Torrance, Calif, December 20, 2011---Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., will debut NS4, an advanced plug-in hybrid concept vehicle, at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The reveal will feature the world premiere of the concept vehicle as well as the North American debut of the Prius c hybrid during Toyota’s news conference on Tuesday, January 10 at 8:45 AM in the Riverview Ballroom at Cobo Center.
Source: pressroom.toyota.com
Start the new year off right by treating your car to a fresh battery. We will install an 84 Month Genuine Toyota TrueStart Battery for only $99.95! Hurry in, this offer is only good through December 31st! To print your coupon, simply visit our coupons tab located on our Facebook page.
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 From now through Dec. 21, shoppers who register online at www.toyota.com/shareathon, tweet a scripted Shareathon message, and then purchase or lease a new Toyota vehicle on or before Jan. 3, 2012 will be eligible for a certificate and unique coupon code redeemable for a $500 prepaid debit card. 
Participants will then have 48 hours to encourage their followers to retweet the initial message. Each retweet increases the debit card amount by $50, up to a maximum of $500 additional, for a total of $1,000. As an added bonus, those followers who retweet the message can enter to win a 2011 Prius from Toyota.
Beginning at 11:00 a.m. EST on each day of the program, certificates will be available to the first 140 people who register on the site and tweet about their plans to get a new Toyota during Toyotathon. Once the new vehicle is purchased, each participant will need his or her unique coupon code and VIN to receive the prepaid debit card.
*Participants must submit their coupon code for redemption no later than Jan. 31, 2012.
Customers will qualify for the $500-$1,000 if they do all three of the following:
1. Purchase or lease a new Toyota from Dec 12, 2011 through Jan 3, 2012. (Toyotathon purchases prior to Dec 12, 2011 do not qualify.)
2. Send out the scripted Tweet / encourage retweets from their friends
3. Submit for their redemption no later than Jan 31, 2012
December 15, 2011 -- The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) today announced that 15 Toyota, Lexus, and Scion vehicles earned Top Safety Pick awards for the 2012 model year, more than any other automaker. Commenting on today’s announcement, Steve St. Angelo, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., said, “Safety is a core value that dates back to the foundation of our company. IIHS’ awards further recognize our commitment to helping protect drivers and passengers.” The 2012 model year winners are: Toyota Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Highlander, Prius, Prius v, Sienna, Tundra Crew Cab, Venza, and Yaris; Lexus CT 200h and RX, and Scion tC, xB, and xD. According to the IIHS, Top Safety Pick awards recognize vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side, rollover, and rear crashes based on ratings in IIHS tests.
Source: toyota.com
Toyota will aggressively push forward its hybrid technology in both cars and trucks, according to Automotive News.
As reported in late August, Ford and Toyota have formed a partnership to develop hybrid technology for their full-size pickup trucks mostly because of strict EPA fuel economy regulations coming in 2025. Both automakers said they agreed to have some kind of product for sale by the end of the decade, but it looks like Toyota might be thinking about delivering something to market before that deadline.
At the Tokyo Motor Show, Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota's global research and development chief, said the automaker is somewhat behind in direct injection and advanced transmissions because of the company's commitment to hybrid technology; however, other partnerships recently announced -- namely a memorandum of cooperation with BMW regarding diesel technology, among other things -- could help close the gap.
Next year, Toyota expects to finish a prototype hybrid pickup system it is developing with Ford, Uchiyamada said. Toyota hopes to use the system in the Tundra full-size pickup, but the technology could also be applied to the smaller Tacoma or other full-size SUVs. Of course, Ford will also use the technology in its large pickups.
There's no doubt Ford and Toyota are pushing up their timelines in response to the new Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups due to debut in 2014. Likewise, we've heard speculators say a new family of powertrains -- including a next-generation two-mode hybrid system -- is likely to debut with the new platform as well.
In the meantime, hybrid technologies look like the easiest way for all the big truck makers to chip away at more aggressive fuel economy requirements coming in the next decade.
