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AutoObserver
AutoObserver (autoobserver.com) has great Toyota news, photos, videos and more
Thursday, Oct 8
Toyota-Subaru Sport Coupe to Break Cover at Tokyo Show
The affordable sport coupe that Toyota Motor Corp. desperately needs to prove it's still got passion is the same car that will symbolize how enmeshed giant Toyota has become with Fuji Heavy Industries Inc.'s tiny Subaru. And that car will be on display at the Tokyo motor show later this mont...
Monday, Oct 5
Strong Yen Could be Next Problem For Japan Automakers
Late last week - after the yen hit a near high for the year at just more than 88 yen to the dollar - Honda Motor Co. Ltd. president and CEO Takanobu Ito expressed concern about the yen's ongoing strengthening. Although Honda and many other Japanese automakers, such as chief rival Toyota Motor Co...
Big Bucks on the Hood of Pricey Hybrids
Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus premium division, owner of the market's most-expensive hybrid in its LS 600h L, rang in October with a bulging $10,000 dealer-cash incentive on the '09 model of the flagship hybrid. The company also is offered a bounty of $1,000 to any sales associate selling an '...
Monday, Sep 28
Toyota Only Automaker Among Top 10 Global Brands
Toyota Motor Corp. remains one of the world's best brands, according to the 2009 edition of the now heavily anticipated list of the top 100 global brands generated by international brand consultant Interbrand. Toyota was the only automaker to crack the top 10 on Interbrand's list, coming...
Thursday, Aug 27
Toyota Closing Nummi In March; Tacoma to Texas
Toyota Motor Corp. announced late Thursday it will end its production contract at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. assembly plant in Fremont, CA, next March, shifting assembly of NUMMI-manufactured Tacoma midsize pickups to Toyota's recently built plant in San Antonio, TX.
Thursday, Aug 20
It's Dealers Versus DOT as "Clunkers" Program Set to Close
The government foot-dragging was so endangering the final days of the CARS program that General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. Ltd. and others stepped in today to say they will provide cash advances on Cash for Clunkers transactions so dealers don't have to wait for the fed...
Friday, Aug 7
Why Toyota Must Make its Joint-Venture Coupe
The case of the maybe-we're-making-it-or-maybe-we're-not Toyota-Subaru joint-venture sport coupe was solved by new Toyota Motor Corp. president Akio Toyoda when he told reporters this week he was prioritizing development of the rear-drive car.
Toyota: No Plan to Undercut U.S. Ad Agencies
An Internet blog was entirely off-base when it suggested this week Toyota Motor Corp.'s restructuring of its marketing organization in Japan will adversely impact the company's relationship with its U.S. advertising agencies, a senior Toyota source tells AutoObserver.
Wednesday, Aug 5
Updated Data Revises Some Hybrid Payback Times
Most notably, the battle between Toyota Motor Corp.'s new Prius and the equally new 2010 Insight from Honda Motor Co. Ltd. draws considerably closer than Edmunds.com's analysis originally reported.
Toyota Eying More Control Over Ads?
In a move that may signal significant implications for Toyota Motor Corp.'s relationship with its U.S. advertising agencies, the company said it is establishing two new internal marketing organizations, "(one that) will primarily handle marketing within Japan and a company to carry ou...
Thursday, Sep 4
Honda Stabs At Toyota with New Prius Rival
The car will be built at Honda's Suzuka, Japan, assembly plant, and Honda projects sales of 200,000 units annually, half of which are earmarked for North America. The new Insight reputedly will be positioned lower than the existing Civic Hybrid, and will be part of a multi-vehicle hybrid...
Wednesday, Jun 18
Production Shuffle: Fewer Large Trucks, SUVs; More Small Cars
Toyota is cutting production for the second time - this round includes employee dismissals - at its new San Antonio, Texas, plant that builds the less than 18-month-old Tundra pickup truck. Toyota also is slowing the line at its Princeton, Ind., plant, where it makes the newly redesigned S...
Thursday, May 15
Toyota Prius: 1 Million Sales and Counting
Like the Model T, the Prius has become a brand on its own. Yet, Toyota is looking for even bigger things from the little car -- 1 million sales annually and the introduction of the next-generation model next year reportedly arriving in a number of variations.
Wednesday, Apr 30
Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Fusion, Pontiac G6 Gain Traction in Crucial ‘C’ Segment
The company “hope[s] to earn” a Consumer Reports Recommended Buy Rating in November, said Mike Meloeny, Malibu’s chief engineer. And the car “is on track to be one of the lowest-cost warranty launches in GM North American history.”
Toyota Camry Hybrid Outselling V6 Models
Toyota says in 2007, nearly 80 percent of Camry Hybrids were manufactured at the company’s assembly plant in Georgetown, Ky., but future higher penetration of the Camry Hybrid at the expense of V6 models is unlikely to markedly affect Toyota’s U.S. V6 engine production. Toyota Camry hybrid...
Tuesday, Apr 29
Honda Accord Is the Best-Selling VEHICLE in March; Will a Car Win the Top Spot Again in April?
In March, Honda sold 36,161 Accords, outselling perennial rival Toyota Camry but also outselling the usual top-place finishers, the Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The Accord’s title of best-selling vehicle in America also illustrates the dramatic shift in American consum...
Friday, Apr 18
UAW Strikes GM, Dana Gets Ex-Toyota Exec
Meanwhile, giant supplier Dana Corp. in Toledo, OH, announced it has hired Gary Convis, a longtime manufacturing expert for Toyota Motor Corp. in the U.S., as its new chief executive officer. Dana, which suppliers almost all auto manufacturers in the U.S. and also is a major supplier for the hea...
Wednesday, Apr 16
Toyota-Subaru Coziness Could Yield Retro-Corolla, Celica
A flick of rubbed-off Subaru weirdness could do buttoned-up Toyota some serious good. And Toyota’s maybe just smart enough – smarter than former partner GM – to take the weirdness and run with it. 2005 Toyota Celica GTS was the last year of the model. Toyota-Subaru link could yield retro Coro...
Tuesday, Apr 8
Toyota, Subaru Are Becoming Increasingly Entwined
Toyota and Subaru are already planning several new models together. These include a new B-segment compact that will become the next Toyota Passo/Daihatsu Sirion/Subaru Justy, for Japan and Europe and be positioned below the Toyota Yaris; and a controversial new rear-drive sports cou...
Monday, Mar 31
Time, Competition Rub Sheen from Accord, Corolla
Neither Toyota nor Honda is publicly conceding a thing about the fate and future of such crucial pieces of their lineup. After all, Toyota introduced a restyled tenth generation of Corolla to the U.S. market in January, and Honda launched a redesigned Accord last fall. And Toyota put Corolla...
Friday, Mar 21
New York Auto Show: The Good, Bad, and Ugly
Toyota is the nation’s second largest automaker, not Ford. Jim Press is the vice chairman and president of Chrysler, not Toyota. Cerberus Capital Management, not Daimler, owns Chrysler. The national average price for a gallon of premium gas is $3.60, not $2.80.
Thursday, Mar 20
Economy Grabs the Spotlight at New York Auto Show
Toyota executives told reporters in Seoul, where the Japanese automaker announced Wednesday that its Toyota-branded cars will go on sale in South Korea next year along with the Lexus models it already sells there, the company may miss its global sales targets and is struggling with ris...
