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Toyota C-HR Concept is a high-riding hybrid hatch [w/video]

Despite having the tendency to offer decidedly bland production cars, Toyota occasionally surprises us with interesting concept cars. Such is the case with the C-HR concept making its debut at the Paris Motor Show this week. It's a concept showing forward-thinking design that hints at "a type of crossover vehicle Toyota would like to bring to market," according to the automaker's release, and it rides on an all-new platform and uses a hybrid powertrain.
About that powertrain: Toyota isn't revealing anything, just saying that it will - brace yourselves - "deliver significantly improved fuel efficiency" (over what, exactly?) The car also uses a brand-new architecture, though it hasn't really revealed any major details about that aspect, either.
It's a high-riding, muscular thing, with a rakish hatchback shape. Should it reach production, Toyota says it would take the shape of a C-segment crossover. It'd be cool to see something like this hit the road someday, but for now, we won't hold our breath.

The greenest cars of 2024: Vehicles that use the least fuel and cost less to operate

All-electric vehicles may make headlines for environmental friendliness and fuel efficiency, but the “greenest” car in America in 2024 has a gasoline engine. According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy's annual GreenerCars ratings of the most environmentally friendly cars, the latest Toyota Prius Prime SE plug-in hybrid tops the list of greenest cars, although it's something of an anomaly, because battery-electric EVs follow it in spots two to five. Of the top 10 vehicles in the ratings, six are electric and four are hybrids: Rank Make & Model Powertrain Green Score MSRP Estimated Annual Fuel Cost* 1 Toyota Prius Prime SE PHEV 71 $32,975 $529 2 Lexus RZ 300e EV 67 $55,150 $651 3 Mini Cooper SE EV 67 $30,900 $747 4 Nissan Leaf EV 66 $28,140 $741 5 Toyota bZ4X EV 66 $43,070 $689 6 Toyota RAV4 Prime PHEV 64 $43,690 $741 7 Hyundai Elantra Blue Gas Hybrid 64 $26,250 $864 8 Hyundai Kona Electric EV 63 $34,050 $695 9 Toyota Camry LE Gas Hybrid 63 $28,855 $907 10 Kia EV6 EV 63 $43,975 $689 11 Toyota Corolla Gas Hybrid 62 $23,500 $944 12 Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV 62 $41,650 $737 *ACEEE analysis using EIA data of annual cost—from gasoline, electricity, or a combination—of driving 15,000 miles The ACEEE also compiled two other vehicle rankings: the so-called “Greener Choices” and the “Meanest List.” The Greener Choices list includes a variety of high-scoring conventional vehicles, and the Meanest List identifies the worst-performing mass-market models. Finishing first in the “greener” list — which the organization says is about cars “available nationwide with among the lowest environmental impacts” — is the Honda Accord Hybrid. As far as the “worst-performing mass market” vehicle, that dubious distinction goes to the $184,000 Mercedes-Benz AMG G63. “ItÂ’s important for automakers to keep expanding affordable EV options rapidly so that the benefits of EVs are available to drivers across a wider spectrum of incomes as we transition away from cars that burn gasoline,” said Peter Huether, ACEEEÂ’s senior transportation research associate and lead researcher for the GreenerCars rankings. “For drivers whose needs are not met by todayÂ’s charging infrastructure, many efficient and affordable hybrid options are available.” Just over half the cars on the 2024 Greenest List start at under $35,000, including four EVs and three gas hybrids.

Honda may recall up to 1M vehicles for airbag issue, following Toyota's lead

It seems Toyota won't be the only one recalling the faulty Takata airbag inflators for long. Honda insiders in Japan claim that the company is getting close to announcing its own worldwide campaign that would begin before the end of June.
Unnamed sources close to Honda in Japan tell Automotive News that the company is pursuing an internal investigation into possibly affected models and is working with Takata to gather more information. They claim that it could involve even more than the 1.14 million cars worldwide that the automaker covered under the first recall for the problem in April 2013, including 561,000 vehicles in the US.
Toyota jumpstarted this process last week when it recalled over 2 million cars worldwide, including 844,277 in the US. Soon after, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began a preliminary evaluation into the issue following six reported incidents, and started assembling data about potentially affected models from Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Chrysler. NHTSA also began investigating Takata itself.