Free Republic

The next generation of the Toyota Camry, the best-selling sedan in the U.S. market, will come with only a gas-electric hybrid powertrain, the boldest move yet by the Japanese automaker to push hybrid technology into the heart of the U.S. market. The 2025 Camry will combine a 2.5-liter gasoline engine with an electric drive system tuned to deliver more power in both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive versions of the car, Toyota said. Compliance with tougher U.S. fuel economy rules was a factor in Toyota’s decision to make the new Camry an all-hybrid vehicle line, dropping four- and six-cylinder combustion...

South Korean automaker Hyundai has joined Honda and Toyota in raising factory worker wages after the United Auto Workers union reached new contract agreements with Detroit automakers. Hyundai said Monday it will raise factory worker pay 25% by 2028, matching the general wage increase won by the UAW during that period. Toyota raised factory pay 9% to 10% starting in January, while Honda said it will increase wages 11% during the same period. Labor experts say the increases are at least in part aimed at thwarting UAW President Shawn Fain’s strategy of trying to organize U.S. auto plants run by...

A federal judge on Tuesday refused to bring back a class action lawsuit alleging four auto manufacturers had violated Washington state’s privacy laws by using vehicles’ on-board infotainment systems to record and intercept customers’ private text messages and mobile phone call logs. The Seattle-based appellate judge ruled that the practice does not meet the threshold for an illegal privacy violation under state law, handing a big win to automakers Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen and General Motors, which are defendants in five related class action suits focused on the issue. One of those cases, against Ford, had been dismissed on appeal previously....

After months of negotiations and a weekslong strike, the UAW has reached tentative deals with Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Stellantis that both sides classify as historic. The agreements, though slightly different at each automaker, contain significant wage increases, a restructured wage progression, better conditions for temporary employees and more. Ford autoworkers have begun voting on the tentative deal, with at least one local voting in favor of it as of Thursday. UAW members at Stellantis and GM are expected to begin voting on the deals soon as they move through the ratification process.

Toyota’s chairman and former CEO, Akio Toyoda, has long been a skeptic of the electric vehicle hype train—it was a big reason he stepped down from the top job at the Japanese carmaker earlier this year. Now, he can finally say, “I told you so.” With Elon Musk’s Tesla reporting disastrous third-quarter earnings last week, investors are realizing that EVs are no silver bullet for profit. “People are finally seeing reality,” Toyoda said on Wednesday. Akio Toyoda stepped down from his role as CEO of Toyota earlier this year, in the wake of questions over his leadership resulting from the...

Toyota has said it is close to being able to mass manufacture potentially revolutionary solid-state batteries that could offer double the range of existing electric cars. According to Toyota, cars powered by solid-state batteries could have a range of 745 miles, a charging time of 10 minutes and hit the market in 2027 or 2028. They have been presented by experts as a revolutionary technology that could bring EVs into the mainstream. Switching to an electric vehicle is out of reach for many Americans, experts have warned, as a lack of access to charging ports mean they fear being left...

While the world is looking to get away from internal combustion engines (ICE) and towards battery electric vehicles (BEV) or fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) for cleaner emissions, China-state owned Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. (GAC) appears to want to do it all. During its annual technology showcase, the Chinese partner to Toyota showed off an engine powered by ammonia. While it's not the first ever to use the rather toxic fertilizer as a combustible fuel, it would be the first to use it outside the shipping and trucking industries.

NAGOYA, Japan -- Toyota Motor showed off a prototype of its new gigacasting equipment that can make a third of a car body in about three minutes, a development that will be key to its plans to ramp up electric-vehicle production profitably in the coming years. The machine at the Japanese automaker's Myochi plant released a plume of white smoke as it ran during a recent demonstration for journalists. Molten aluminum poured in was rapidly cooled from 700 C to 250 C, solidifying into a single die-cast piece making up the entire rear third of the vehicle chassis. This is...

It’s not only the Land Cruiser ‘250 Series’—basically the all-new Prado—that was launched by Toyota today. The Japanese carmaker also unveiled the refreshed 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series, which will one again be sold in Japan alongside the 250 and the 300. Yes, the 70 Series is still going strong almost 40 years after it began production, and the exterior design tweak fully embraces the model’s retro status. Those three horizontal slats on the bodywork just below the grille are a direct throwback to the earlier models.

The automotive juggernaut unveiled new battery tech and new battery-powered vehicle plans. Toyota has big plans to bring new, improved tech — and, perhaps, a sharper focus — to the electric vehicle market. It suggests a shift from the auto juggernaut’s previous position, which took a more skeptical approach to converting to fully EVs, instead pursuing a mix of fully-electric, hybrid, and hydrogen cars. The maker of the Prius, the world’s first mass-produced hybrid, says it will continue to offer a range of powertrain options, but it also announced a suite of new technologies designed to help the company fully...

