Coming to the UK in January, Toyota's fortwo challenger (should we call it the for3+1?) will be priced at £9,495 (1.0 VVT-i manual version) and going up from there. Options include £700 leather seats and £950 satellite navigation. The 1.0 VVT-i manual version gets about 55 mpg U.S. and will have road-tax-avoiding CO₂ emissions of just 99 grams, Toyota expects. Toyota will take your order now, and anyone who orders before March 1 of next year will get a free metallic paint upgrade.

The iQ comes in two trim levels: the iQ and the iQ2. Both versions have a lot of safety features, including that rear window airbag. The short descriptions of the differences from Toyota's official announcement (pasted after the break) are as follows:

• iQ: 15-inch alloys, heated electrically adjustable door mirrors, air conditioning and six speaker audio system with auxiliary socket
• iQ2: high-gloss alloys, front fog lamps, automatic headlights and rain sensing wipers, smart entry and start system and climate control

[Source: Toyota]

At some point everyone has probably heard the phrase "Tell me which side of the argument you are on and I will give you the statistics to prove you are right!" That is certainly true when applied to comments made by Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa at the Paris Motor Show this week. While speaking to reporters, Felisa claimed that Ferraris as a group produce fewer total emissions than Toyota Priuses. Now anyone who has ever seen a Ferrari fly by would surely have to question this claim, there is certainly some validity to it. But as usual Felisa comes by the statement by cherry picking certain useful facts and leaving everything else behind. The argument is based on the total number of vehicles times the miles driven times the emissions per mile. The keys are the first two data points. Toyota has at least two to three times as many Priuses in the past decade than the total number of cars to come from Maranello in the Italian company's 61 year history. A large proportion of those Toyota hybrids are still on the road while many of the Ferraris are in Museums and other collections. Also Ferrari drivers who put more than just a few thousand miles on their cars annually are comparatively rare. So fewer cars and fewer miles means greener right? Well technically yes, but as usual the devil is in the details. In the grand scheme of things, the high cost of a Ferrari means the brand's overall environmental impact is fairly negligible compared to mainstream cars. It's probably all right to exempt low volume makers like Ferrari from some fuel efficiency standards. Still, making such an argument in general does come off looking rather silly.


[Source: Drive.com.au]

Bloggers love environmentally friendly cars. Or so it seems, according to research performed by J.D. Power and Associates. The most commonly referenced brands in blog posts over the last six months are Toyota, Honda and General Motors. This shouldn't come as shocking news, considering that the Toyota Prius, Honda Insight and Chevy Volt are all hot topics right now and are all expected to be thoroughly redesigned or first introduced within the next few years. Naturally, then, these are the brands that are getting the most publicity and are likely the ones that you are most interested in hearing about.

Not all of the blog posts were positive, though, and JDP therefore kept separate numbers for each manufacturer counting how many good things were written about their sustainability and efforts to reduce global warming. The surprising winner of that group was Nissan, though that brand only got two percent of all mentions overall. We blog, they watch, we blog. Fun!


[Source: The Car Connection]

As we gathered sleepily in the conference rooms early in the morning, host John Hanson said that Toyota's hope with this one-day seminar was to present the complexity of the sustainability mobility situation and to highlight the challenges that the world is dealing with. The solution is not just the cleaner-than-they-used-to-be four-wheeled vehicles that Toyota is building, but also its partnerships and transportation alternatives, a reduction in how much energy and resource we use, better regulations, and so on and so on and so on. Seriously. By 3 p.m., our heads were swimming but still, Toyota succeeded in Hanson's stated goal. The six or so hours of presentations and Q&A sessions provided a lot of answers and raised a few questions about just what we're going to do in the coming decades. If nothing else, we learned that Toyota is thinking about the problem.

Follow us past the jump for the full story.

Solar power is nothing new to Toyota, but the company's latest solar array does offer something new to North America: the largest such single-roof installation on the continent.

According to Toyota, a new huge solar set-up (it covers 242,000 square feet and is made up of more than 10,000 modules) is gearing up for an early October start on the roof of Toyota's North America Parts Center California (NAPCC), located in Ontario, Calif. This solar farm is bigger than any other such installation and will produce 3.7 million kilowatts a year, almost 60 percent of the energy needed at the NAPCC. The installation was put up by SunPower. In related news, two Toyota dealerships were awarded LEED status, with more on the way. Click past the break for the details.

