2001 Toyota Avalon Xl on 2040-cars

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Toyota Prius sales could come up short in 2013

A Toyota executive has said that the automaker's hybrid Prius model may not reach its 2013 goal of selling 250,000 units in the US marketplace. Bill Fay, group vice president for Toyota's US sales, told Reuters, "The 240,000 to 250,000 range is kind of where we're settling our sights for the Prius family."
The first-generation Prius, a five-passenger model, was introduced to the States in 2001 (its arrival made it the second mass-produced hybrid, after the two-seat Honda Insight). The second-generation model arrived in 2004, followed by the current third-generation design that arrived for the 2010 model year. The automaker has subsequently added the Prius V, a hatchback wagon (shown above) and the Prius C, a subcompact hatchback. As of March, 2013, cumulative worldwide sales of the Prius had reached 3.67 million units.
Last year, Toyota sold 236,659 Prius models in the US. However, sales of the model have fallen 5.1 percent in the first six months of 2013. In response, the automaker has boosted its marketing for the model, and the promotions are expected to continue through at least July.

Toyota found not at fault in alleged unintended acceleration crash

Toyota has already paid out millions and billions of dollars in settlements surrounding unintended acceleration, but the first lawsuit in the matter, which headed to a California court in July, has reached a verdict. Following the 2009 death of Noriko Uno, whose 2006 Camry was hit by another car and then sped out of control before crashing into a tree, the jury found that Toyota was not at fault in the crash.
Even though the 2006 Camry (shown above) wasn't involved in any of the unintended acceleration-related recalls and it was not equipped with a brake override, Automotive News reports that the jury's verdict says there was no defect in the car and actually blames the entire incident on the driver that ran into Uno's car - to the tune of $10 million. The accident started when the other driver ran a stop sign and hit Uno's car, and the report says that medical conditions (including diabetes) caused Uno to fail to stop her Camry.
The AN article also states that this lawsuit was a bellwether case for around 85 other personal-injury and wrongful-death suits against Toyota, but there are still many impending suits across the country. Scroll down for an official statement on this particular case from Toyota.

Toyota FCV rallies to the hydrogen cause as zero car

It's been two decades since Toyota dominated the World Rally Championship with its Celica Turbo 4WD. But this past weekend, Toyota hit the rally stage in a very different vehicle.
That, as you can see, is the Japanese automaker's Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV), which is still in its prototype phase. We're still at least half a year away from seeing the FCV in production trim, but the model has already been pressed into duty as the "zero car" at the Shinshiro Rally, the last round of the Japanese Rally Championship.
The zero car, for those unfamiliar, is to rally what a pace or safety car is to circuit racing, driving the rally stage to check for signs of trouble before the competitors put their feet to the floor, so it's not as if the FCV needed extensive modifications. From the looks of things, it just needed some jazzy stripes, mud flaps, probably different rolling stock and an interior with racing buckets and harnesses, roll cage, radio equipment and maybe a bit more ground clearance.