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Toyota GT86 CS-R3 ready to rally

Toyota is returning to the rally scene with the competition-spec version of the GT86. First announced over a year ago, the GT86 CS-R3 began testing this past summer, and is now just about ready for customer deliveries. Instead of contesting the top tier of the World Rally Championship, the GT86 CS-R3 was designed to compete in the R3 class. It's closely based on the road-going model (better known around these parts as the Scion FR-S), and retains its 2.0-liter boxer four, sending 238 horsepower and 170 pound-feet of torque through a Drenth six-speed sequential gearbox and limited slip differential to the rear wheels. Available in either tarmac or gravel specification, the GT86 CS-R3 comes complete with "body shell, powertrain and all mechanical components required to build the car." It's set to undergo final FIA certification in July, at which point it'll be ready to deliver to privateer rally teams to field in national and international rallies and in the HJS TMG CS-R3 Trophy that kicks off in Germany on July 4. The package sells for ˆ84,000 ($94k at today's rates) before taxes, but customers who place their orders before April 24 will get a ˆ5k discount. Related Video: 23 Jan 2015 GT86 CS-R3 NEARS COMPETITIVE DEBUT TOYOTA Motorsport GmbH is pleased to confirm the final details of the rear-wheel-drive GT86 CS-R3 rally car, which will make its competitive debut this year. Cologne, Germany - The CS-R3 prototype was launched last August and since then has completed an extensive test programme to optimise design and define the final specification of the kit which will be delivered to private competitors and teams. Detailed development has generated improved performance on both gravel and tarmac, while reliability and durability have been prioritised in order to deliver a car which allows cost-effective competition throughout the season and beyond. The CS-R3 has already proved immensely popular thanks to its rear-wheel drive powertrain, with 1,998cc, 238hp boxer engine and six-speed sequential transmission which combine to produce a spectacular driving experience. The first cars will be delivered to customers in May, later than originally forecast to allow improvements highlighted during testing to be implemented. As a consequence TMG has extended its introductory discount.

Toyota nudges US sales projections up to 2.25M

Toyota has raised its expectations for 2013's US sales for the third time since the end of 2012. The new target rests at 2.25 million units, when sales of Toyota, Lexus and Scion are taken as one. Subtracting Lexus, Toyota is still expecting to move over two million vehicles in the US by the end of 2013.
According to a report from Automotive News, the sales expectations came from Bob Carter, senior VP of automotive operations for Toyota USA, during a dealers during a meeting in Atlanta. The heightened expectations go along with Toyota's predictions for the US market as a whole, which it expects to grow to 15.5 million units by the end of 2013.
Besides an overall, national uptick in new vehicle sales, Toyota is also expecting a big push as it puts the next-generation Corolla to market during the second half of this year, along with the Tundra pickup truck. Meanwhile, dealers were shown images of a refreshed Camry, set to arrive in 2015, and reported that it's "more than a nip and a tuck," according to the AN report.

Toyota finds profit in Europe thanks to hybrid sales

In the land of diesel, Toyota appears to be making money its own way and thereby making more of it. The Japanese automaker is taking on Europe's diesel-centric ways by substantially boosting sales of hybrids on the continent. That, along with cost cutting measures, has increased the company's European profitability, Automotive News says, citing recent remarks by Toyota's European operations chief Didier Leroy. Toyota, which lost money in Europe between 2008 and 2011, started turning things around two years ago by cutting labor at places like UK factories while consolidating production of models such as the Auris and Yaris hybrid vehicles. During the most recently completed financial year, Toyota Europe reported earnings that were up 75 percent from the year before, despite revenue being up just five percent. The company also aims to sell at least 1 million vehicles in Europe by next year and is boosting sales in countries like Russia. Late last year, Didier told Bloomberg News that Toyota's European market share was rising about one percentage point a year, while production at Toyota's factories in countries like France, Turkey and the UK were running at full capacity. Toyota estimated at the time that hybrids accounted for about a fifth of Toyota's European sales.