[Source: Toyota]

Although Japanese battery makers currently have plans to greatly expand their production capacity at home, it seems this still isn't enough and America seems to be the destination of choice for some new manufacturing plants. One of the companies planning on creating some green-collar jobs in the U.S. is GS Yuasa Corp. Their president, Makoto Yoda said, "Named must your fear be before banish it you can. We have to choose our next factory's location based on growth in the given market." While not a household brand name for most Americans, GS Yuasa's automotive partner, Mitsubishi, is sure to ring a bell. They are using lithium ion batteries from GS Yuasa in their all-electric i MiEV which is soon to be tested in California. Although they have not yet committed to selling this car stateside, this announcement is sure to raise hopes.

Another company with American battery factory plans is Toyota. Having already announced plans to build Priuses in Mississippi in 2010, the world's biggest automaker believes manufacturing batteries here will help them achieve their cost reduction goals. Toyota has been able to reduce it's per vehicle cost by 50 percent since its first-gen Prius and hopes to halve those costs again in their next-gen. Of the decision company vice chairman Kazuo Okamoto said, "It is very difficult to make the main parts of batteries outside Japan, but we have to have battery production in North America," No time table for the plants were given but when they arrive we think they will help provide both employment and environmental wins for America.

[Source: Bloomberg / Reuters]

click the Toyota iQ for high res gallery

Ever since seeing the concept Toyota iQ last year and then the prototype version earlier this summer, we've been wondering how the asymmetrical configuration of the 3+1 seating arrangement and the iQ's overall small size would work for an average driver. We still don't know exactly how practical this tiny car (it's 9.8ft-long and has a 78.8in wheelbase) is, but the folks over at Edmunds say that the iQ is nothing if not spacious and solid to drive. Edmunds heard from Toyota that the European-spec iQ will be available with either a one-liter, five-speed manual or a turbocharged 1.4L diesel with a six speed manual (yes, please). Later, a 1.3L with variable valve timing version will be available with either a six-speed manual or a continuously variable transmission.

We're getting more and more jealous that this mini-car is destined to be available in Japan and Europe but might take a pass on the U.S. There's been no official word from Toyota on U.S. sales, but we're willing to vote "aye" if we're ever asked if we want one.


[Source: Edmunds]

It's going to be difficult, I think, for popular music fans to see the name of Toyota's new social website - Heya - and not think of the hit Outkast song from a couple sexy summers ago. But, if you speak a bit of Japanese, then you know that "heya" means room, and that's the meaning that the Japanese automaker is trying to bring to the online space: a place where Toyota fans, gearheads and others can come together and talk shop.

Some of the eco-minded areas of Heya include the pages dedicated to the SiteLA contest, the SiteLA collaborations, and the SEMA concept car contest (sorry, but you'll need to register to view these pages I think). The SiteLA area, for example, was a collaborative space to "explore our visions of the future of transportation." The entry period for this competition is over, but there are still a large number of interesting ideas in this thread to keep you reading for a while, things like hybrid motorcycles and hoverboards (the poster adds: "I'm completely serious" in case you were wondering). We'll keep an eye on Heya in the coming months and see what other surprises it brings.

[Source: Toyota]

Next spring will be a big one for hybrid fans as a new generation of the Toyota Prius will get its most direct competitor yet in the shape of a new hybrid only model from Honda. We've already seen an assortment of spy shots of the camo-covered exterior of the Prius. Now we have our first peak at the interior of the new best-seller. The third (or fourth depending on how you count) generation Prius will officially debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January along with a Lexus badged hybrid-only model.

Although Toyota is loathe to relinquish details, it's believed the new model will have a larger, more powerful engine growing from 1.5 to 1.8L along with an electric motor with more oomph. The beefed up motor is likely in preparation for the plug-in variant that should go into low volume fleet service in 2010. To make the most out of a plug-in system, the hybrid needs enough electric power to propel the car at least around town without having to start the engine frequently.

[Source: World Car Fans]

The Detroit-based automakers aren't the only ones making rapid and dramatic changes to future product plans. Mighty Toyota is shifting its future mix directly in response to the reality on the ground. At the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, the company unveiled a hybrid powered coupe concept called the FT-HS. This coupe was believed to presage a revival of the Supra sports car that went away in 2002. It now appears that the Supra will remain dead in spite of the possibility of hybrid drive. This might have something to do with the lukewarm response that most performance oriented hybrids have received in the marketplace along with the need to increase fleet fuel economy. The general economic malaise also plays against a new premium sports car.

