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Toyota plans $126M expansion of MI R&D facility

Toyota has just announced that it will be investing $126 million to expand its operations in and around Ann Arbor, MI. The move will add around 85 jobs. In addition to expanding its Ann Arbor powertrain research and development facility (shown above), Toyota will also establish a new facility for vehicle development at its York Township facility. The move will allow the company to centralize its operations, "increasing their scope, responsibility and decision-making ability," Toyota said in a statement. "Centralizing our vehicle development and powertrain functions here in Michigan is beneficial for our decision-making process and allows us to better respond to changes in the marketplace while improving the speed at which we can offer technology advances to customers," says Ed Mantey, the senior VP at the Toyota Tech Center. This is Toyota's second investment in the Ann Arbor area in barely a year, as it made a $28 million investment late in 2013. Scroll down for the official press release from Toyota. More Toyota in the Motor City Toyota Technical Center to consolidate development operations December 18, 2014 Ann Arbor, Mich. (Dec. 18, 2014) – Toyota announced today that it is planning another expansion of its Southeast Michigan R&D campuses. This marks the third time in just over a year that Toyota has announced plans to increase employment and investment in Michigan. Today's announcement features a total investment of $126 million for the expansion of Toyota's powertrain operations at its Ann Arbor campus and the consolidation of vehicle development operations at a new facility on its York Township campus. Both vehicle development and powertrain functions will become centralized in Michigan, increasing their scope, responsibility and decision-making ability while providing improved communication and access to the company's direct procurement division. Approximately 85 jobs will relocate to Michigan from California by the end of 2016 as a part of the move. In late 2013, Toyota announced a $28 million expansion of its Ann Arbor operations and earlier this year announced the addition of 250 direct procurement and supplier engineering development positions currently based in Erlanger, Ky. "The Technical Center continues to be a vital part of our growing North American operations that enables Toyota to package greater value for our customers," said Ed Mantey, senior vice president at the Toyota Technical Center.

Toyota confirms all-wheel drive V8 hybrid for TS040 LMP1 car in 2014

The 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship is gearing up to be one of the most exciting seasons of endurance racing in recent memory. All of the factory-entered LMP1 class cars are using hybrid powertrains, and Porsche is returning to the top class of the sport after a 16-year absence. Don't count out Toyota, though. The team has just revealed the first official details about its 2014 TS040 LMP1 car, and it has a big surprise - all-wheel drive.
The TS040 will follow Audi's lead and will use a combination motor and generator to power the front wheels. The system will generate power under braking and will use it up when accelerating to give a boost in traction over last year's rear-wheel-drive Toyota TS030. Toyota will stick with a gasoline-fueled, naturally aspirated 3.4-liter V8 to feed the rear wheels and will take on Audi's diesel, turbocharged 3.7-liter V6 and Porsche's gasoline-fueled, turbo 2.0-liter four-cylinder.
Sadly, there are no real pictures of the TS040 yet. Toyota is holding off on unveiling the car until the end of March at the WEC test at the Paul Ricard circuit, and the racing season doesn't begin until April 20 with the 6 Hours of Silverstone. You can read the whole press release about the TS040 below.

Lexus tops Consumer Reports reliability rankings, unseating Mazda

Lexus is back on top of Consumer Reports' annual reliability rankings. Toyota Motor Corp's luxury division dethrones last year's winner, upstart Mazda, to second place, while the Toyota brand itself rounds out the podium in third place. In general, while Asian brands topped the list, Europeans ranked second, and domestics brought up the rear.  Lexus' high marks stem from the Land Cruiser Prado-based GX SUV, which got a perfect score of 100. Mazda's second place finish was the result of strong showings by the Miata, CX-9, CX-5, and CX-30, but dragged down by the Mazda 3's mid-pack score. Likewise, nearly all of Toyota's lineup, from Prius to Avalon, all had very high marks, but the RAV4 and Corolla Hatchback brought down the class average. Like last year, the only American brand to break into the top ten was Buick, which ranked 5th thanks to good scores for the Envision and Encore (though the Enclave ranked sub-par). Eight of the top 10 brands were Japanese, with Infiniti in 4th, and Honda, Subaru, Acura and Nissan following Buick in that order. Mini, in 10th place, was the only European brand in the top 10. The bottom spots went to Jeep, Tesla, and once again Lincoln in dead last. While all Lincolns received poor scores, the Aviator was notable for getting only 3 points out of 100. Similarly, last year's lowest-scoring vehicle was the Ford Explorer, with which the Aviator shares a platform. It wasn't all gloom from the domestics, however. The Chevrolet Trailblazer tied the Lexus GX with a perfect score, but overall Chevy brand ranked 14th, pulled down by the Corvette, Silverado 1500 and Tahoe. The Tahoe tied with the GMC Yukon with the lowest scores this year, just 2 points each. Both the Silverado 2500HD and the nearly identical GMC Sierra 2500HD were among to top scoring American vehicles, along with the Ford Bronco Sport, Mustang Mach E, Ranger and Chrysler 300. Consumer Reports also points out that the oft-said line that electric vehicles are less prone to problems due to fewer moving parts isn't necessarily true. The Audi E-Tron and Tesla Model X each got a score of 5, the lowest of their respective brands, due to more and more technology being crammed into these higher-priced EVs. For a complete list of rankings by company and of individual models, check out the full study at Consumer Reports. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.