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Expedition drives from Russia to Canada over North Pole...

No, a Ford Expedition did not drive from Russia to Canada via the North Pole, but that's exactly what a team of intrepid explorers accomplished recently. Using specially-modified buses with massive tires, the group slowly drove 2,485 miles in 70 days over drifting ice, occasionally using a pickaxe to clear a path and staying on guard for chasms that could open up and plunge the team into the frigid arctic waters. Average speeds were about 6 mph, "at the speed of a (farm) tractor." While the big tires technically allowed the buses to float if the need arose, the team preferred to stay out of the water to keep the suspension from getting coated in thick, hard ice. Falling in on foot would mean almost certain death.
According to Phys.org, the buses were powered by Toyota diesel engines, but were built with prototype parts from a previous driving expedition to the North Pole. Right now, the machines are parked in a garage in Canada's Resolute Bay while the the team rests up with family back home. They plan to continue their trek to back across the Bering Straight to Russia. If successful, the team may eventually offer a version of their buses for commercial sale.

Toyota promises Hybrid-R concept for Frankfurt

Toyota will be bringing a new concept car to the Frankfurt Motor Show next month. Dubbed Hybrid-R, Toyota says the concept will feature the same Toyota Hybrid System-Racing tech found in the automaker's latest endurance car, the TS030 Hybrid.
That car took second place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a gas-powered, 3.4-liter, naturally aspirated V8 and a capacitor-based hybrid system. The result was 530 ponies from the engine and an extra 300 horsepower from the electric motor and batteries.
Toyota's press release came with but one image, a new Hybrid badge which is a far cry from the Hybrid Synergy Drive label found on the automaker's other offerings. There's really not much else to go on yet, but the news that Toyota is already adapting its racing tech for a concept bodes well for the future of exciting, hybridized offerings from the automaker. We'll be at Frankfurt live, and will be sure to bring you all the news on this new concept as it becomes available.

Toyota struggling in Latin American market, attempting recovery

With uncertainty in the US and Chinese markets, automakers are scrambling to rev up their efforts in what were traditionally secondary markets. Take Toyota's efforts in Latin America. A recent story from The Wall Street Journal highlights the Japanese brand's push in the southern hemisphere, particularly in Brazil, where it has expanded its operations and installed new executives with a greater range of powers, all in a bid to grab a bigger slice of the ever-growing South American pie.
South America is dominated by General Motors, Fiat and Volkswagen, which maintain a combined 60 percent of the market share - Toyota holds a mere 4.5 percent. The WSJ spoke with Steve St. Angelo, Toyota's boss in Latin America, who said, "We are playing catch up, but we're catching up fast. We now have the resources to give the region the attention it really needs and deserves."
That attention includes an all-new, locally produced small car called the Etios. As bewildering as it seems, Toyota wasn't competing in the low-cost economy car market in South America. With the Etios, which arrived in September of 2012, its sales in the first seven months of 2013 are up 75 percent.