Toyota News
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Though sedans might lack the high seating position of crossovers, the Camry remains proof that they’re more stable, quieter, and guzzle far less gas. They’re also cheaper.
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2019 Toyota Prius will be restyled to look more like Prime: report
Global sales of compact hatchbacks are hardly surging, and fuel economy for all types of vehicles is steadily improving. Even given those factors, though, the fourth-generation Toyota Prius hybrid has had an especially rough road since its launch as a 2016 model. At just 108,661 deliveries across...
John Voelcker -
2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback returns at NY Auto Show
The Toyota Corolla is the world's highest-selling nameplate, having surpassed the Ford Model T and Volkswagen Beetle years ago. It exists in many different models and varieties all over the world, but the U.S. hasn't always been offered the hatchback version. In fact, the Corolla lineup only...
John Voelcker -
Redesigned 2019 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid debuts at New York auto show
With buyers showing no signs of letup in their enthusiasm for crossovers of all sizes and shapes, the redesigned 2019 Toyota RAV4 couldn't be coming at a better time. The Toyota RAV4 small SUV became the company's single best-selling model in the U.S. last year, surging past its long-time champion...
John Voelcker -
2019 Toyota Corolla Hybrid hatchback debuts in Geneva for Europe
Remember hatchbacks? Actually, come to think of it ... remember passenger cars? You know, the sedans and wagons and hatchbacks that don't have all-wheel drive and aren't jacked up 6 to 9 inches off the ground? They used to roam this fair land of ours, but lately, they seem to have been routed by...
John Voelcker -
Toyota details next-generation hybrids, more efficient gasoline engines
Cars with plugs may be the cleaner and greener future, but at the moment, they make up only about 1 percent of global sales approaching 100 million vehicles a year. That means that automakers continue to work ceaselessly on more efficient gasoline engines and lighter vehicles to put them in. Last...
John Voelcker -
A funny thing happened to Toyota Prius hybrid sales last month. Almost one in three Prius hybrids sold in the U.S. were the Prius Prime model—the one with a plug. Toyota may be the large automaker least friendly to cars that plug in, so what's that all about? DON'T MISS: Toyota Prius hybrid sales have tanked: here are 4 reasons why In the U.S., sales of the four-car Prius hybrid lineup have tanked since their high in 2012. That year, sales soared to 236,655, still the all-time U.S. record, with not only the well-known Liftback model, but also a new Prius V wagon, a new Prius C...
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Toyota Prius recall in 2014 failed to fix problem, lawsuit says, may have cut mileage
Early in 2014, Toyota filed a voluntary recall notice with the NHTSA to fix a defect in roughly 800,000 third-generation Prius Liftback hybrids sold in the U.S. from 2010 through 2014. The company said it would make unspecified changes to software that controlled the vehicle's inverter, which...
John Voelcker -
Subaru plug-in hybrid to use Prius Prime parts, coming in 2019
When Toyota and Mazda said last September they would form a joint venture to produce electric-car parts, that answered the question of where Mazda's future plug-in vehicles would get their electric running gear. But it sparked another question: Where did that leave Subaru, another small automaker...
John Voelcker -
Toyota Prius hybrid sales have tanked: here are 4 reasons why
The Toyota Prius hybrid has been its maker's "halo car" and an example of its most advanced technology for two decades. Launched from an early-1990s project to halve the fuel consumption of a small car, its hybrid-electric powertrain pioneered mass electrification of passenger cars. But the sales...
John Voelcker -
2019 Toyota Avalon Hybrid debuts with more evocative style, promise of improved efficiency
The 2019 Toyota Avalon Hybrid that debuted Monday at the 2018 Detroit auto show goes where no full-size sedan has gone before. Well, except for last year's Avalon Hybrid, anyway. For 2019, the Avalon rides on a new platform, has updated interior and exterior styling, and comes loaded with an...
Andrew Ganz -
Mazda rotary engine may find new life in self-driving Toyota e-Palette project
Mazda's famed rotary engine may spin once again. The automaker confirmed the development of a range-extending rotary engine with Toyota for use in a shared future project. Toyota revealed the e-Palette concept on Monday at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The vehicle, a...
