Toyota announced today that worldwide sales of its Prius hybrid have passed the 1 million mark, with 1,028,000 examples of the iconic car sold as of the end of April 2008.
Launched in Japan in 1997 with global sales beginning in 2000, the Prius really only started to become a major hit for Toyota when the drastically revised second-generation car went on sale in 2003. The Japanese automaker speculates that, when compared with gasoline powered vehicles of the same size and class, the Prius has spared the world from an extra 4.5 million tons of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere.
The popularity of the car, in concert with a rapidly changing automotive marketplace, has helped to revolutionize how automakers approach the idea of “green” vehicles. Prius was the world’s first mass-produced gas-electric hybrid vehicle; a class in which almost every major automaker today can claim to produce a product in.
(Click through the jump for Toyota’s official press release or on the thumbnails below for a few different imaginings of the Prius.)
Never underestimate the power of old Toyota 4×4s and a snorkel that’s just long enough. Put on your swimmies and click the video above for an amazing automotive mud bath.
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A few of our staff members aren’t too smitten with the styling of the new Toyota Matrix, but once we all got time behind the wheel, it didn’t matter. We agree that this car has plenty of power and passengers praised the Matrix’s comfortable interior, as well.
Click through the jump to read our full impressions and click the images below to open a gallery.
Our old friends at Newport Convertible Engineering are at it again, with yet another one-off drop-top that has people remarking, “It was only a matter of time.”
The popularity of the Toyota Prius Hybrid may dictate at least a few of these bespoke offerings, but the beauty of the final product certainly doesn’t. Through no fault really of either Toyota or NCE (we’re putting the blame squarely on the shoulders of the customer that ordered this up), the Prius makes a rather grisly translation to a soft top, with an intrusive roll-hoop that looks as if it were salvaged from a PT Cruiser convertible. Likewise, the remaining window frames look, to put it charitably, odd.
Still for those who want the iconic hybrid and the wind in their hair, NCE has got your jam.
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In the April 16th issue of its print magazine, Autocar is reporting that Toyota is looking keenly at India as a location for small car manufacturing.
Referring to “Toyota’s budget small car, which has been under development for at least two years,” quite possibly meaning the iQ shown in Geneva, Autocar envisions India as the likely building place. Toyota senior managing director, Akira Okabe, has reportedly been visiting Indian manufacturers that could serve as future suppliers for the car.
If the iQ (or another small car model?) is indeed chosen for Indian production, it would seem likely that the car would be launched on the subcontinent as well.
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Toyota and General Motors are issuing a joint recall for more than 660,000 vehicles built for the 2003-04 model years. The recall is due to defective side window hardware on roughly 540,000 Toyota Matrixes and Corollas, and some 123,000 Pontiac Vibes.
Dealers will be asked to replace bolts that hold door glass in place for models featuring power windows. Federal officials have been investigating complaints about the windows, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said that some became inoperable, made popping noises, and occasionally shattered.
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The coupe depicted in the sketch above is said to come from a source inside of Subaru’s design department, and is meant to depict the upcoming rear-wheel-drive offering from the company.
It’s no secret that Subaru has been working with Toyota, which owns a four percent stake in the smaller company, on a shared coupe project that will be underpinned by Impreza gear. The two versions will differ in appearance, but will both offer Subaru’s 2.0-liter and 2.5-liter boxer fours in standard and turbocharged trim.
The source of the image also suggests that despite the planned RWD layout of the shared coupe, an AWD version hasn’t been ruled out for the top of the range. Subaru’s iteration of the car should be fully realized by this summer, with production slated to begin in 2010.
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Kyle Busch has been putting in some great drives this year, but falling just a little bit short of where he wanted to be. This Saturday he led 126 laps of the O’Reilly 300 in Texas, including the one that counted most, finishing just 1.041 seconds ahead of Jeff Burton at the line. The race was relatively clean and fast with only four caution flags contributing to Kyle’s new track record average speed of 151.707 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Kevin Harvick, last year’s fastest man at Texas, sheared off an axle shaft at the first pit stop and sat out 26 laps while the crew fitted a new one. Tony Stewart called in on lap 70 saying he had a serious vibration. Next time around the Camry pitted and the team found a chunk missing from the right rear Goodyear. Observers believed if he had not immediately come in there was a strong chance he would have tagged the wall on the following lap. Smart driving meant a 10th place finish instead of a potentially spectacular DNF.
Kyle Busch’s seventh Nationwide Series start this season has another significance that may point to a different future for NASCAR. The top five finishers were driving Toyota, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Ford. While Toyota is a solid, accepted player in the Truck Series, they are just now gaining the results they want in stock cars. Four Toyotas and four Chevrolets in the top 10… Expect to see those Camrys running up front this season, and maybe overtaking the Detroit iron for dominance of NASCAR.
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Toyota denied reports today that it had received any funding by the Japanese government to aid in the development of its Prius hybrid car. The denial came in response to an interview of Jim Press by Business Week recently, in which Press claimed, “The Japanese government paid for 100 percent of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius.”
Press currently serves as vice chairman and president of Chrysler LLC, but worked for Toyota for 37 years, including years spent working on Prius research.
Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco called the reports by Press untrue saying, “I can say 100 percent that Toyota received absolutely no support — no money, no grants — from the Japanese government for the development of the Prius.”
(Chances are the Japanese government had little to do with this Star Trek Prius, have a look in the gallery below.)
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Star Trek fans are a hard-core group, and one that don’t seem to mind taking evidence of its mania out into the world.
Case in point is this 2007 Toyota Prius owned by one Dr. Willie Yee of Ulster County, New York. Dr. Yee has taken it upon himself to transform his humble 21st century hybrid automobile into a shuttlecraft from the world of Trek. The good doctor named his Federation Prius-Class shuttle, Zhang Heng, after a 1st century Chinese astronomer, and has fitted the erstwhile Toyota with everything necessary for a “four-person away team.”
The Prius has received full Federation markings, revised hubcaps, and even a revamp to the car’s computer display. Have a look into the distant future with the gallery of images below.
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Toyota may still have a “green” image in the minds of many American customers, but that doesn’t mean the company is content to sit on its eco-laurels.
The Japanese automaker announced today that it would donate a massive $20 million to the National Audubon Society for conservation projects and environmental training. The grant is said to be the largest in the 103-year history of the Audubon Society and will serve to fund its TogetherGreen program for five years.
Toyota also said that it will encourage its U.S. workforce of more than 36,000 to get out and volunteer for Audubon, which has a “long and successful history of encouraging conservation of our natural ecosystems.”
(Click through the jump to read the full press release.)
Automotive industry indexer J.D. Power has published some sales figures for Scion that back up recent news that Toyota’s youth brand may be loosing a bit of traction.
Scion has added numbers to the Toyota sales behemoth for the last five years, but recently those sales have started to flag. The sub-brand saw sales grow from 10,898 units in 2003, to as high as 173,034 in 2006. But last year deliveries of Scion products fell to one-fourth to 130,181 units.
(Click through the jump to read more or check out Scion’s newest stab at renewal, the Hako concept.)
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