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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Though successful, the Toyota Prius is not the best looking car out there and we’re sure the last you’d expect was a convertible version of the car. However, Newport Convertible Engineering’s (NCE) thought that all those environment lovers out there driving a Prius would like to feel a little more freedom and decided to take down the car’s top and replace it with a fabric one. We don’t really dig those remaining windows frames, but we’re sure they were left there with a purpose. What do you think, you like it?

Check out more photos after the jump.

PS: Not really related to the article, but I don’t know why, everytime I see a Prius, I remember Achmed’s words and I laugh: “That is not a car but a lunch box. Did you know when you’re going down the highway in a Prius if you put your hand down the window the vehicle will tuuurn?”

Read More: "NCE takes down Toyota Prius’ top"

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After we’ve seen the Porsche Traveller design study and now the Scion Hako Concept, we’re beginning to ask ourselves if the designers aren’t in some kind of designers strike (after the writer’s guild model). Because these concepts have some faces only their mothers would love.

The Scion Hako was inspired by the Scion xB and it’s a bizzare mixture of cubic and curvy. Plus, it seems that the designers never heard the “aerodynamics” term, because the concept is probably as aerodynamic as a brick. Not to mention this hilarious part from the press release: “the silhouette is accentuated by slim, race-car-inspired side mirrors”. Yeah, right!

There are no drivetrain specs, because, fortunately, the Scion Hako Concept is only a design study and we don’t want to be mean, but we hope we’ll never see it on the street.

See more photos after the jump.

Read More: "New York 08: Scion Hako Concept"

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Toyota announced today that the redesigned Toyota Crown, Royal Saloon and Athlete versions, will go on sale in Japan today and they’ve also announced the new Crown Hybrid, which will be launched on May 9.

The Crown Royal Saloon and the Crown Athlete will be available with V6 3.0 liter and V6 2.5 liter engine, mated to a 6 Super ECT (Super Intelligent Electronically-controlled, Six-speed Automatic Transmission) and DRAMS (Driving Response and Acceleration Management System). All engines feature Dual VVT-i (Dual Variable Valve Timing Intelligent) to optimize intake and exhaust valve timing according to driving conditions.

The Toyota Crown Hybrid features rear-wheel drive THS II (Toyota Hybrid System II) with a two-stage motor speed reduction which “provides the driving performance of a 4.5-liter vehicle with the low fuel consumption of a 2.0-liter vehicle”. The propulsion system features a combination of a 3.5-liter V6 gasoline engine with a high-performance electric motor. Also, by pressing a button, the vehicle will only use the electric engine.

Toyota hopes to sell monthly 5,500 units, including 800 hybrid cars. Click ‘read more’ to see more details on the Toyota Crown in the full press release and to check out more photos of the car.

Read More: "Redesigned Toyota Crown plus hybrid version launched in Japan"

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According to US research firm AUTODATA CORP, Toyota was the top selling auto brand, in the United States, with 14.2 percent. Toyota’s market share grew 0.8 percentage and so it managed to get in front of GM’s Chevrolet, which dropped 0.6 point to 14 percent, while Ford came third with 13 percent (1.7 point decrease).

Read More: "Toyota, the best selling US auto brand in November"

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Ok, I have to admit, this is some really weird news. Toyota has taken legal action and sent a ‘cease and desist’ letter to EBoys, a porn company, for using the Lexus name in their movies. Apparently, one of EBoys’ stars is some dude whose screen name is Lexus Cash and which has features some ‘man-on-man’ pornographic movies, whose titles we really don’t wanna know.

Of course, EBoys doesn’t agree with Toyota, who wants to recall two movies featuring Mr. Cash. The porn company’s president, Daniel Grangier stated that the performer’s name comes the Greek god, Lexus and has nothing to do with Toyota’s luxury brand. He also said that his attorneys are now looking for a solution in this case. However, I think that Toyota did more harm to themselves by making this public, especially because no one would’ve probably ever know of the existence of Lexus Cash if it wasn’t for this scandal.

Read More: "Toyota sues porn producers over the ‘Lexus’ name"

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I got to admit, this is one of the most impressive machines I’ve ever seen. This life-size driving simulator was built by Toyota, in order to be albe to develop better safety technologies, by being able to analyze the driver’s behavior under different conditions. The simulator consists of a real car surrounded by a 360 degree screen which can simulate very realistic driving conditions. Thumbs up for Toyota! Enjoy the video and maybe let us know what do you think, by dropping a comment, here.

Read More: "Video: Giant Toyota driving simulator"

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Toyota announced that it will recall 264,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles built between December 2003 and December 2005, due to some problems occurred at the fuel pipes which could cause fuel leaks. The problem affects 215,020 Toyota Crown and Mark X and about 49,000 Lexus GS and IS models. Most vehicles recalled were sold in Japan, United States, Britain and Canada. So, if you own one of these cars, you’d better go to your dealer once you receive Toyota’s notice.
Read More: "264,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles recalled"

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