Toyota Unveils Sports Coupe

Toyota will debut the FT-86, a sports car developed jointly with Subaru, at this month's Tokyo Auto Show.

By Hans Greimel of AutoWeek

Toyota Motor Corp. goes sporty at this month's Tokyo Auto Show, unveiling its vision for a sport coupe being jointly developed with Subaru.

The Toyota-badged car, dubbed the FT-86 Concept, is the spiritual successor to the AE86 sport coupe of the 1980s, which was based on the Corolla. Like its boxy predecessor, the FT-86 Concept is compact and lightweight and has a low center of gravity.

But the styling is modernized with a rounded, sleek silhouette.

The FT-86 is Toyota's concept for a sporty coupe being undertaken with Fuji Heavy Industries Inc., the company that manufactures Subaru vehicles. While it is fitted with a 2.0-liter boxer engine from Subaru, the overall design was created by Toyota's ED2 styling studio in France. Even the blue-red metallic paint was specially developed by Toyota.

"Sports cars have to be red, but we wanted a new red," chief engineer Tetsuya Tada said. "So we came up with shoujyouhi red, the traditional red color of a Japanese monkey's" backside.

Toyota and Fuji Heavy plan to start producing a sporty car in late 2011.

Toyota will be responsible for most of the engineering. Fuji Heavy will supply the horizontally opposed engine and manufacture the car at a Subaru plant.

Fuji Heavy won't comment on whether the FT-86 Concept is that car or not; Subaru won't be displaying a sports car at the Oct. 24-Nov. 4 Tokyo show. But the car clearly underscores new President Akio Toyoda's push for more muscular, fun-to-drive models.

Tada said Toyota wants the FT-86's sticker price to be in the $20,000 range. "It won't sell if it's over 3 million yen ($30,000)," he said. "The price has to appeal to regular customers."

The car seats four and has a front-engine, rear-drive layout. The boxer engine allows for a lower hood and gives the FT-86 a lower center of gravity. Key to the design was maximizing fuel efficiency by reducing weight and creating a compact design, Tada said.

Tada also said it gets a dedicated chassis, noting that "enthusiasts don't want a shared platform."

Toyota May Face Another Recall

Frame rust on 2000 and 2001 Tundras may cause Toyota its second major recall in as many weeks.

By Kathy Jackson of AutoWeek

Toyota may be faced with another recall a week after its largest U.S. recall in company history.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday said it would investigate frame corrosion on 2000 and 2001 model year Tundra pickups. An estimated 218,000 units are involved.

NHTSA said it has received 20 complaints — 15 of them alleging that the underbody-mounted spare tire separated from the rear cross member. The other five complaints allege damaged brake lines due to corrosion on the driver's side rear cross member.

Brian Lyons, a spokesman for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., said he is not surprised at NHTSA's investigation.

"We've been investigating this for a little bit of time," he said. "We know there are some complaints out there. We have repurchased some vehicles to aid in our investigation."

The disclosure comes a week after Toyota announced it will recall 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles to replace a floor mat that could cause the accelerator to stick. The recall prompted a public apology from Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda.

Frame Rust
Toyota faced a similar frame-rust problem last year involving about 750,000 Tacoma pickups.

In March 2008, the company agreed to buy back 1995 to 2000 model year Tacomas at 150 percent of the high Kelly Blue Book value.

Then in November 2008, the company issued a recall on 2001 to 2004 model year Tacomas. If there was no rust, Toyota automatically extended the warranty to 15 years with unlimited mileage. If there was rust, the frames were replaced at no cost to the consumer.

Lyons did not say why the company did not issue a recall for the Tundra at the same time as the Tacoma.

"The two trucks did not share the same frame, but there were similarities," he said. Lyons said both trucks had the same supplier.

"But it's our responsibility, not the supplier's responsibility," Lyons said.

Lyons did not name the supplier.

The 2000 model year was the first for the Tundra, which replaced the T-100. It was made in Indiana at the time. The Tacoma is produced at NUMMI in California.

Toyota's Prius threatened by probe

Could the Prius and other Toyota hybrids be banned from the U.S.? It seems unthinkable, but that's one possible ending to a patent investigation launched this week.

This case centers around Paice, a tiny Florida company that has patented a way to apply force to a car's wheels from the electric motor or the internal combustion engine.

Paice thinks that Toyota (TM) is infringing on its technology, and is going after the automaker in court. The legal spat became much more serious for Toyota this week, when the U.S. International Trade Commission decided to investigate the matter.

