The Lexus Luxury: A Brief History

By the year 1989, Toyota had already established itself as a formidable competitor in the US Automotive Industry. With the 1989 Camry’s, Echo’s, and Solara’s, Toyota had many options for many different consumers. But, in the year 1989, it seemed like something was missing. There was just something that was holding Toyota back from the global success they were destined to achieve.

LS 400 Cabin

And so, Toyota unveiled the Lexus. A luxury line, the 1989 Lexus “LS” was top of its class, and changed the course of the automotive industry forever by creating a comfortable, classy, and reliably automobile. The vehicle, surprisingly, was a secret flagship effort by Toyota to create a new luxury sedan. So, what was so “new” about the codenamed F1 than other Toyota models? Well, because of the freedom given to the design team, the F1 did not feature any existing Toyota parts or platforms! Here was a brand new, never before seen vehicle that had better aerodynamics, a quieter cabin, and, foreshadowing Toyota’s future, it had great fuel efficiency for its time – approximately 25 mpg and lasted for years to come.

Lexus LS 400

Next in the Lexus timeline was the Lexus LS 400 in 1990, which had a ton of new features; those features including power steering, disk brakes, and a newly adjusted suspension. In its first year of sales, Toyota sold 63,594 LS 400’s, and it could only get better from there. The next model, the ES 300, became Lexus’ top selling model.

The 2000’s, as most Toyota customers are aware of, have been very good for the Lexus market. Varying from new full sized sedans with LCD displays, to sleek hybrid concepts, this century has harbored an explosion of Lexus innovations and stylistic changes. In 2006, right after the release of the F-Performance marquee, The Lexus line sold approximately 475,000 models worldwide.

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Toyota President Appears in Congress for Questioning

In light of the recent recalls Toyota has been through lately, many customers have been very upset, and for good reason. For years, Toyota was viewed as the supreme car company, releasing new, reliable, and very secure/safe vehicles. And, in the eye of the consumer, many of the high profile faces in the company haven’t given many answers to worried drivers. This week, however, many questions were answered when both Jim Lentz, Toyota of America CEO, and Akio Toyota, owner and head man of the company, arrived at Congress to answer questions politicians presented to them. The whole overtone of the questioning was apologetic, while both speakers have an optimistic view of the future, and both expressed full co-operation with law makers.

If you know anything about Akio Toyoda, you know that when he became the President he had several very specific goals in mind, one of which was to move the focus away from growth of the company and refocus on quality of the product. As you can imagine, this type of re-imaging could not and did not happen overnight, and this period of recalls and restructuring is probably just what Mr. Toyoda needs to jump start the company into a new light: one of safety and quality. This is what he discussed with Congress when he appeared on Wednesday. Specifically, he stated that Toyota’s “priorities became confused”, which again leads to his belief that quality should come before quantity, and he took “full responsibility” for the issues Toyota is currently facing. He has learned from this experience, and plans on bringing Toyota back to the times when quality and reliability were the upmost important aspects of Toyota vehicles.

When Jon Lentz appeared, however, Congress asked more questions referring to the technicalities of the recalls, such as the specific dates the problem came to their attention, and what the future holds for Toyota of America.

CEO’s were not the only one’s testifying at Congress; several customers of Toyota came to the stand during the hearing to tell their experiences with unintended acceleration.

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Camry Hybrid Rose:a Brilliant Compliment to the Vehicle

2010 Toyota Camry Interior

So you’ve heard about the 2010 Hybrid Camry, a efficient 4 door sedan designed for the “sensible and sensational” consumer. With its 2.5-liter four cylinder engine and estimated 33 mpg, the Camry is one of the hottest cars out there, and it makes the dreaded gas pump not so scary.

Both the interior and exterior of the 2010 Camry have been redesigned, and the changes give it a sleek but fierce look. The front exterior has a new grille and restyled fog lights, while the wheels gained 16-inch alloy wheels. The interior, however, is where this vehicle really shines. The console has the latest Toyota Camry Parts, featuring a touch screen navigation system, it also has a revamped audio interface allowing listeners to connect devices via bluetooth, USB, AUX, and also the capability to stream MP3 files.

In Australia, where the automobile is manufactured, the 2010 Hybrid Camry was released along with, get this; The Hybrid Camry Rose. Yes,I am referring to the red flower you probably gave someone yesterday on Valentine’s day. The scientists at Toyota worked very hard to produce this hybrid flower, which is specially designed to thrive in dry climates, such as the Australian outback.