Sean Szymkowski -
Sales of plug-in electric cars are rising steadily in North America, Europe, and Asia, with roughly 2 million now on the world's roads. China is debating when it will ban sales of new vehicles with combustion engines. Meanwhile, Toyota—one of the four largest global automakers—is only reluctantly planning to launch its own battery-electric car for 2020, the first it will have designed for mass production. DON'T MISS: Toyota, Panasonic agree to study prismatic battery cells for electric cars On Monday, Toyota's Japanese headquarters released a plan for the "popularization of...
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Toyota, Panasonic agree to study prismatic battery cells for electric cars
For the 20 years since the introduction of the Prius, Toyota has enjoyed the first-mover advantage in hybrid cars, and leveraged those green credentials to boost public perception of its brand as a whole. But Toyota has yet to mass-market a battery-electric vehicle in the U.S., as Nissan has done...
Mark Stevenson -
2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid video road test
The 2018 Toyota Camry is the latest generation of the car that launched a category—the mid-size hybrid sedan—way back in 2007. While competitors in that segment now include the Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, and Kia Optima, the Camry Hybrid remains one of the most...
John Voelcker -
Toyota to build megawatt electric and hydrogen plant fueled by California bio-waste
Toyota today is the world's most ardent proponent of using hydrogen fuel cells for zero-emission vehicles rather than large battery packs. The huge Japanese carmaker, one of the world's four largest, now sells its Toyota Mirai fuel-cell sedan around the world, and has more hydrogen-powered vehicles...
John Voelcker -
Toyota to sell electric cars in China, use Suzuki EVs in India, from 2020: report
Toyota made its future battery-electric car project public this past April after an "agonizing" decision to depart from its sole focus on a future powered by hydrogen fuel cells as its sole zero-emission vehicle technology. Mostly, that shift is due to China and India—two major auto markets...
Sean Szymkowski -
Toyota Prius V hybrid wagon ends U.S. run; RAV4 Hybrid took its sales
After six model years, the 2017 Toyota Prius V will soon leave the stage, and there will be no 2018 version. Toyota has confirmed to Green Car Reports that it is ending production of the hybrid wagon for the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The reason is simple: Its sales have fallen considerably since the...
John Voelcker -
The huge annual SEMA show for builders and owners of highly customized cars brings out some truly bizarre creations. Only at SEMA will you see vehicles like the one-of-a-kind PriuSRT8, a Toyota Prius with a gas-guzzling V-8 engine under its hood that effectively turns the hybrid's green credentials on its head. The once gas-sipping hatchback underwent enormous amounts of work to fit a 6.2-liter supercharged V-8, sourced from the Dodge Hellcat muscle cars, under its stubby hood. DON'T MISS: Toyota Prius One: stripped-down hybrid added at lower price American Racing Headers carried out the...
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Toyota electric cars could use airless tires if research pans out: report
Although electric cars offer numerous benefits in engineering, design, and zero-emission operation, their overall weight remains a hurdle for automakers, especially as bigger batteries with longer ranges become more important. It now appears that Toyota may look to airless tires as a way to cut...
Sean Szymkowski -
New entry-level 2018 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid LE model starts at $28,100
Toyota's popular RAV4 crossover utility vehicle will gain a new entry-level hybrid trim for the 2018 model year, offering a remarkably good price against a gasoline-only RAV4 crossover. The 2018 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid LE trim lets buyers choose the greater fuel efficiency of a hybrid powertrain for...
Sean Szymkowski -
Toyota Fine-Comfort Ride fuel-cell concept targets 600 miles of range
Toyota continues to experiment with and develop various types of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles despite not yet offering a single production battery-electric car. The Japanese automaker now sells the Mirai, has announced it will begin studies of the Project Portal fuel-cell semi truck, and reportedly...
Sean Szymkowski -
2019 Toyota Prius V to shift from wagon to SUV design, but will it have AWD?
With gas prices remaining cheap and all vehicles getting better fuel economy these days, utility vehicles are all the rage among U.S. buyers. Whether smaller crossovers or bigger SUVs, utilities have not only ended the market for traditional wagons but are eating significantly into sales of...
John Voelcker -
2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid gas-mileage review: going the distance
Toyota can’t be blamed for a lack of effort: The 2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid is dripping with it. From the creased hood and cascading brow to the Modernist center console enclosed by flickers of chrome, the mid-size stalwart is anything but lazy. Our first, limited exposure to the hybrid sedan...
Aaron Cole