Court Dismisses First Sudden Acceleration Case Against Toyota Over Technicality

The sudden acceleration issue is still troubling Toyota, which has already paid $50 million in fines and recalled almost 8 million vehicles in the US alone in 2009 and 2010. The Japanese carmaker still has to face the lawsuits brought about by citizens and their families affected by the issue which, according to estimates, could cost the company as much as $10 billion.

However, the first sudden acceleration lawsuit lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge who ruled that it should have been filed in Utah instead of California. The case is about Paul Van Alfen and passenger Charlene Lloyd, who were killed in 2010 when a 2008 Camry driven by Van Alfen hit a wall in Utah.

Read more »

Toyota Design Boss Says "Pump That Up," But the Company's Ads Say, "It’s a Car"

As we reported earlier this week, raffish-haired Akihiro Dezi Nagaya, Toyota’s global design chief, plans to implement a more aggressive design theme for the brand. “We have eliminated emotion. We need to pump that up” he said in an interview at the Frankfurt Auto Show.

Changing Toyota’s “quiet and non-offensive” image won’t be easy. Nagaya will be faced with challenges both from within Toyota, a company known for consensus-driven conservatism, and with the brand's consumer base. Nagaya recognizes that Camry buyers, for example, “don't want something too aggressive.”

Read more »

Toyota May Shift Korean-Bound 2012 Camry Production from Japan to the U.S.

While the Lexus brand has been active in South Korea since 2001, the Toyota brand made its debut in the market only just last year. During 2010, the Japanese company sold some 4,200 Camry sedans, making it one of the best-selling foreign cars in the country.

As expected, Toyota is planning to sell the new generation of the Camry in South Korea starting from early 2012. However, the Nikkei business daily reported on Monday that the Japanese company is mulling transferring production of the South Korean Camry from Japan to the United States.

Read more »

Jackasses on Wheels and with Guns Terrorize Middle East Drivers [Video]

There's hooning. And then there's criminal hooning. These particular individuals shown in the video after the break no doubt belong to the second category with their idiotically dangerous antics.

Filmed somewhere in the Middle East (possibly in Saudi Arabia if we are to believe the Youtube commentators), the 10-minute long clip primarily focuses on the "achievements" of the driver and passengers of a silver Honda Accord and to a lesser extent, the crew in a Toyota Camry.

As if waving guns and shooting in the air on a public road isn't dumb enough, the wannabe drifters terrorize all the rest of the drivers throwing the Accord in front of passenger cars, trucks and even near a school bus.

Read more »

I, Robot: Toyota Retools Old Assembly Machines to Lower 2012 Camry's Manufacturing Costs

Toyota is the company that applied the (since copied by everyone) kaizen philosophy in car manufacturing to improve both on quality and efficiency. Now it has done something different: instead of installing new robots on the new Camry assembly line in Kentucky, it retooled the old units from its former plant in California.

The decision played an important role in Toyota's successful attempt to reduce the new 2012 Camry’s price by 2% compared to its predecessor.

Read more »

American Idol: U.S. Market Toyota Camry to be Built Exclusively in the Land of the Free

The Toyota Camry has been the best-selling car in the US for nine straight years. Yet, in its home market, it is virtually non-existent: even though it sold 82,000 cars in 1990, last year Toyota couldn’t shift more than 1,100 units! That’s because Japanese buyers prefer either the more sporty Mark X or the more luxurious Crown.

Therefore, for its seventh generation, which was only recently unveiled, Toyota decided to phase out imported Camrys from Japan and instead manufacture all cars earmarked for the North American market at its own plant in Georgetown and Subaru’s factory in Indiana.

Read more »

Toyota Introduces Yet Another Variant of the 2012 Camry, this Time in Japan

Toyota continues the roll out of country-specific versions of its new generation Camry with the launch of the Japanese domestic market (JDM) derivative of the mid-size sedan, which follows the recent introductions of the North American and Ukrainian models.

In Japan, the 2012 Camry is offered at launch exclusively as a hybrid model with power coming from a newly developed 2.5-liter Atkinson cycle, four-cylinder engine delivering 160HP and an electric motor with 143HP, for a combined maximum output of 205 horsepower.

Read more »