2015 Toyota 4runner Sr5 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Toyota blends Jeep and McLaren F1 in playful concept

Auto shows aren't the only place where Toyota showcases its concepts. It also cooks up something new every year for the Tokyo Toy Show. This year it's the Camatte Hajime, and it's the sixth iteration in a line of youthful concepts following the Camatte Sora, Daichi, 57s, and 57s Sports we've seen in recent years. It blends the best elements from a Jeep Wrangler and a McLaren F1. Okay, so it's more like a Jeep, but it does have the McLaren's signature central driving position and two passenger seats offset just behind. It's also a fair bit smaller than anything Jeep makes, and packs an electric motor of unspecified capacity. Fortunately it'll be switched off while on display at the Tokyo Big Sight during the toy show, so kids can get in and stomp on the pedals all they want. (Stomp in a polite and respectable Japanese fashion, anyway.) Families can have their picture taken inside the open cockpit, then customize the vehicle on tablets to create their own unique memento, while checking out other versions including an ambulance, police car, fire truck and hod dog truck. Childhood Vehicle Playsets Meet the Information Age at the Tokyo Toy Show Tokyo, Japan, June 17, 2015-Ever wonder how you would look racing to rescue a cat from a tree in a purple fire truck? Or cruising around town in a hot pink hot-dog truck? Now you can see for yourself through Camatte Vision, an all-new interactive experience from Toyota for families, debuting at this year's International Tokyo Toy Show. Camatte Vision is the latest way to experience Toyota's Camatte line of exploratory concepts seeking to break the traditional boundaries of the way children play and tinker with vehicles. The aim is to let kids and their parents share the child-like wonder and excitement of cars and trucks. Blazing fast hot rods, life-saving ambulances, hearty construction crane trucks, and many more are available in a rainbow of colors. Through an innovative augmented reality tablet app, see how you and your family would look in a virtually limitless combination of vehicle types and colors. Of course, the fun doesn't end in the virtual world: the latest physical manifestation of the Camatte family, the Hajime, will be on display for families to explore hands-on. Toyota's booth at the International Tokyo Toy Show How Camatte Vision works - Hop into the Camatte Hajime and take a photo of you and your family.

Toyota announces Geneva plans including droptop FT-86 Open concept

Automakers from around the globe are gearing up for the Geneva Motor Show next month, and Toyota is giving us a couple teasers of what will be in its display. In addition to what appears to be a single-seat concept called the i-Road (shown at right), Toyota will also give us our first look at a droptop Scion FR-S courtesy of the FT-86 Open Concept.
All we have to go on right now is this sketch shown above, but we do see that this car will retain its rear seats, which could be a potential advantage over one of its key rivals, the Mazda MX-5 Miata. Toyota says that this concept will be used to gauge public interest in such a convertible, but we've already heard that a Scion convertible is already planned to go on sale as soon as early next year. As far as Toyota's other concept, there also isn't much information about the i-Road except that it will be a zero-emissions vehicle and it will have seating for two passengers, which based on the drawing will have the driver sitting in front of the passenger.
Toyota will also show off the European version of the new RAV4 as well as its new Auris Touring Sports, which it refers to as a "medium-size estate." Scroll down for Toyota's tease of a press release.

Toyota and Mazda in talks to build joint US auto plant

UPDATE: The Toyota-Mazda deal has been announced. A newer version of this story appears here. Toyota Motor Corp and rival Mazda Motor Corp are expected to announce plans on Friday to launch a joint venture and build a new U.S. assembly plant, a person briefed on the matter said. A new auto plant would be a major boost to U.S. President Donald Trump, who campaigned on promises to boost manufacturing and expand employment for American autoworkers. Japan's Nikkei reported on Thursday that Toyota would take a roughly five-percent stake in Mazda Motor Corp to develop key electric vehicle technologies and jointly build a factory in the United States. The deal could be announced as soon as Friday, the newspaper said. The person briefed on the matter, who was not authorized to speak to the media and requested anonymity, confirmed the Japanese carmakers were planning to build a large plant in a yet to be determined U.S. location and planned future joint efforts on electric vehicles. The same source declined to offer further details, however. Toyota, in a statement, said the two companies have been exploring various areas of collaboration under a May 2015 agreement. "We intend to submit a proposal to our board of directors today regarding the partnership with Mazda, however, we would like to refrain from providing further comment at this time," Toyota said in a statement issued by its U.S. operations. Mazda said in statement that "nothing has been decided yet" and added the company "will have a board meeting on this matter today. We cannot comment any further." Toyota, the world's second-largest automaker by vehicle sales in 2016 and Japan's dominant car company, has been forging alliances with smaller Japanese rivals for several years, effectively consolidating the Japanese auto sector. A new U.S. assembly plant would likely become the prize in a fierce competition among Midwestern and Southern states eager to expand manufacturing jobs. Trump in January criticized Toyota for importing cars to the United States from Mexico. The Republican president also threatened to impose a hefty fee on Toyota if it were to build its Corolla cars for the U.S. market at a plant in Mexico. "Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for U.S. NO WAY! Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax," Trump said in a post on Twitter. But since January, Trump has praised Toyota for its U.S. investments.