Source: newsday.com
Participants will then have 48 hours to encourage their followers to retweet the initial message. Each retweet increases the debit card amount by $50, up to a maximum of $500 additional, for a total of $1,000. As an added bonus, those followers who retweet the message can enter to win a 2011 Prius from Toyota.
Beginning at 11:00 a.m. EST on each day of the program, certificates will be available to the first 140 people who register on the site and tweet about their plans to get a new Toyota during Toyotathon. Once the new vehicle is purchased, each participant will need his or her unique coupon code and VIN to receive the prepaid debit card.
**Participants must submit their coupon code for redemption no later than Jan. 31, 2012.
You'd end up with this, the all-new 2012 Toyota Camry
A successful debut of the Prius PHV, which Toyota will begin selling in 2012, may help Toyota secure its place as the industry leader in gas-and-electric vehicles and undermine General Motors Co.'s prospects with its Chevrolet Volt. Though the Volt, introduced a year ago, was the first plug-in hybrid on the market, its sales are trailing the company's target. The model has also been beset by a government investigation into battery fires after collision tests.
"Toyota carries the image of being a leader in hybrids and the recent problems with the Volt's batteries give consumers an extra reason to choose the plug-in Prius over the Volt," said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees about $600 million in Tokyo at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. "Toyota's new plug-in Prius will definitely have a negative impact on GM's sales of the Volt."
Toyota, poised to lose its crown as the world's biggest carmaker to Detroit-based GM this year, said the PHV goes on sale in January in Japan and March in the U.S., where it will be about 20 percent cheaper than the Volt.
GM believes the Volt is a different kind of car than the Prius plug-in and will appeal to different buyers, said company spokesman Rob Peterson. The Volt can go farther in electric drive than the Prius and offer much better efficiency for drivers with a short commute, he said. The Volt's electric drive system also provides the kind of soft, quiet ride befitting many luxury cars, he said.
Plug-in Push
"We think the Volt is a better proposition," Peterson said. "The Volt is much more refined than a Prius."
The auto industry as a whole is making a push in to the plug-in market. Nissan Motor Co. plans to introduce a plug-in hybrid by 2015 to complement its gas-free electric Leaf compact. The automaker has sold about 20,000 Leaf compacts since they went on sale on December last year. Honda Motor Co. has said it will embrace the plug-in variation of hybrid engines by as early as next year.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which makes the i-MiEV electric car, has said it will introduce a plug-in in the second half of next year. Audi AG expects to introduce such vehicles in 2014 and South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. has said it also plans to roll out its own plug-in hybrid.
Toyota, however, may have the edge. "No other carmakers have a car like" the PHV, said Chris Richter, a Tokyo-based analyst at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. "Toyota's plug-in has a much better efficiency and range than the Volt, which is much more expensive."
'Ample Demand'
Toyota has targeted global sales of 60,000 units of the PHV in its first year, and may consider adding production if there's "ample demand," said Shiori Hashimoto, a spokeswoman for the company. That's triple the 19,010 units delivered when the Prius first went on sale outside of Japan in 2000.
GM sold 6,142 Volts this year through November and will miss its sales target of 10,000 cars this year, said Don Johnson, the carmaker's vice president of U.S. sales, on Dec. 1. GM expects, though, expects to raise production of the Volt to 60,000 next year with 45,000 earmarked for the U.S. and the rest for export.
The Prius is Toyota's third-best selling car after the Corolla and Camry, and the fastest-growing Toyota car this year, as higher gasoline prices boost demand for fuel-efficient automobiles. Still, the Japanese carmaker isn't giving up on traditional cars, with President Akio Toyoda saying last week that he "loves the smell of gasoline and the sound of engines" as he introduced the company's new 86 sports coupe.
The PHV, which will first go on sale from 3.2 million yen ($41,100) in Japan in January and from $32,000 in the U.S. in March, differs from today's Prius by offering the driver the choice of running solely on electricity. After the electric battery runs out, though, the vehicle operates like a third- generation Prius, according to Toyota.
