Pictured here we have a Russian KamAZ truck and a Toyota Premio (well…uhm…what once was a Toyota Premio. The crash took place in the Russian city Irkutsk and was caused by the truck driver running a red light. After the truck hit the Premio, it dragged it for about 30 meters (100 ft) until it hit a building. Though almost nothing’s left of the Toyota, the woman driving the car was really lucky and she amazingly survived. More photos after the jump. Read More: "Toyota Premio smashed by truck in Russia"

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To be honest, I was so amazed when I stumbled upon this news, that I didn’t even know how to start the post. This thing you see in this photo and in the video below is the work of Claes Gustafson and the crew at Classe’s Garage and it was created for a Swedish TV show.

Because no body kit is available for the Toyota Prius, the crew modified a Volvo XC90. The back doors were removed and a pair of custom made knife doors were used for the front, the back window was removed, the side ones were reshaped, a carbon fiber wind splitter was placed under the front bumper and under the door sills and the rear end got a carbon fiber venturi. The car rides on an air suspension and 20-inch wheels brought to a halt with over-sized front brakes. The interior is also crazy, with a custom dashboard and a center console, racing seats and a 4,400-watt stereo system (five subwoofers and eight speakers) plus 15 LCD screens and a tablet PC with wireless internet access. All these equipment is powered by four batteries keep it all going.

“The goal … was to give the viewer a great show and, second, to show that a Toyota isn’t a boring and anonymous car,” Claes Gustafson told Wired. According to him, the whole idea was “to show that every car can be styled.”

And if the car’s look don’t leave you wordless, then you must know how much this cost. Exactly $184,275! Was it worth it? Well, we don’t really know whether to hate or love the car, but it definitely is one of a kind. And it also won some awards at the Bilsport Custom and Performance Show, where it took top honors in the eco-car division and also won the John D’Agsostino Kustom Kars of California Special Award.

You really need to see the video, after the jump. Read More: "Toyota Prius extreme tuning"

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The facelift for the Toyota Hilux is almost out and here are the first details on the car, posted on the Toyota Malaysian website. From what we can see in this photo, the pickup truck got new wing mirrors with signal indicators, restyled front bumper, new front grille and new alloy wheels. According the website, nothing’s changed on the engine, the same 2.5 liter D4-D engine that develops 102 hp at 3,600rpm and 260Nm of torque between 1,600rpm to 2,400rpm.

Read More: "First details on the Toyota Hilux facelift"

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Last week, Toyota USA announced the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Prices (MSRP) for the 2009 Toyota Yaris. The subcompact car from the Japanese producer will be available in three body styles: sedan, three-door Liftback, and an all-new five-door liftback, each in Base and Sporty “S” grades. Estimated EPA fuel economy ratings are 29 mpg city/35 mpg highway/31 mpg combined for all three body styles with an automatic transmission and 29/36/32 mpg for the manual transmission models.

All Yaris grades will now feature a number of standard safety features, including anti-lock brake system (ABS) with Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD), driver and front passenger front seat-mounted side airbags, and front and rear side curtain airbags. New exterior colors for the 2009 Yaris include Zephyr Blue Metallic and Blue Streak Metallic on Sedan and Yellow Jolt and Carmine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmine Red Metallic on Liftback.

Prices for the Yaris three-door Liftback models range from $12,205 for the Base grade with four cylinder engine and manual five-speed transmission to $14,825 for the S grade with four cylinder engine and four-speed automatic transmission.

The all-new five-door Liftback model prices range from $13,305 for the Base grade with four cylinder engine and four-speed automatic transmission to $15,125 for the S grade with four cylinder engine and four-speed automatic transmission.

Yaris Sedan model pricing ranges from $12,965 for the Base grade with four cylinder engine and manual five-speed transmission to $15,880 for the S grade with four cylinder engine and four-speed automatic transmission.

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They say money can’t buy good taste, but this Toyota Landcruiser is the embodiment of bad taste. I agree that people want to be unique, to express their own personality through the objects that they own but the lenght some people go to make their cars unique, to know that there isn’t any car like their’s on the road is sometimes pretty scary. This car, which seems to be licensed to one of the United Arab Emirates, can easily be mistaken for an alien vehicle or one from the future, a future i won’t like to live in though.

Read More: "Epitome of bad taste: Arabian Toyota Landcruiser"

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Gold plated cars are not something new. Every once in a while we get to see one of these showing up, reminding us that there are a lot of people out there that got nothing better to do with their money than extremely pimping up a car. This 24k gold plated Toyota Camry is no exception. Of course, as you probably imagine, the owner comes from Dubai and the car is for sale for 135,000 AED ($36,800 or €23,700). However, one thing bothers me. If you want to show off, why in the world would you choose a Toyota Camry? Weird.