Despite tumbling sales and negative press coverage as a result of its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Bud Light is reportedly co-sponsoring an "all-ages Pride event" in Flagstaff, Arizona, according to the Flagstaff Pride website. The party, which is called "Pride in the Pines" and includes drag queens and other performers, lists Bud Light as one of the companies sponsoring the June 17 event. (Bud Light is mentioned prominently in one of the posters.) The event is listed as a "family festival event" and a family-friendly, "safe space" for all visitors. Other big name companies sponsoring the all-ages event...

Children are seen looking at sexually explicit merchandise at vendor booth for the 'all ages' event in Dallas A Pride festival in Dallas, Texas, this past weekend advertised for children of all ages featured sexually explicit merchandise for sale, including sex toys and graphic Disney fan art, a video shows. In footage taken by BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales, small children approach the booth for the Dallas chapter of the anti-Catholic drag group, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The camera pans to show a little girl viewing a rack of button pins that have references to sexual positions and phrases like "send...

Toyota and other Japanese car makers are trying to extend hybrids to delay electrification of transport in Indonesia. Toyota still talks “customer choice” while not offering fully electric vehicles. Changing emissions regulations in China, the US, Europe and soon Australia mean massive increases in BEV adoption. This is a threat that Toyota fails to acknowledge. Toyota’s claim to be clean energy focused is increasingly being challenged. It's getting too late for Toyota to enter the BEV transformation race. Investors might re-think what this means. It's interesting to think about how one engages with an automotive manufacturer. When I think of...

Electric cars are quick, quiet, and kind to the planet, but limited range and lengthy charging times mean road trips aren't exactly their strong suit. That's what I learned when I took Toyota's new bZ4X SUV from New York to Washington D.C. one weekend in early April. The 500-mile journey wasn't some epic coast-to-coast adventure, but rather the kind of long-haul drive someone might casually take a few times per year and not think twice about — if they're behind the wheel of a regular gas car. Let's nerd out for just one moment to establish some basic concepts. Every...

The average brand-new car prices in the US are expected to rise above $50,000 this year, and executives at Toyota's North American operations anticipate that this trend will continue, Automotive News reports. This increase in prices is likely to occur despite the recovery of the supply chain, and it is expected that demand will outstrip supply again this year. Furthermore, the report suggests that there are 6 million potential new-vehicle buyers sidelined by inventory and pricing. Jack Hollis, head of sales for Toyota Motor North America, has given an update on the automaker's business, indicating that 2023 is expected to...

When the catalytic converter was stolen from Vanessa Reimer's Toyota Prius in Long Beach, she thought the repair would be a simple one, taking a few weeks at most. Then her local dealership delivered the bad news: The replacement part could take six months to arrive. Reimer, who is pregnant, may have a baby before her Prius has a new catalytic converter. "At first, I thought there must be something I could do," said Reimer, 32, a speech language pathologist at an elementary school, before she learned that there were 100 other drivers waiting on the same part. "But there...

The driver was going 40 mph when a tree crushed her SUV—and it may have saved her life.The local Katonah, New York, fire department was dispatched to an alarming scene recently when a woman driving alone in her Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro was hit by a falling tree while traveling down the road at speed, trapping the injured driver until the Jaws of Life tool could be used to extricate them. Luckily, the driver survived with non-life-threatening injuries.According to a Reddit thread posted by the driver, the tree fell on her car while she was traveling at approximately 40 mph....

Japan-based Toyota Motor Corp continues to be the world's top-selling automaker, defending its title for a third straight year. The company recently said it sold 10.5 million vehicles in 2022. At the number 2 position is the Volkswagen Group that reported its lowest ever sales in over a decade earlier this month. The auto maker sold 8.3 million vehciles in 2022. The Ukraine war and Covid-19 lockdowns in China impacted the supply chains. Coming back to Toyota, its global sales - including truck unit Hino Motors and small-car maker Daihatsu, inched down 0.1% as record overseas sales of 8.6 million...

I grew up in a household with parents who were of the Greatest Generation. They lived and shouldered through the Great Depression, and then their lives and families were thrown into turmoil on Dec. 7, 1941. My grandfather worked for the War Department in Washington, D.C., and during World War II, my father served in the Pacific Theater. Both my mother and father made a solemn vow that as long as they lived, they would never buy a German or a Japanese car. No matter how well they were made. They were the enemies. They were the ones who killed...

BURIRAM, Thailand—Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda said he is among the auto industry’s silent majority in questioning whether electric vehicles should be pursued exclusively, comments that reflect a growing uneasiness about how quickly car companies can transition. Auto makers are making big bets on fully electric vehicles, investments that have been bolstered by robust demand for the limited numbers of models that are now available. Still, challenges are mounting—particularly in securing parts and raw materials for batteries—and concerns have emerged in some pockets of the car business about the speed to which buyers will make the shift, especially as...