An existing product that won't see a successor is the FJ Cruiser. The FJ is a niche product in a rapidly shrinking SUV segment and the similarly sized 4Runner has already been redesigned for 2010 so the FJ will bite the dust. In the big trucks production is being slashed and smaller, more efficient base engines get more emphasis than the big 5.7L V8. Instead of all of these formerly hot selling and high-profit vehicles, even more small cars like the new 5-door Yaris and the new 2010 Prius, will become the focus of Toyota's attention and production capacity.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

In a move that's sure to knock the Segway world off balance, Toyota has introduced its new "personal transport assistance robot" called the Winglet. Actually, there's three of them. One with a tall handle that could be seen as more practical and two other sportier models featuring supports gripped by the legs. They offer the same ease of use as the Dean Kaman-invented precursor but with a lot less bulk and a smaller footprint. They can reach speeds over 6 mph but they won't be cruising American sidewalks anytime soon. The devices are to undergo more consumer testing this Fall at a Japanese airport as well as a seaside resort. Early 2010 is the target date given for their earth-wide unleashing. Look them over in the gallery below in detail before hitting the jump for 3 videos worth of Winglet gone wild action as well as the official press release.


[Source: Toyota / YouTube / Engadget]

Click above for more high-res shots of the 2007 Toyota Prius Touring

The numbers for last year's combined fleet fuel efficiency for all automakers in the United States has been tallied. The winner? Um, Lotus. But, they don't really count. Too small. For manufacturers that actually offer a full line of automobiles, Toyota with 29.69 mpg just barely edged out the likes of Honda, which posted 29.49, and Hyundai with 29.37. All those Prius hybrid sales surely helped push Toyota to the top this year. Not surprisingly, the Detroit 3 didn't even come close with 25.16 from GM and 25.15 from Ford. DaimlerChrysler propped up the rear with a dismal 23.97 average figure.

Toyota has no plans to give up the mileage crown. In fact, the Japanese giant will increase capacity of its upcoming third-gen Prius sedan by an astonishing 70-percent at the Tsutsumi factory in Japan, allowing for the production of 480,000 hybrid sedans per year. For 2010, Toyota plans to bring its Mississippi plant online, which will further serve to increase capacity. We have a feeling that it'll have little trouble selling every one it manufacturers.


[Sources: NHTSA (.pdf link), Automotive News - sub. req'd]

With the first occupants set to move into Toyota's new Technical Center just south of Ann Arbor, MI just a few weeks from now, the company is hoping to get it certified as a "green" building. Toyota constructed the facility on the site of the former Ypsilanti Psychiatric Hospital. The company reused crushed building materials from the old buildings during the construction of roads and parking lots on the new campus. Additional building materials for the campus have been sourced from within 500 miles of Ann Arbor.

Inside the facilities waterless urinals, low emitting paints and efficient under floor ventilation systems are used. Toyota is hoping to get a gold certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED program.

By happenstance the very location of the facility also worked out to be beneficial. Toyota managed to buy the property for the facility from the state in 2006 over the objections of a developer who had offered more money. The developer wanted to build yet another sub-division with several thousand homes, which given the collapse of the real estate bubble would likely be sitting unsold and empty now. Instead Toyota will be consolidating employees from several buildings scattered around the eastern fringes of Ann Arbor along with hiring several hundred new employees. By moving everyone into a single facility, there were will be less driving from one facility to another for meetings.

[Source: Saline Reporter]

There's more than one way to paint a car. We've featured models with cans and brushes, the option of going sans paint entirely and we've even seen electricity generated from leftover paint fumes. Of course, automakers strive for the highest paint quality possible. The processes they come up with are often very time-consuming and cover many different steps, so it's not all that surprising that Toyota would find a way to both streamline and green up the process a bit. At its Tsutsumi plant in Japan, which is already equipped with solar panels and a rooftop garden, the automaker is currently testing its new "3-Wet" system, which cuts down one entire drying oven. According to Toyota, a 15-percent reduction in energy can be realized using this new process, which is substantial, considering that it estimates as much as 24 percent of the total energy necessary to create one of its cars comes from the painting process.

[Source: The Detroit News]

The Toyota Auris, the compact 5-door hatchback set to compete in the most difficult European segment is now available with a new diesel powertrain. The unit is a 1.4-liter D-4D 90 engine, with 89bhp (90 DIN hp) at 3,800rpm and maximum torque of 190 Nm (140 lb-ft), which can be ordered with a 5-speed manual or MultiMode transmission (with fully automatic or manual sequential modes).

Official combined cycle fuel consumption is 56.5mpg UK (46 mpg U. S. or 5.0 l/100 km) and average CO2 emissions of 132g/km. Top speed is 109mph and the 0 to 100 km/h (62mph) acceleration figure in 12.0 seconds (14.7 with MultiMode transmission).

[Source: Toyota UK]