Check out more photos after the jump.

Read More: "Gold plated Toyota Camry"

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We all know the Toyota Prius, it’s the most popular hybrid car out there, having conquered almost everyone with it’s eco-friendly nature, being the car to have if you want to help the planet. One thing though has received mixed oppinions, the design, people saying very different things about the exterior of the car.

Recently some spy shots appeared of a presumed facelift to the Prius, but it would now seem that it wasn’t just a facelift, Toyota planning a totaly new body for their top notch hybrid. Although there have been talks about the new generation of the Prius, even a launch date of January 2009 at the Detroit MotorShow being fronted, new rumours state that this new model will be available around 2010.

This new model will be wider and longer, leaving more space for the passengers in the back and for the trunk. This new space would ultimately be used to develop more vehicles based on this new Prius, and according to Jim Lentz, Toyota USA President, we might see body versions from 2-door coupe to wagon or commuter car. But the design hasn’t been the only thing that Toyota engineers have taken care of, the fuel economy is expected to improve, so is the top speed. Also the NiMh batteries which now power the Prius will be replaced by lighter and smaller Li-ion ones in the effort to increase storage space.

Read More: "New spy photos of the next generation Toyota Prius"

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Its official: GM is no longer the world’s largest automobile manufacturer. Toyota sold 4.8 m vehicles in the first half of 2008, while GM managed to move 4.54m. Higher U.S. gas prices have “put an enormous amount of pressure” on GM’s truck sales, said Erich Merkle, an automotive consultant with accounting and consulting firm Crowe Chizek and Co LLC. “That is equating to lower sales for GM and causing them to now fall behind Toyota.” GM and Toyota were roughly even in 2007 for the top spot among the world’s automakers, with GM slightly ahead if sales from a China business were included.

GM’s sales in North America fell to 963,929 vehicles in the second quarter from 1.2 million, hurt by the slow U.S. economy and labor disruptions in the U.S. market, the company said. Sales in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East rose 17.7 percent, while sales in its Asia-Pacific region grew 14.6 percent, GM said. Sales rose 2.5 percent in Europe. Mike DiGiovanni, GM’s chief sales analyst, said most of the industry’s sales increase is expected to be in the so-called BRIC countries — Brazil, Russia, India and China.” Certainly the biggest risk is the U.S. economic downturn and potential spill-over effects on the global economy,” he said.
Read More: "Toyota is officially number 1"

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This is some news for most of you, isn’t it ? RAV4 has been a great combination between on road and off road abilities. However it has a bland image. Not anymore ! The new Toyota RAV4 SR180 aims to bring the sporty looks as well to the model.

It’s meant to be an affordable high performance alternative. It has a 175 bhp, six speed transmission, together with a diesel engine. Which should mean that it is economical as well. The Rav4 SR180 gets to 100 km/h in 9.3 seconds.

The starting price is around $46,000. The list of standard equipment is long and it includes 18 inch alloys, run flat tires, dark-tinted headlamps,
Integrated Active Driving, Bluetooth connectivity, dark tinted glass, fog lamps, cruise control and a lot more. There are also a lot of personalization options.
Read More: "Toyota RAV4 has a sporty side: the SR180"

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So you think you’re pretty cool if you have carbon fiber? Apparently, Toyota thinks so, becuse here’s the latest Aygo version, with a lot of carbon fiber elements. The model is only available in white color, and I do not know why, just for the Dutch. Toyota Motorsport were the ones in charge of creating the Aygo, which has carbon fiber spoilers, mirrors, handles doors and roof, 15” wheels with Yokohama tyres, the interior is black and white, with a leather sport steering wheel and various accessories, all white. So, what do you think, you like it?
Read More: "Toyota Aygo Carbon Fiber Kit"

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According to Inside Line, Toyota is planning on canceling the next generation Lexus SC and the Camry-based Avalon. The decision to drop the Lexus SC was caused by the slow sales of the model, in the first six month of 2008 Laxus managing to sell only 1,230 units (40 percent less than last year). Priced at $67,120, the SC is powered by a 288 hp 4.3 liter V8, which averages 16 mpg (city) and 23 mpg (highway). And with the current rising gas prices the car was doomed, especially with Lexus preparing the LF-A sports car, based on the same RWD platform.