The car can be recharged using a standard wall outlet at home, can cover 15 miles on electricity alone and 49 miles per gallon on gasoline, according to Toyota's website. That compares with the Volt, which can go 40 miles on electricity power before the gasoline engine kicks in and powers a generator, which recharges the battery.
The new Prius will use a lithium ion battery supplied by Panasonic Corp.'s Sanyo, replacing an earlier battery from Primearth EV Energy Co. GM's Volt also uses lithium-ion batteries, which are supplied by LG Chem Ltd. Takeshi Uchiyamada, executive vice president of Toyota, said in an interview last week that the company has carefully assured the safety of its batteries, which is one reason why the Prius took longer than expected to reach the market.
Source: sfgate.com
That moment gripped us sometime after Frankfurt, and every day since we've been itching for a proper look at a production-ready Toyota FT-86. Well, here it is, finally, and it's now called the GT 86. No idea why the name change, but as you can see the important bit is that Toyota didn't feel it necessary to amend the concept look too much.
The GT 86 still looks as promised, minus the smaller wheels (as expected, standard rims are 16in, and you can spec 17s as an option), the long-gone-out-of-fashion ‘Lexus' lights, and some general toning down of the width and stance proportions.
The GT 86 still looks great for a Toyota product, with very strongly emphasised shoulders front and back, especially the rear wing, which kinks up into the base of the spoiler. Viewed dead-on the car seems a bit too tall on its stock suspension and skinny tyres, but that's what the aftermarket is for, and Toyota openly welcomes the tuning world's take on the GT 86, just like they did on the original AE 86.
As for the technical bits, the GT 86 promises driver-focused dynamics with a low centre of gravity, a 197bhp 2.0-litre boxer four mated to a six-speed manual or automatic gearbox, and perfected aerodynamics.
Toyota claims the GT 86 will exhibit precise, instant response to the smallest throttle and steering inputs, and that's exactly what we were hoping for, rather than outright power. And with a dry weight of just over 1.2 tonnes, our wish will most likely be realised.
Peak power comes in at 7,000rpm, so there's already an excuse to keep the rev needle vertical, and maximum torque of 205Nm is available at 6,600rpm. Since it's a flat engine it's been set low in the engine bay, and the driving position is as low as possible too, all in the name of superior handling — the centre of gravity is 475mm up. Weight distribution is 53:47 front to rear.
Toyota also kept its game on the inside, with a sporty interior highlighted by a thick, small-diameter steering wheel. There's lots of aluminium trim and a big white-faced rev-counter in the middle of the instrument binnacle for the driver to focus on what's important. A sat-nav (no doubt a cost option) display sits on top of the centre console and just about the only thing missing is a cluster of some performance gauges — no turbo, no boost gauge, though. Just as well…
Toyota hasn't disclosed any performance specifications yet, but considering the power to weight ratio the GT 86 should easily do 0-100kph in the sixes. For around $30,000 (Dh110,000), we can live with being out-diced by Nissan 370Zs.
Hachi who?Why so much commotion from the enthusiast world about the GT 86? Well, it's mainly the last two digits in the nameplate, 86. In Japanese 86 is pronounced Hachi-roku, which was also the name of a legendary little sportscar Toyota used to produce in the Eighties. The new ‘reincarnation' isn't really meant to be that, or claimed to be that, but it doesn't matter. The philosophy is the same: a compact, rear-drive chassis, with a highly-tuneable engine just like the original 4AGE four-pot.
Toyota wants to offer a low base price for a car with minimal computers, so that the common enthusiast can relive his AE 86 days with the new GT 86, tuning and extracting the maximum potential from the new car. Toyota engineers went as far as attending countless enthusiast meets in Japan to find out what makes them tick, and ensure the GT 86 offers those same loveable charms of the AE 86. The old car may have been out of production for over two decades, but it's still making noise in grassroots drift and grip events everywhere, even making appearances in the D1 drift series competing with 500bhp rivals. It's stood the test of time specifically for how well it lends itself to tuning, and Toyota wants the GT 86 to be the same. A 500bhp Hachi-roku? Soon to be a reality, and no engine swaps necessary either.Source: gulfnews.com
