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Toyota launches new Pixis Epoch kei car in Japan

Kei cars may be small in size, but they're big business in Japan. The latest arrival to the category is the little hatch you see above, the Toyota Pixis Epoch.
It's the fourth vehicle produced by the Daihatsu division but sold under the Toyota brand. As with other keis, power comes from a 660cc engine. It's mated to a continuously variable transmission driving either just the front wheels or all four. In both configurations, the Pixis Epoch features a stop-start system that helps its emissions and fuel efficiency figures come in well below even the Japanese government's stringent standards.
The whole package measures just 3,395 mm (133 inches) long, 1,475 mm (58 inches) wide and 1,500 mm (59 inches) tall, but offers a relatively spacious and utile interior, plus a tight turning radius of just 4.4 meters. Pricing ranges from 795,000 to 1.2 million yen - that's less than $10,000 (and no more than $15k). Further details in the press release after the jump.

Toyota, Mazda form electric car technology venture

TOKYO — Toyota has established a new venture to develop electric vehicle technology with partner Mazda, seeking to catch up with rivals in an increasingly frenetic race to produce more battery-powered cars. Policymakers in key markets like China are pushing a shift to electric cars over the next two to three decades, while relatively new rival Tesla is gaining momentum and diesel cars are going through the fallout of the Volkswagen diesel scandal, pressuring traditional automakers to crank up plans for fully electric vehicles (EVs). At the same time, declining battery costs are enabling more power to be packed into cars, making an electric car future easier to imagine. Toyota said in a statement the new company will develop technology for a range of electric cars, including mini vehicles, passenger cars, SUVs and light trucks. Toyota will take a 90 percent stake in the joint venture, called EV Common Architecture Spirit Co Ltd, while Mazda and Denso Corp, Toyota's biggest supplier, will each take 5 percent. The plans build on a partnership announced in August when Japan's biggest automaker agreed to take a 5 percent stake in Mazda and two said they would jointly develop affordable electric vehicle technologies. Although Toyota is providing most of the financial firepower and existing EV know-how, Mazda's engineers have gained the admiration of the industry with breakthrough technologies such as its compression ignition engine announced last month. Shares in Mazda surged to end the day 3 percent higher, while those in Denso rose 1.8 percent. Toyota shares were flat. Both automakers are somewhat behind rivals, with neither having a fully electric passenger car on the market yet. After years of focusing on bringing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to the market, Toyota last year set up a division to develop electric cars which is led by President Akio Toyoda, and said it plans to introduce EVs in China in the coming years. Toyota has also announced it will bring a game-changing solid-state EV battery to market by 2022. That division would continue as a separate entity from the new joint venture, a Toyota spokeswoman said, while adding that the two teams would co-operate on technology development. Mazda has an R&D budget a fraction of Toyota's, which has made it difficult to develop electric cars on its own. Even so, it has said it plans to launch EVs in 2020.

Consumer Reports says infotainment systems 'growing first-year reliability plague'

The Consumer Reports Annual Auto Reliability Survey (right) is out, and the top two spots look much the same as last year's list with Lexus and Toyota in first and second place, respectively. However, there are some major shakeups for 2014, with Acura plunging eight spots from third in 2013 to 11th this year, and Mazda replaces it on the lowest step of the podium. Honda and Audi round out the top five. This year's list includes six Japanese brands in the top 10, two Europeans, one America and one Korean.
Acura isn't the only one taking a tumble, though. Infiniti is the biggest loser this year by dropping 14 spots to 20th place. Other big losses come from Mercedes-Benz with an 11-place fall to 24th, and GMC, which declines 10 positions to 19th.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's not traditional mechanical bugs hauling down these automaker's reliability scores. Instead, pesky problems with infotainment systems are taking a series toll on the rankings. According to Consumer Reports, complaints about "in-car electronics" were the most grumbled about element in new cars. Problem areas included things like unresponsive touchscreens, issues pairing phones and multi-use controllers that refused to work right.