As for the Avalon, because the next-generation 2012 Camry is well underway, Toyota is having serious doubts on whether to continue Avalon production or not and may opt to produce a long-wheelbase Camry for such markets as North America and the Middle East.
Read More: "Toyota gives up on next gen Lexus SC and Avalon"

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Toyota confirmed that the Prius hybrid will be built in USA and that production will begin in 2010. The production of the Tundra will be moved to the San Antonio plant in Spring 2009.

A new Prius can run to around 48 miles (77 kilometers) per gallon of fuel in city traffic compared to a large SUV which may run to 13 miles (21 kilometers) a gallon depending on how each vehicle is driven. The car retails for around 21,000 dollars and Toyota reported 11,765 Prius sales in June, marking a 25 percent drop from a year earlier.

“The truck market continues to worsen, so unfortunately we must temporarily suspend production. But this good news about production mix demonstrates our long-term commitment to our North American operations and to our team members, supplier partners, and communities where our plants are located,” said Jim Wiseman, vice president/external affairs for Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America (TEMA). “By using this downturn as an opportunity to develop team members and improve our operations, we hope to emerge even stronger.”

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Following up a great line of successes, Nissan’s Skyline GT-R follow up, the 2008 Nissan GT-R, is forseen to be a great success, with considerable orders allready in line, with mind-boggling performance, and positive reviews all over the world.

Its oldest Japanese competitor, the Honda NSX, is allready in tests.

The old NSX was a rugh competitor, highly appreciated for its Ferrari/Porsche compared performance, durability, adaptability (some models supported unprecedented tuning) and its unbelievable value for money, practically unrivaled by european counterparts. The new NSX is roumored to have lapped “The Ring” in 7′ 37″ (a full second better than the Nissan GT-R, and 3 seconds under Veyron’s time).

Now, the old “Jap’ extreme trio ” is about to be complete, as Toyota and Subaru are co-developing a RWD high performance coupe, very likely to be positioned in GT-R’s/NSX’s market, probably covering up the Toyota SUPRA void that they left unfilled.

Here’s a Japanese Car Magazine’s rendering of what an artist thinks the coupe will look like:

We say it looks great, and this whole “competition” thing that will be going on between the Japanese high performance machines, on a worldwide level, can only thrill the children in all of us, making the waiting that much harder to bare.
Read More: "Honda, Subaru and Toyota want a piece of GT-R’s action"

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Everyone knows about the Toyota Prius, the hybrid car, but not everyone knows very much about it. Well, in short terms, if everyone would have a Prius then the world could cleaner, dryer, relaxed, more silenced, and many more. But imagine the next generation of Toyota Prius, with a larger engine, more efficient, faster, cleaner and greener. This car will have a big launch at the Detroit auto show in January 2009.

Even America has fallen for this car and in a big way. There’s no doubt about that and through an extraordinary combination of style and engineering, this hybrid car remains the absolute gold standard for eco cars.

The next generation will have a bigger impact and that’s because it will be a touch bigger and offering more space and it will be stronger with a 1.8 liter hybrid performance.

January 2009 will mark the point at with Prius will change gear and moves up to the next level. Till now, this hybrid car was just one of its kind, just one model, but Toyota plans to spice up the action and will come with different Prius models as it closes it on its bid to be making over 1 million cars pers year till 2010.

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With gas prices exploding, hybrids became very popular in the United States and are selling like crazy. However, we might see these cars’ prices rising, because some of these no longer qualify for the tax break or are about to see it reduced sharply. Affected by this measure are the three most popular hybrids sold in America, the Honda Civic hybrid, the Toyota Prius and the Toyota Camry hybrid.

After last fall the Prius and the Camry saw their $3,150 tax credits disappear, the Honda Civic hybrid’s tax credit was cut in half, starting Tuesday, July 1st, from $1,050 to $525. This happened after the original $2,100 tax credit was cut in half in January.

According to the 2005 federal law that established the hybrid credit, the tax break begins to phase out after a manufacturer sells 60,000 qualifying vehicles. Because of heavy demand for the Prius, Toyota reached that benchmark early in the program, and tax breaks for its Toyota and Lexus brand hybrids were gone by October 2007.

This tax credit cuts are not very popular, with a lot of people believing that the government should support hybrid sales, not increase the taxes. “We need to be reducing our dependence on oil, so why are we taking away something that will encourage people to do that?” asked Ailis Aaron Wolf, spokeswoman for the advocacy group 40mpg.org, which wants to raise mileage standards.

So, what will happen next? Will hybrid sales drop? Honestly, with gas prices skyrocketing, I don’t think so, on the contrary.
Read More: "Tax incentives for hybrids dropping"

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