Bing: How do hybrid cars work?

The problem is that the ITC can stop any imports that infringe on U.S. patents. So in the worst-case scenario for Toyota, the commission could ban the hybrid Camry, third-generation Prius, Lexus HS250h sedan and Lexus RX450h SUV, according to Bloomberg.

And that could potentially be devastating for Toyota, which Bloomberg says has sold more than 1.1 million hybrids in the U.S. in the last decade -- most of them Prius cars.

Paice won a 2005 patent suit against Toyota in federal court in Marshall, Tex. And you might snicker at that, because Marshall is notorious for granting all sorts of wacko patent cases. But still, the verdict was upheld on appeal, and a judge ordered Toyota to pay royalties to Paice based on car sales.

Paice has more lawsuits against Toyota in the Marshall court, and some may go to trial in January.

So can't Toyota just throw a little licensing money at Paice and make it go away? It's not that easy, according to one lawyer familiar with the case. Paice wants the cars banned.

"As soon as Paice wins an exclusion order from the ITC, Toyota’s in trouble," the lawyer, Michael Murphy, told HybridCars.com. "It doesn’t matter that Toyota can appeal that decision. And it doesn’t matter that Toyota might eventually have that decision overturned. For some indeterminate period of time, perhaps months, Toyota is stuck without any ability to bring these new vehicles into the United States and sell them. Think of the cost. Toyota would lose millions of dollars."

Realistically, the chances that Toyota hybrids will be banned are slim. Paice likely would accept big money -- not puny licensing payments -- from Toyota in return for dropping its complaints, so there is a way out for Toyota here.

At any rate, this isn't helping Toyota in the U.S. The automaker saw its sales drop 29% through August in the U.S., its largest market, and is struggling to revive its business here.

Toyota is still blazing ahead with its hybrids, and plans to add one or two more versions of the Prius, according to Reuters. Toyota also plans to spend $1 million in a marketing blitz in the fourth quarter -- about 30% to 40% more than it would normally spend to promote its cars.

Most Popular Vehicle in Henderson, Nevada

89052, Henderson, Nev. — Toyota Camry

"You drive around our town, and there's not a car over three years old," says Rick Glenn, marketing director of Henderson's Findlay Toyota, one of the top Toyota dealerships in the nation. But despite the fact that it's just seven miles from the Las Vegas strip, that's the extent of Henderson's penchant for new and flashy. Contrary to what you might assume, the most popular vehicle here isn't the Cadillac Escalade — it's the Camry. "A lot of people moved here because the cost of living in California was too high," Glenn says. "They have normal jobs and they buy Toyotas and Hondas because they're safe and dependable." Findlay sold 7,347 new and used Toyotas last year — the vast majority of them Camrys.

GM to shut down Saturn after Penske walks away

GM to shut down Saturn after Penske terminates talks with GM on uncertain future assembly

General Motors Co. said Wednesday it would shut down its Saturn brand after an agreement with Penske Automotive Group Inc. to acquire it fell apart.

Penske, citing concerns of whether it could continue to supply vehicles after a manufacturing contract with GM ran out, ended talks with GM Wednesday to acquire the brand.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson said in statement that Saturn and its dealership network will be phased out.

"This is very disappointing news and comes after months of hard work by hundreds of dedicated employees and Saturn retailers who tried to make the new Saturn a reality," Henderson said in a written statement. "PAG's announcement explained that their decision was not based on interactions with GM or Saturn retailers."

In a statement, the Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based auto retailer says an agreement with another manufacturer to continue producing Saturn vehicles after GM stopped making them fell through, leading Penske to terminate talks with GM.

Penske said it negotiated terms and conditions to make Saturn cars with another manufacturer, but that company's board of directors rejected the agreement. Penske spokesman Anthony Pordon would not identify the other manufacturer.

"Without that agreement, the company has determined that the risks and uncertainties related to the availability of future products prohibit the company from moving forward with this transaction," the company said in a statement.

In June, GM and Penske agreed to take over the Saturn brand and related dealerships, although GM would produce the vehicles for a limited period of time.

GM said Saturn vehicle owners can still go to their Saturn dealer for service and would be able to go to a certified GM dealer for service once Saturn dealerships are closed.

It was expected that GM would announce the completion of Saturn's sale to Penske in the coming days.

Share of Penske fell $1.93 to $17.25 in after hours trading. They rose $1.32, or 7.4 percent to $19.18 in regular trading Wednesday.