In the Youtube clip after the jump, we see the aftermath with a...Toyota-branded forklift trying to free Chevy’s pony car, but without any success. One very strange incident indeed.
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The lack of inventory, with many dealers reporting as little as one day’s worth of Prius cars on their lots, led to a whopping 61% drop in July sales in the US, which is the lowest since 2004. And that’s significant because the US accounts for almost half of the all Prius models sold worldwide, which makes it Toyota’s most important market for its compact hybrid.
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“The industry today is hi-tech. There are no oily rags. There are no smoke stacks. It is an inspirational and an aspirational place to be.”
In fact, carmakers are eager to point out just how fun and lucrative engineering can be. It’s all part of the U.K. government’s push to shift its focus away from financial services after the deadly Global Financial Crisis of 2007.
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So sayeth market research firm Polk, and I’m tempted to agree. Hyundai and its partner-brand / internal rival Kia have steadily been evolving into truly world-class carmakers. They’re keenly priced, inoffensive to look at and comprehensively covered quality-wise – everything the vast majority of new car buyers want in this day and age.
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More specifically, Toyota is recalling approximately 20,000 Lexus GS 300 and GS 350 All-Wheel Drive vehicles from the 2006-2007 model years to modify the shape of the plastic pad embedded in the driver’s side floor carpet. According to the company, if the floor carpet is not properly replaced in the correct position after a service operation, it is possible that the plastic pad embedded into the floor carpet may jam against the accelerator pedal and keep it from returning to the idle position.
The Subaru variant will keep the same front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout as the FT-86, which will also be revealed in a more production ready form at the Geneva Salon. Power of course will be provided by Subaru's horizontally opposed boxer engine, but we'll have to wait until the Geneva Salon for more specific details.
The production Prius V seen in the videos after the jump, is a practical five-seat minivan based off the hatchback version of Toyota's popular hybrid model. It uses the same 1.8-litre petrol engine and Hybrid Synergy Drive tech offering 50% more luggage space than its smaller counterpart, while returning an estimated 42 mpg city, 38 mpg highway and 40 mpg combined. The Prius V will go on sale in North America in late summer 2011 as a 2012 model year.
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The Japanese automaker said that the production version of the Prius C will be smaller, more affordable and with even greater fuel efficiency than the regular Prius. According to Toyota's claims, the Prius C will deliver the highest mpg of any available hybrid model without a plug in North America.
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The Prius V shares the same platform and hybrid drivetrain as the regular, five-door model, however, Toyota claims the minivan will feature over 50-percent more interior cargo space than the current Prius.
According to the Japanese automaker, the new model "has been designed from the ground up, with a shape that evolved from Prius rather than being an elongated version."
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The creation of the RAV4 EV was a two pronged attack: Toyota engineers took care of the powertrain upgrade/engineering as they normally would a mid-cycle product change, while Tesla engineers developed the battery pack and related systems.
Toyota says that the EV version of Toyota's CR-V fighter weighs about 220 lbs more than a comparably equipped V6 model, but retains similar acceleration figures. Due to the weight gain (couldn't we call in Lotus to tackle that?), suspension and steering components had to be properly modified or relocated to maintain proper balance.