Both the sedan and flower were produced to combine two largely different ideas; a beautiful and powerful image portrayed on the inside, while having great fuel efficiency or, in the rose, surviving in a dry climate. Toyota has been doing this to show how something very technical and reliable can be visually pleasing as well.

The flower was presented as an exclusive promotion in Australia for the 2010 Hybrid Camry. The whole country is very excited to be producing the vehicle because it is one of their first locally manufactured Toyota cars, and the flower was presented to the attendees of the unveiling. So, next time you see Toyota Camry Parts on the road, who knows, they might be from Australia, where hybrid roses rule the outback!

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Avalon 2011 Revealed In Chicago

While recent recalls have been hard on Toyota Consumers, one automobile they can look forward to is the 2011 Toyota Avalon. Revealed this week at the Chicago Auto Show, the Avalon includes many features that make it extra safe and reliable.

Several improvements from the 2010 Avalon have been made on this new, cleaner version of the vehicle to ensure it will not have to experience any recalls. One feature that Toyota is very excited about is its new pedal assembly, which will improve upon the current one and ensure no unintended acceleration occurs. Another safety feature featured in the Avalon is a whopping 7 airbags, which means that if you do have an accident, you and your passengers will have a better chance of leaving the accident unharmed.

2011 Avalon

While safety was a big part in the unveiling, Toyota still delivered with the fuel efficiency of the 2011 Avalon. It has an EPA of 20 m.p.g. in the city and 29 on the highway. This makes the Avalon one of the most fuel efficient mid-sized non-hybrid sedan on the road today!

The interior of the Avalon, along with the outside, is very impressive. With a sleek and bold body style, it is sure to turn a few heads in the city. The interior is fully equipped with tons of effective and useful options such as a touch-screen navigation display and hands free bluetooth phone capabilities.

Update on the recalls: Toyota recently announced a software update that will address braking issues on the Prius and Lexus HS hybrid. your local Kansas City Toyota Dealer should be receiving the updates soon.

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Repairs on Recalled Vehicles Start this Week

As many Toyota owners know, several Toyota vehicles have been put on a recall list, because of rare but serious unintended acceleration. In a press release on Monday, Toyota announced they had found the exact issue that was causing the sudden loss of control.

 “Nothing is more important to us than the safety and reliability of the vehicles our customers drive,” said Jim Lentz, president and Chief Operating Officer, TMS. “We deeply regret the concern that our recalls have caused for our customers and we are doing everything we can – as fast as we can – to make things right. Stopping production is never an easy decision, but we are 100% confident it was the right decision. We know what’s causing the sticking accelerator pedals, and we know what we have to do to fix it. We also know it is most important to fix this problem in the cars on the road.”

Inside the Recalled Pedal

What has basically been happening is inside the recalled pedal, there was a piece designed to create a stable and solid feel. In the press release, they reported “The device includes a shoe that rubs against an adjoining surface during normal pedal operation. Due to the materials used, wear and environmental conditions, these surfaces may, over time, begin to stick and release instead of operating smoothly.” In layman’s terms, the piece was produced a fraction of a degree too small, and the resulting friction would cause the accelerator pedal to “stick”. As you can imagine, this kind of issue has been greeted by seriousness and very swift actions on Toyota’s parts.

Toyota vehicles included in the recall are:

• Certain 2009-2010 RAV4
• Certain 2009-2010 Corolla
• 2009-2010 Matrix
• 2005-2010 Avalon
• Certain 2007-2010 Camry
• Certain 2010 Highlander
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2008-2010 Sequoia

Also at the Press conference, Toyota announced they would cease production of the recalled automobiles starting this week. This will ensure that no more defective vehicles get on the road, and ensure less hassle for their loyal customers. This extremely rare action is usually reserved for the most important issues where speed and effectiveness is extremely necessary.

Yesterday, on Feb. 2, 2010, parts began to arrive at dealerships that would fix the acceleration problems several vehicles have been experiencing. The repair is estimated to take an hour and a half, so in that short time, your Toyota vehicle will have the defective part removed and replaced with quality, Genuine Toyota parts. During repair, dealerships will install a small, reinforcement bar that will stop the unnecessary friction in the pedal.

If you experience this rare happenstance, you are advised to pull over to safe area, and then, when possible, relocate your vehicle to your Kansas City Toyota Dealer where they will fix the issue quickly. If you are already aware of a problem, because of the many repairs needed, it would probably be smart to make an appointment for the repair.

To see a full copy of the press release, head on over to the Toyota Pressroom!

