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Toyota recounts past Supra glories

It could just be a slow start to the news week around the Toyota offices, but its UK blog has posted a brief history on its legendary Supra sports car. Read into however you'd like, but there has been plenty of speculation as to the return of the Supra nameplate in recent years (including last month from incoming Toyota chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada).
Built from April 1978 through July 2002, Toyota's sports coupe made quite a name for itself as both the Celica Supra (shown above) and the Supra, and the blog post charts many of the changes and highlights through the years. Head on over to the Toyota UK blog to read more about this Supra's history, and then be sure to check out the gallery of images from Toyota spanning all four generations.

Refreshed 2013 Toyota Landcruiser Prado gets official [w/video]

We'd seen leaked images of the the refreshed 2013 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, now Toyota has deemed it officially ready for the European masses it is aimed at. We can only hope the masses are ready for that grille, probably the most intense of the many changes made to the volcano-eating truck. The new face and its "powerfully projecting vertical bars" were designed to "accentuate the new Toyota's rugged appearance," as if the legendarily capable SUV wasn't rugged enough. Other changes include redesigned headlight clusters, stronger character lines along the sides, new taillights and license plate "garnish" in back, and a slew of new wheel choices. Both the three- and five-door are 20 millimeters longer, all of that in the front overhang, but the approach angle apparently hasn't changed.
The new organization of trims runs from Entry to Legend, Prestige and Executive. The interior has been reorganized with better seats in the second and third rows, a new upper center console, a redesigned panel for controlling on- and off-road driving functions, reworked Optitron meters with a 4.2-inch LCD screen, and new switchgear, fabrics and color schemes. Infotainment has been upgraded with Toyota Touch 2 and Toyota Touch 2 with Go. They mirror your smartphone if said phone happens to be either a Samsung Galaxy S3 or Galaxy Note 2.
On-road driving dynamics have been improve with suspension changes, and a Rear Cross Traffic Alert added to the suite of safety features for maneuvering the beast. When it comes to the Land Cruiser's real reason for being, the five Multi-terrain Select choices and five-step Crawl Control are more easily used with a Multi-terrain Monitor reworked for more clarity.

Toyota maintains world's largest automaker crown, GM and VW close behind

Toyota still holds the title of World's Largest Automaker. The Japanese automaker ceded the claim to General Motors in 2011 following a series of natural and man-made disasters that stifled production in Asia. Production is back up to full speed and, coupled with the introduction of a new Camry midsize sedan, Toyota retook the title in 2012 and has so far been able to keep it by selling 2.43 million vehicles in the first quarter of 2013.
The race is still tight - General Motors reports sales of 2.36 million vehicles, earning it the second spot globally with Volkswagen's 2.27 million sales nabbing the German automaker third place. It's not all smooth sailing for Toyota, either, as the brand's first-quarter figures were down 2.2 percent when compared to last year. GM posted a 3.6-percent gain and VW managed a 5.1-percent gain over the same period.
Sales in China may be a deciding factor as to which automaker performs best in 2013. Toyota's figures were down 13 percent in China. Meanwhile, GM and VW are continuing their upward trajectories in the crucial Chinese market.