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2014 Toyota Corolla debuts with more power, interior space

Depending on who you ask, the best-selling car in the world is either the Ford Focus or Toyota Corolla. Not surprisingly, Toyota claims it's the Corolla. Either way, we're talking around a million individual units per year, and over 40 million over the car's lifetime on the market, so the redesign of Toyota's compact sedan is big-time news for the Japanese automaker that it needs to get right.
The Toyota Corolla was last redesigned way back in 2008, meaning the 2014 model is a long-overdue update to the C-segment sedan. Its age shows when compared to newer rivals like the Honda Civic, Chevy Cruze, Hyundai Elantra and the aforementioned Ford Focus when comparing technology features, fuel mileage and interior roominess. In an effort to solve those demerits, Toyota has added nearly four inches to the 2014 Corolla's wheelbase and will offer a new continuously variable transmission with seven simulated gear ratios.
Engine choices consist of two available 1.8-liter four-cylinder units, one with 132 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque, and another more efficient version that uses Toyota's new Valvematic technology to offer 140 horses and 126 lb-ft of torque. Eco and Sport modes will be selectable by the driver.

Hyundai Prius-fighting hybrid spied wearing new camo

Hyundai's engineers certainly don't want the public to see its upcoming dedicated hybrid model in several of these new spy shots, but the company can't deny that the machine is on the way. These test cars were first spotted last summer as Prius-like five-door hatchbacks. However in these photos and the second set, it would seem that the model has morphed into a more sedan-like shape similar to the Chevy Volt. Unlike the last time we saw this car during arctic testing, the vehicle no longer is covered in plastic concealment. That obfuscation has been replaced with a very effective camo pattern on everything but the roof, and in several photos, workers are actively standing in the way of the spy shooters' lenses. Beyond the whole model's general shape, there are a few details to pick out, though. You can easily spot the outline of the brand's hexagonal grille up front. There appears to be a rather complicated air dam design there, too. In profile, the shape of the rear hatch creates an integrated spoiler at the back. While the camouflage makes it very hard to tell, we don't see a plug-in port on this example. According to our spies, this test car was being driven with a slew of other electrified models, including a BMW i3, Nissan Leaf, Volkswagen e-Golf, and Kia Soul EV. Given that group, perhaps the engineers were specifically benchmarking the electric performance for this outing. Earlier reports suggest that Hyundai's latest hybrid could debut in the second half of 2016. Power reportedly comes from a 1.6-liter four-cylinder with hybrid assistance and a lithium-ion battery. Plug-in and five-door hatchback versions are also rumored.

Next Toyota Prius coming in 60-mpg 'Eco Grade' version?

There's some mystery surrounding the fuel economy level of the next-generation Toyota Prius. The closest we've had to an official number is 55 miles per gallon, which was hinted at by Toyota Motor Corporation's managing officer, Satoshi Ogiso, last year. That number wasn't an official target, but the company even provided a graphic (above) showing how each next generation Prius beat the previous one by four or five mpg. Since the current, third-gen model gets 50, well, we have been left to guess that 55 is the next logical target. But, according to a new report in Automotive News, the new, fourth-generation Prius that's due next year will come in two versions, with one having a bigger ego – sorry, eco – than the other. AN says that the model will arrive with a standard nickel-metal hydride battery pack in a version that gets "about 55 mpg" and then a new "eco grade" version with a li-ion battery that "will be rated at more than 60 mpg." AN says this information came from company executives who were speaking at an August meeting with Toyota dealers. Our sources within Toyota say that they haven't heard anything about two high-efficiency models, so we'll take this with the requisite grain of salt. The current version of the Prius Plug-In Hybrid does use lithium-ion batteries, but this is the non-plug model the dealers are talking about. We think. The dual-battery strategy is certainly a rumor we've heard before. We had thought that the li-ion pack would be for an extended EV range (the current Prius has a barely noticeable EV-only range), but such a pack would be lighter and could boost efficiency, too. In other words, we look forward to hearing more during the upcoming auto show season.