2012 Toyota Tundra Crewmax Sr5 on 2040-cars

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Toyota recalling 1.67 million vehicles worldwide in 3 campaigns

Toyota is issuing three separate recalls covering 1.67 million vehicles worldwide with most of those models in Japan. It looks like the campaigns' impact on the US may be smaller, though. According to Reuters, Toyota isn't aware of any accidents, injuries or fatalities affecting the models. Some yet-unnamed Lexus models might also be affected.
The largest of the campaigns does not currently affect any US-market vehicles. About 802,000 units of the Toyota Crown Majesta, Crown, Noah and Voxy in Japan are being repaired to replace a seal that could leak in the brake master cylinder. Those already leaking get a new brake booster, as well, according to Reuters.
The only recall currently believed to affect the US is due to a problem covering approximately 759,000 vehicles with 423,000 of them here. The repair is to fix a faulty fuel delivery pipe that could cause a fire if the fuel leaks out. Unfortunately, we don't know which models it covers. Autoblog spoke to Toyota spokesperson Mona Richard and was told the information was still "under embargo." When exactly that embargo will lift isn't yet known, but we're on the case.

Toyota reports huge quarterly profit increase, raises forecast for the year

Toyota isn't just the world's largest automaker - so far its the biggest winner for quarterly profits. With an enormous $5.5 billion take during Q2, Toyota took advantage of the weak Japanese yen and strong US demand to record a 94-percent improvement in profit over the same period from last year. So far, Toyota brought in larger profits than Ford and General Motors combined.
Toyota is showing no signs of slowing down either, as it has bumped up its forecast for full-year global production, going from 9.94 million to 10.12 million vehicles, on the back of a 13-percent drop in the buying power of the Japanese yen versus the US dollar. That strong exchange rate is largely responsible for Toyota's big jump in profits, although it also managed to shift 1.3 million vehicles in the US market this year. Strong Camry sales have also helped. But while Toyota is raking in the cash, it actually saw a small drop in market share, down 0.1 percent to 14.3 percent of the US market.
As is the case with most automakers, Toyota seems flummoxed by Europe, where it recorded less than one percent of its revenue. Still, as Automotive News points out, Toyota only maintains a 4.5-percent market share in Europe and is far less dependent on the continent than other manufacturers. Toyota also struggled at home, much like Honda. With 525,777 units sold, JDM sales were down almost 51,000 units, although Toyota still saw its operating profit jump from $3.5 billion to $4.6 billion.

Toyota, Morgan Spurlock say hydrogen can be bullsh*t

Toyota wants the world to know that it's not full of crap about hydrogen as the future of fuel. Months before the Mirai arrives at dealers on the West Coast, the automaker is trying to get the word out through documentary series called Fueled by Everything. In the first episode, director Morgan Spurlock (best known for Super Size Me) shows how to make the futuristic fuel cell sedan run on a load of dung. After some processing, anyway. The whole point of the series is to show viewers the myriad sources available to generate hydrogen, and Toyota starts at an attention-grabbing extreme. A pickup truck takes a bed full of cow manure and demonstrates the steps needed to make it into hydrogen for the Mirai. Of course, the new model gets lots of screen time, too. For those in the audience curious to learn more, Toyota also digs a little deeper into the generation process on the series' website. Fueled by Bullsh*t Toyota Taps Morgan Spurlock to Direct First Video in "Fueled by Everything" Series TORRANCE, Calif. (April 22, 2015) – Sometimes reality stinks. Toyota has tapped award-winning documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock to show how calling hydrogen fuel cell vehicles "bullsh*t" isn't far from the truth. "Fueled by Bullsh*t" is the first online video in a multi-part "Fueled by Everything" series aimed to educate a broad audience about the innovative ways hydrogen fuel can be made from renewable sources. Spurlock directed the 3-minute piece which features a dairy farmer and mechanical engineer as they follow cow manure from a mooing supply source to its ultimate use in powering the hydrogen fuel cell electric Toyota Mirai. "This project gave us the opportunity to dive into a world that most people don't understand but has the potential to change our world," said Spurlock. "Witnessing manure, something most of us view as being pretty disposable, being transformed into hydrogen fuel to power a car was pretty remarkable. I think this short film is pretty compelling evidence of what could be possible in the years ahead." Beyond high quality dung, hydrogen can be manufactured from other renewable energy sources like solar, wind and biogas from landfills. These production methods can result in a domestic and locally sourced fuel that powers the Mirai while emitting only water vapor from the tailpipe. The multi-series video campaign is launching through the Toyota Mirai website (www.toyota.com/mirai) and additional digital properties with paid online media support.