Click above for a high-res gallery of the Lexus LF-A concept.
The writing has been on the wall for some time. Although the Lexus flagship graduated from "concept" to "prototype" when it campaigned in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring, Toyota has refused to even hint at a production date for the V10 supercar. Then Toyota declined to plonk an LF-A silhouette on their Super GT racer, electing to continue with the doomed SC 430 jello mold.
Then news broke that production cars would cost a whopping $225,000, but the LF-A still wouldn't turn a profit. Needless to say, Toyota doesn't like things that are not profitable.
Finally, members of the testing and development crew who have been putting the car though its paces in Germany, as well as test drivers from rival Honda and Nissan crews, have told Autoblog that the LF-A is not destined for the showroom, and will remain only a development platform.
No reasons were given, but we can think of a couple. How many people are willing to part with nigh on a quarter of a million bucks for a Toyota/Lexus? Also, the world's most prolific car maker may not be willing to join the current Nurburgring pissing contest unless it is 100% sure that they can beat the Viper, ZR-1 and perhaps more importantly, the GT-R and upcoming NSX replacement.
Actually, one 'Ring test driver didn't mind going on the record with his opinion. Former Nissan racer, NSX development driver and Nurburgring legend Motoharu "Gan-san" Kurosawa reckons, "Toyota are good at making money, but they're no good at making sports cars."
Gallery: Lexus LF-A Racecar - Exterior and Interior
Last September we told you of Volkswagen's plan to overtake Toyota in global sales by 2015. Some Autoblog staffers giggled at the prospect. That was before Toyota reported a 39% drop in profit and began writing down leases, and long before today's news of the Japanese automaker reducing its sales goal for 2009 by almost 7%. Instead of the 10.4 million vehicle sales it predicted for 2009, Toyota says it now may only sell 9.7 million.
While 7% may not sound like a big reduction, consider that Toyota has seen steady growth since its founding in 1934, and any drop is a big deal. Last month, Toyota reported an 18% drop in sales from last July, while VW posted a 4% drop. If those sales rates continue, VW's goal of total domination should be much easier to attain.
Toyota Financial Services recently leaped over GMAC Financial services to take the lead as the biggest U.S. auto lender in terms of loan and lease contract volume. The study by AutoCount (a unit of the Experian Automotive company) estimates that Toyota captured 6.35% of the market from January through June, while GMAC had 6.2% for a close second place. Rounding out the top five were Chase Auto Finance, American Honda Finance, and Ford Credit (in that order).
As GMAC has made major cutbacks in leasing over the summer, many industry experts expect Toyota to hold its lead through the end of the year. A spokesperson from GMAC was quick to point out that the study did not include two wholly owned subsidiaries: Nuvel Credit and National Auto Finance. When those two companies are included, GMAC's share increases to 6.72 percent -- effectively placing them at the top again. While the automakers battle for the title position, the independent banks are the ones to watch. They've been steadily increasing their lending share as the Detroit 3 struggle with the rising costs of funds and declining credit ratings.
We truly do appreciate the custom-car scene, in all of its various guises. There is, however, a problem with the custom Prius you see above and in the video embedded after the break. Generally speaking, the goal of modifying a car is to either A) make it go faster or B) make it look better.
When Classe Gustafson, Elvis Häggbom and Kenny Kyrk from Sweden had finished spending $184,000 customizing a Toyota Prius, they had accomplished neither. This Prius-trocity, which was modified for a television show, is anything but subtle. It lost two doors during its transformation from mild-mannered hybrid eco-mobile to whacked out sport compact that just happens to get good fuel economy, though it did get scissor-style portals that are nearly impossible to open in the process. And it also gained a huge honkin' stereo and the body-kit from a Volvo SUV. The over-the-top paint-job is the final touch. The Hybrid Synergy Drive powertrain, however, went untouched save for the obligatory fart-can exhaust. Nice.
Toyota is struggling to sell trucks and SUVs like everyone else, but unlike the competition, no full-time workers from stalled factories are getting laid off. The 4,500 workers at idled plants are instead bettering themselves through eduction by taking classes on safety, diversity, and Toyota history. They're also doing community service while on the clock and even some gardening. The workers will be learning how to work faster and smarter during the down time, and are even being shifted to busier plants on a temporary basis to help plants that are working beyond capacity to keep up with demand.
Toyota's plan to keep its workers busy at all costs isn't cheap, as about $50 million is being spent to keep workers busy with training programs. Of course, you can't please everyone and the plan isn't sitting well with all of Toyota's workforce, as workers at running factories don't like the fact that laid off workers are getting a leg up on training. A more skilled plant could have an advantage over others in getting earmarked for future products, so unaffected workers also want the extra training.
While expensive and a bit of a logistics nightmare, Toyota's plan is a good one if you can afford it. It should help create a more loyal, better trained workforce that also forges ties with the surrounding community. We bet Toyota hopes it will prevent any talk of unionizing, as well. And with Toyota's record profits over the past few years, $50 million is a drop in the corporate bucket.
In the future, we'll eat all our meals from toothpaste tubes, everyone will be beautiful and healthy, and we won't need cars, what with the proliferation of nuclear-powered jet packs. Prediction is such thorny business, though Toyota isn't making such a fantastical claim by suggesting that each of its vehicles will have a hybrid option available by 2020. Wired's blog seems to agree that by 2020, hybrids will have proliferated like rabbits, and we'll be awash in electron propulsion systems.