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The Search for Lithium…

Lithium: Metal of The Future

As most automakers know, a spot on electric-hybrid vehicle needs two things: a great design, for example the wonder we know as the Prius, and an effective and long lasting battery. For years, the standard for electric vehicle batteries has been nickel-metal-based. The next step, the future of batteries, makes use of lithium, a metal found in the earth, which is becoming more and more valuable because of its chemical properties. Lithium has already proved itself as being viable for batteries; laptops and other small appliances run on them. But, because of recent technological advances, auto engineers are now able to integrate the highly reactive and light metal in car batteries. Because of its potential use, Toyota is acquiring more and more lithium that will allow them to engineer cleaner and more efficient vehicles.Also, with the more advanced battery technology, more Toyota Parts could be running off the Lithium Batteries.

Toyota Batteries of the Future Will be Built to Last

One way successful companies like Toyota receive lithium is through sister companies like Toyota Tsusho Corp. This week, Tsusho formed a partnership with Australian mining company Orocobre Inc. to set up a very extensive mining operation in Argentina. The program, estimated at costing $100 million, will bring in large amounts of lithium available for battery production. This will make newer plug-in models like the 2012 Prius not only possible but effective.

With Toyota’s already huge stake in the Hybrid industry, the lithium battery innovations and mining projects will open hundreds of doors for advancements. Toyota has already stated they plan on doubling their hybrid output by the end of each year. This means your Kansas City Toyota Dealer will have href=”http://www.olathetoyota.com/InventorySearch.aspx?p=2&view=gallery”>New Toyota options for more people.

When the huge mining project begins in 2012, Toyota expects the mine to produce 15,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate per year. Most of the lithium in the world comes from South America, so they know there is large potential there. There are already huge deposits in Chile and Brazil.

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Toyota Prius Receives Awards Overseas

Today in Abu Dhabi, the Toyota 2010 Prius was awarded the Zayed Future Energy Award for its innovative energy system. While everyone knew about its amazing fuel efficiency, this is one of the first big awards the 3rd Generation Prius has received. Almost 300 entries were considered, and the Prius came out on top. There were many reasons the Prius won. Over the lifetime of the Prius brand, Toyota has saved approximately seven million tons of CO2, keeping the environment clean.

Zayed Future Energy Award

The company received the grand prize of $1.5 million, and the two runners up received $350,000. Basically anyone can run for the award, just as long as they showed groundbreaking leadership and innovation. The award has been around for 2 years now, and it has been making a big difference in the motivation of companies like Toyota. As you can imagine, 1.5 million dollars can make a big difference, and while Toyota is a multinational company, every cent counts in today’s economy.

According to http://www.khaleejtimes.com/ on receiving the Prize, Kazuo Okamoto, Vice Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation, said: “Winning this award is true recognition of the years of hard work that went into making the Toyota Prius a reality and I am honored to receive it on behalf of Toyota Motor Corporation. I am confident that this will further increase awareness of hybrid vehicles and their environment-friendly features, thereby contributing to a sustainable future in the long run.”

As the years go by, we can only expect the contestants in the award to get better and better. Who knows? Maybe next year there will be a completely new generation of vehicles, featuring Genuine Toyota Parts, which put out virtually no global warming causing exhaust? Only time will tell.

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Detroit Auto Show Gives Light to Future of Prius Brand 

This week at the Detroit auto show, Toyota has revealed the FT-CH (Future-Toyota-Compact-Hybrid), and with it’s release they told the world their plan for the “Prius” name.

FT-CH

We already knew the vehicle would be revealed this week at the show, but no one expected the plans that would acompany the new hybrid concept. Toyota announced that they would turn the Prius brand into something of a sub-brand, and the cars under it would carry both the Toyota and Prius titles. This business plan is becoming more popular in today’s thriving economy because it is very effective. Toyota plans to release several different vehicles, all under the sub-brand of “Prius”, thus spreading highly efficient and dependable vehicles to very different consumers.

To better understand what a sub-group really consists of, we can look at Apple Inc. When one thinks of the word “iPod”, they think of iPod classics, iPod shuffles, iPod touches, and iPhones. This is largely what Toyota is aiming to do. Going down this road will lead to the brand “Prius” becoming even more of a household name than it already is, allowing different options for different people.

The FT-CH revealed at the convention was very intriguing in itself. It featured a look similar to that of the third-generation Prius, but it was much more sleek, smooth, and dynamic. The concept was definently aimed toward the younger generation, instead of toward the trendy family of four. While few specs of the inside are available at this time, we can expect to see something extremely similar to this concept in several years.

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