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Toyota Mirai offers promising tech, unfortunate looks

Is there some rule that all cutting-edge, ultra-efficient or emissions-free vehicles need to look, uh, weird? No? Then would anyone care to explain the Toyota Mirai, a vehicle that for all it's hugely, wildly promising technology, will forever be pigeonholed based on its odd styling? Looks aside, the Mirai represents a big gamble for Toyota, which isn't only selling a hydrogen-powered car – a risky venture in itself – but teaming up with Air Liquide to build 12 hydrogen filling stations across the northeast. And once that's done, it plans on leasing the $57,000 sedans for just $499 month, a figure that includes free hydrogen (there is a reason for that, though). Like we said, this is a big gamble. Of course, we still can't get over its looks, which you can more closely analyze in our live gallery, available above. Have a glance. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. THE FUTURE HAS ARRIVED, AND IT'S CALLED MIRAI President Akio Toyoda announces name of fuel cell sedan in web video CEO Jim Lentz announces expansion of Toyota fuel cell infrastructure investment to five-state Northeastern corridor NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., (Nov. 16, 2014) – Akio Toyoda has seen the future, and it's called "Mirai." That's the name of Toyota's new fuel cell vehicle, which the company's president announced in a video released the night before the car's official launch. Mirai, which means "future" in Japanese, represents a turning point for the automotive industry. The groundbreaking vehicle can travel up to 300 miles on a single tank of hydrogen, refuel in less than five minutes and emits only water vapor. Expanded Support for New Hydrogen Stations Of course, the car of the future won't become a reality without the hydrogen stations to support it. That's why Toyota North America chief executive officer (CEO) Jim Lentz announced a new commitment to drive the development of a hydrogen refueling infrastructure in five northeastern U.S. states. To support Mirai's introduction to the region in 2016, Toyota is collaborating with Air Liquide to develop and supply a phased network of 12 state-of-the-art hydrogen stations targeted for New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The states and locations have been strategically selected in the greater New York and Boston areas to provide the backbone of a hydrogen highway for the Northeast corridor.

Unintended acceleration settlement hits Toyota's Q4 bottom line

Depending on how you want to look at things, the US Attorney's Office $1.2-billion dollar settlement with Toyota in March over its unintended acceleration recall was either a big blow to the company or completely inconsequential. From January to March, net income fell five percent to 297 billion yen ($2.89 billion), compared to 313.9 billion yen ($3.05 billion) a year ago. However, the automaker still posted record full-year profits worldwide.
Operating profit also fell in the US by 9 percent to $498.1 million for the quarter, but sales were up by 6 percent to 581,261 vehicles. According to Automotive News, global revenue was still up from January to March by about 13 percent and vehicle sales were up 6 percent to 2.58 million units.
However, the payment to the feds did little to hold the company back last year. For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014, Toyota had net income of 1.82 trillion yen ($17.7 billion), compared to 962.1 billion yen ($9.5 billion) in the last fiscal year. Total vehicle sales were also up.

Does Scion's LA concept presage a US Auris?

When the doors open at the LA Auto Show in a few weeks, Scion will be on hand to showcase its new iM Concept. But considering what little Toyota's youthful brand has revealed about the concept so far, it's led to rampant speculation. And the prevailing wisdom seems to point towards a production iM arriving as a Scion-badged version of the Toyota Auris.
For those unfamiliar, the Auris is to European (and other) markets essentially what the Matrix is (was?) to ours: a hatchback version of the Corolla. The model line was first introduced in 2006, looking in its first iteration like an overgrown version of the contemporary second-gen Yaris, and was replaced with the current model in 2012. It's available as a five-door hatch or wagon, with a range of gasoline, diesel and hybrid powertrains available.
If the rumors - spurred by the similarity of the iM concept's nose depicted in the teasers - prove accurate, and public reception to the idea ends up spurring Toyota to put it into action, it wouldn't be the first overseas Toyota brought over as a Scion. The Scion iQ was sold as the Toyota iQ overseas years before it arrived here.