We still feel a little cheated that eight years into the 21st century, we still don't have all those things promised to us fifty years ago, but at least automakers are hard at work pushing alternative systems toward viability. Justin Ward, a manager at the Toyota Technical Center overseeing advanced powertrain programs, told a Management Briefing Seminar in Traverse city that work continues on fuel cells to overcome challenges like climate extremes and range. Battery technology, too, will continue to advance, making the current Hybrid Synergy Drive even more efficient. Toyota is still holding off on diesels, and plug-ins present some issues when you consider where that electricity is generated, so it's looking like Toyota will continue to develop its fuel cell technology for the long term and bolster its hybrid offerings in the near future.
[Source: Auto News - sub req. Photo: itd.idaho.gov]
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Toyota FT-HS concept.
A report by Automotive News detailing Toyota's future products reveals that the automaker's focus will be realigned to meet new fuel efficiency standards and limiting high-powered and niche offerings.
On the hybrid side, the new Prius will debut in Detroit, with sales beginning in the spring of 2009 as a 2010 model. The nickel-metal hydride battery will remain, and because of that, the plug-in model will be delayed until a lithium ion battery is offered. The new Prius will be packing the Corolla's 1.8-liter four cylinder and the car will be an inch wider and a half-inch longer. The second hybrid model might not come to Detroit, but development is currently under way and sales will be limited to Japan.
The Supra revival has been shelved due to high mpg requirements, allowing Toyota to focus on its RWD coupe, jointly developed by Subaru. Also, there's only room for one body-on-frame SUV from the automaker, so the 4Runner will be re-engineered for the 2010 model year, will debut in either New York or Chicago, and the FJ Cruiser will complete its lifecycle and be dropped in the next few years.
The Sienna and Venza will be equipped with hybrid drivetrains in 2012, with the Sienna receiving a facelift late next year, along with more cargo space and room for third-row occupants.
The report goes on to state that the Corolla will be redesigned in 2013, along with the Matrix, the next Camry will receive a facelift in 2010, with the new model debuting in 2012, and the new Avalon will debut in 2011 as a 2012 model.
Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Toyota Highlander
When the all-new Highlander launched last year, it came equipped with your choice of a 3.5L V6 or a 3.3L hybrid powerplant. Toyota is expanding the Highlander's powertrain lineup for 2009 by adding a more fuel efficient 2.7L four-cylinder engine. The new engine produces 187 horsepower at 5,800 RPM and 186 lb-ft at 4,100 RPM, making it the most powerful four cylinder engine in Toyota's lineup. Assisting the new 2.7L engine is a six-speed automatic transmission that Toyota says together will provide smooth acceleration and V6-like performance. EPA figures will be announced closer to the engine/transmission's January 2009 launch date, and they should be a few mpg better than the 3.5L engine's 18/24 figures.
The addition of a four-pot to the Highlander lineup will give customers a less expensive and more fuel efficient option in this model lineup, which should prove mighty popular. What remains to be seen is whether a 187-hp engine can properly motivate a 4,000-lb vehicle. We're guessing that since many Highlander buyers aren't likely all that interested in driving dynamics, the most important stat for Toyota's CUV will be its EPA number. Hit the jump to for Toyota's press release if you're looking for nitty gritty details.
According to Steve St. Angelo, a VP at Toyota North America, a healthy Detroit 3 is good for Toyota. While that may sound a bit odd or even patronizing, St. Angelo notes that the U.S. supplier base is working for both the Americans and Japanese. If one of their big clients like GM or Ford is in trouble, the effect to the supplier will in turn affect Toyota. What's more, the U.S. economy is closely tied in with the success of the automakers in Detroit and a depressed economy can only serve to hurt Toyota's U.S. sales numbers, a fact that is surely apparent when you glance at our By The Numbers posts over the past few months. Toyota's sales are still relatively strong, enough so that it has passed Ford to become America's second largest automaker and is currently knocking on GM's door (and giving them a spinning leg hook belly-to-back suplex) to take over the role as number one. So while a defeated member of the Detroit 3 may be bad for Toyota, a wounded one might be OK.
Click above for high-res pics of the 2008 Toyota Highlander from our review
Up to this point, all Highlanders destined for the U.S. have been built in Japan. Toyota had planned to start building a new, redesigned Highlander in late 2009 at its plant in Tupelo, Mississippi, a factory that is still under construction, but the rapidly slumping SUV market prompted it to postpone the vehicle's redesign to 2010. Things change quickly in this business, however, and because its plant in Princeton, Indiana that builds the full-size Tundra is now sitting idle, Toyota has decided to use that capacity to start building the Highlander in the fall of 2009. The Tupelo plant, meanwhile, will instead start building the Prius here in the U.S. when its construction is completed in 2010. All this flip flopping of production can be done because of the flexible manufacturing that was built into each of Toyota's plants, and the positive end result is that its workers can keep working rather than sitting at home without a paycheck.
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In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Nissan Murano
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Dodge Journey R/T
In the Autoblog Garage: 2008 Jeep Compass Sport 4x2
In the Autoblog Garage: 2008 Porsche Carrera S
First Drive: 2009 Honda Fit Sport
