1994 Toyota Supra Turbo Automatic 2-door Hatchback on 2040-cars

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2020 Toyota Yaris hatchback could return as a Mazda2 clone

Less than a week ago we got the news that Toyota killed the 2019 Yaris Liftback in the U.S., instead choosing to sell the remaining inventory from 2018. There should be plenty of stock left, too: Car and Driver reports that Toyota sold 1,940 of the tiny hatches last year. The automaker said it would have an announcement about the Yaris at this year's New York Auto Show in April, telling Automobile, " We're working on something new for MY2020." C/D thinks it already knows what's coming, writing, "We assume ... that the new Yaris hatchback ... will be a rebadged Mazda2, like the current Yaris sedan that Mazda builds for Toyota in Mexico." Toyota and Mazda formed a development- and technology-sharing partnership in 2015. As part of the collaboration, we got the Scion iA in 2016, based on the Mazda2 sedan. That four-door became the Toyota Yaris iA when the Scion brand got put in the ground, and then became just the Yaris for 2019. In spite of Americans' well-publicized aversion to sedans, the trunked Yaris sold 25,269 units last year. Meanwhile, the Yaris hatch, built at a Toyota factory in France, has carried on basically untouched since 2013 — with a four-speed automatic, even — helping to explain its slow take-rate. If the Yaris five-door moves to the Mazda2 platform, we expect it to follow the same formula as the sedan. That means a 1.5-liter Skyactiv-G four-cylinder with 106 horsepower and 103 pound-feet of torque. That's the same output as the Toyota NR engine in the current hatch, but from a better, more modern engine. Transmission options would include a six-speed manual as standard on the L and LE trims. For 2019, Toyota added an XLE trim to the sedan that comes with a six-speed automatic. Assuming all comes to pass, the new Yaris five-door would be built at Mazda's Mexico plant alongside the sedan. But we'll have to wait until New York to know for sure. Related Video:

Toyota prices TRD Pro Tacoma, 4Runner

Toyota is finally all set to drop more details about the upcoming off-road ready TRD Pro Series models of the 4Runner, Tacoma and Tundra after first revealing them in February. These trucks and SUV might not get the big engine and other mods that desert-stormers like the Ford F-150 Raptor have, but they are still a nice step up over the stock versions. All of the TRD Pro vehicles come as 4x4 models with Bilstein shocks with remote reservoirs in the rear, TRD front springs, skid plates, black wheels, retro-inspired "TOYOTA" badging and TRD-branded floor mats and shift knobs on the inside. They're available in three colors: Inferno, Attitude Black Metallic and Super White.
The Tacoma hits the market first in early August with prices starting at $35,525, plus $885 for delivery, processing, and handling, for an Access Cab V6 with a six-speed manual. Opting for a five-speed automatic brings things up to $37,390 after the destination fee. A Double Cab with a manual goes for $37,320, or $38,300 for the automatic, after the delivery charges. The 4Runner follows in September with just a single trim priced at $41,110 - $41,995 after the charge - for the V6 and five-speed auto.
Toyota is holding off on revealing more about the Tundra for now. It's coming in the fall, but the company isn't announcing prices yet. We don't have to wait long, though. "Within the next month we'll reveal that," said Toyota spokesperson Sam Butto to Autoblog about the TRD Pro Tundra's price.

Toyota's 'Fueled by Oil Creek' gases up hydrogen's history

Hey, Toyota. We got a question for you. If you're using a small Pennsylvania town to highlight the technological and ecological advances of the Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle, why are those vehicles going to be sold only in California this fall? The Japanese automaker has released an online documentary video (the second in a series) showing what advantages hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles have over gas-powered vehicles, and uses Titusville, PA, as a backdrop. Some students from that town, which was an oil boomtown in the 19th century, take water from that town's Oil Creek (ah, symbolic), uses electrolysis to split that water into hydrogen and oxygen gases, then shows how the resulting hydrogen can power a Toyota Mirai for as far as 300 miles. Fueled by Oil Creek runs about five minutes. Toyota debuted sales of the Mirai last year in Japan and will start selling the car in California in October. The model will be priced at $57,500 and will be offered with a three-year lease option of $499 a month (with $3,649 due at signing). Toyota also said earlier this year that it would spend about $170 million upping production capacity for the Mirai. Take a look at Toyota's press below and watch the video above. Petroleum Past Helps Fuel Hydrogen Future Water from Pennsylvania's Oil Creek Becomes Hydrogen Fuel for Mirai Second Video in Toyota's "Fueled by Everything" Series June 03, 2015 TORRANCE, Calif. (June 3, 2015) – A creek, a little high school chemistry, and a former oil boom town open to a hydrogen-fueled future. This is the story of "Fueled by Oil Creek," the second online video in Toyota's multi-part "Fueled by Everything" series aimed at highlighting renewable sources of hydrogen fuel, leading up to launch of the 2016 Toyota Mirai. Directed by Oscar-winning documentary filmmakers T.J. Martin and Dan Lindsay, the 5-minute video takes viewers to Titusville, Pennsylvania where, in 1859, an oil well changed the American energy landscape. Flash forward to 2015. Local high school students in the film collect water from the aptly named Oil Creek for a lesson in electrolysis, separating water into oxygen and hydrogen gas using an electric current. The resulting hydrogen gas powers the hydrogen fuel cell electric Toyota Mirai to travel up to 300 miles on a full tank. The only tailpipe emission is water, just like the fuel source.