Toyota News

Citing allegations of braking loss or slippage, Japan's Ministry of Transportation ordered Toyota to launch an investigation into possible brake problems in the new 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid. That car, currently in short supply globally and also the best-selling car in Japan, is the subject of 14...

By Tim Healey Toyota's Yaris sometimes gets lost in the small-car shuffle, losing press to the Honda Fit, the Nissan Versa, and Toyota's own (admittedly larger) Corolla. The little subcompact quietly soldiers on with minimal changes for 2010. The biggest news is the addition of standard traction...

Toyota Takes More Heat For Automotive Recall Problems

The Ford Fusion Hybrid is a notable entry in the hybrid segment for several reasons.  For starters, the vehicle is the first truly successful hybrid offering from a domestic automakers.  Second, the vehicle has won numerous awards for its design, powertrain, and efficiency.  Now you can add...

So much has happened around the Toyota and Lexus accelerator safety recalls over the last week that it's hard to keep it all straight. So we're taking our first stab at it by sorting out the impact of the recall on the many hybrids offered by Toyota and Lexus. The full scope of the latest recall...

For automakers, being green can extend well beyond the vehicles themselves. This week, hybrid pioneers Toyota and Honda each showed off new infrastructure projects that burnish their green credentials beyond well beyond the vehicles they sell. Honda started producing hydrogen to power its fuel-cell...

It's long been known that hybrid buyers often choose them over luxury cars, and aren't buying them solely for the payback in gasoline savings. But a new Hybrid Scorecard, launched by the Union of Concerned Scientists, slams carmakers for inflating their prices by loading luxury into fuel-efficient...

Toyota Takes Another Beating On the Recall Side Of the Business

Speakers throughout today's Electric Drive Transportation Association conference agree: Plug-in electric cars that use little or no gasoline are coming. It's no longer an "if", it's now a "when." To help boost early adoption of cars that run mostly or entirely on grid power, the Federal government...

To say that Toyota has been hit hard with recalls recently is truly an understatement.  The company's most recent recall and stop sale involving a possible stuck accelerator has affected an estimated 2.3 million vehicles. As Toyota stated, "There is a possibility that certain accelerator pedal...

One million hybrids is certainly a lofty goal for any automaker to achieve and if anyone can do it, it is Toyota.  According to a report from the Nikkei Newspaper in Japan, the company plans to double its hybrid production by 2011 with an anticipated volume of 1 million units per year. As the...

All good things must come to an end, and it's the same with the wildwood weed ... err, with California's HOV-Lane access perk for owners of three hybrids: the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid, and Honda Insight. They are set to expire on December 31 of this year. Originally passed in 2005, the law...

Several automakers believe that fuel cell powered vehicles will become a viable solution for mass production in the distant future.  In particular, Honda and General Motors have both displayed progress in development and real world testing of fuel cell powered vehicles.  Toyota has also...

The Japanese auto show known as the Tokyo Auto Salon is full of as many customized cars--and just as much weirdness--as its domestic counterpart, the massive SEMA show in Las Vegas. And just as it did at SEMA, with its Aerius and Aemulus customized Prius concepts, Toyota brought a factory custom to...

The automotive market in Japan has very few similarities to the automotive market here in the States.  Japanese buyers tend to select compact, fuel efficient vehicles whereas here in the states we still like gas guzzling, large vehicles.  The difference between the buying habits of both nations...

Toyota announced this morning that it would launch a family of Prius vehicles, and unveiled a concept vehicle at the Detroit Auto Show that may foreshadow the shape of a new Toyota Prius coupe. The FT-CH concept shows a possible shape for a highly aerodynamic compact hybrid (or CH)  vehicle...

In another sign that Toyota hit a home run with the third-generation Prius hybrid hatchback, the 2010 Toyota Prius was the best-selling car in Japan during 2009. It beat out the Honda Fit, followed by the Toyota Yaris (known in Japan as the Vitz), as well as its closest hybrid competitor, the new...

It's beginning to look as if the worst is over for U.S. auto sales. The year that just closed was, in the immortal words of Queen Elizabeth II, an annus horribilis, with only 10.4 million vehicles sold, down 21 percent on 2008 and the lowest total since 1982. But some light seems to be appearing on...

 The Lexus HS250h is essentially an upscale Prius.  It carries numerous components that are similar to those found in the Prius, but it does carry one additional detail not found on the Prius, the Lexus name.  Lexus, a make that is synonymous with luxury, coddling the driver, and offering an...

Demand for hybrid vehicles has slowly been on the rise for quite some time.  In particular, Toyota models have fared well holding top sales spots across the board for hybrid vehicles.  Toyota sells more hybrid vehicles than all other automakers combined.  The company is not about to sit back and...