keyed front and rear bumpers. With the chrome-type finish grille no one can mistake your Toyota Prius for anything else. It is also of a modest size that can seat five persons and still have enough space left for luggage. Advanced airbag system and anti-lock brake system are only some samples of how the Prius keeps you safe on the road.
And you know what? Toyota Prius is not only a great choice for women like Julia Roberts. This is also the preferred vehicle of hot Hollywood actors, like Leonardo DiCaprio.
As $4 gas has pushed American drivers into fuel-efficient cars, the news has been full of reports chronicling the Detroit Three's small car development and GM's upcoming plug-in hybrid, the Volt. But what about the current leader in hybrid technology, Toyota? Recently sales of the Prius passed the one million mark, and word leaked that the company was increasing battery production and would possibly build its popular hybrid in California. Now the automaker has officially announced far more detailed plans for its future, including info about the next Prius, other gas-electric models, and a new plug-in hybrid car due in 2010.
Hammered by rising fuel prices and declining home prices, sales of new cars and trucks plummeted throughout California in the first quarter, according to data released yesterday.
About 400,000 new cars and trucks were registered between January and March – a 19 percent drop from the same period last year, the California New Car Dealers Association said.
That was the sharpest drop in decades, said Peter Welch, president of the association.
“We may have had something like this in the 1970s, back when we had the oil crisis, but I've never seen anything like it,” he said.
In San Diego County, the drop was similarly dramatic. Slightly more than 28,000 new cars and trucks were sold during the first quarter, an 18 percent drop from the same period last year.
Auto sales have been declining for two years, partly because of the troubled real estate market. As home prices dropped, consumers were no longer able to easily tap into home-equity loans to buy a new car.
Welch said the continuing decline in home prices, tightening credit and rising unemployment have also cut into demand for new cars.
“Unless you're unfortunate enough to be in an accident, buying a car is a discretionary purchase, and that's the first thing that people are cutting back,” he said.
Toyota Motor Corp. on Wednesday denied it had received any funding from the Japanese government to develop its hit Prius gas-electric hybrid car.
Japan's top automaker rejected a March 24 Business Week report that quoted Jim Press, vice chairman and president of Chrysler LLC and a former board member at Toyota, as saying, "The Japanese government paid for 100 percent of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius."
Press worked for 37 years at Toyota, including the years of research for the Prius, which sent on sale 10 years ago. He left Toyota for Chrysler last September.
Prius has become a global hit because of the appeal of its technology that boosts fuel efficiency by switching between a gas engine and electric motor amid growing concerns about global warming and soaring gas prices.
Automotive industry analysts say business is on the upswing, but right now it sure doesn't seem that way.
Kristin Dziczek and Bernard Swiecki, researchers with the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research, this week told the Tri-County Economics Club that the auto industry has seen its worse days and will recover.
"The bleeding has stopped," said Dziczek, director of CAR's automotive labor and education program. "We don't often get to deliver good news."
Michigan lost more than 300,000 jobs since mid-2000, and another 33,000 will vanish during the next two years, analysts say. Many of the losses are auto related.
Earlier this month Toyota announced plans to cut production of big pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles by undisclosed amounts at plants in San Antonio and Princeton, Ind., underscoring the impact of high gasoline prices and consumers' shift toward more fuel-efficient cars.
Automakers anticipated a difficult first half in 2008, but new data suggested an even grimmer outlook.
J.D. Power and Associates lowered its 2008 forecast for U.S. new vehicle sales by nearly 5 percent to the lowest levels since 1994.
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