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2014 Toyota Corolla to bow before LA

We've sort of been wondering when Toyota would finally debut the next-generation Corolla sedan, especially since the current car is getting very, very long in the tooth. We got a glimpse of the new compact's design at this year's Detroit Auto Show in the form of the Furia concept seen above, but we figured we'd see the production car by now.
According to Edmunds, Toyota will be unveiling the new Corolla sometime soon, and it won't wait until the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. Officials from the Japanese automaker did not state a specific location or date for the new car's unveiling, but said that the 2014 Corolla is expected to be on sale before the LA expo later this year and that it will be revealed "somewhere in the US."
Toyota did not divulge any details about the new Corolla, and we're willing to bet that the aggressive lines of the Furia concept will be dulled down quite a bit for the production model. Still, news that the new car is coming sooner rather than later is indeed a good thing.

Detroit 3 to implement delayed unified towing standards for 2015

Car buyers have a responsibility to be well-informed consumers. That's not always a very simple task, but some guidelines are self-evident. If you live in a very snowy climate, you generally know a Ford Mustang or Chevrolet Camaro might not be as viable a vehicle choice as an all-wheel drive Explorer or Traverse, for example. If you want a fuel-efficient car, it's generally a good idea to know the difference between a diesel and a hybrid. But what if it's kind of tough to be an informed consumer? What if the information you need is more difficult to come by, or worse, based on different standards for each vehicle? Well, in that case, you might be a truck shopper. For years, customers of light-duty pickups have had to suffer through different ratings of towing capacities for each brand. For 2015 model year trucks, though, that will no longer be a problem. According to Automotive News, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler Group have announced that starting with next year's models, a common standard will be used to measure towing capacity. The Detroit Three will join Toyota, which adopted the Society of Automotive Engineers' so-called SAE J2807 standards way back in 2011. The standard was originally supposed to be in place for MY2013, but concerns that it would lower the overall stated capacity for trucks led Detroit automakers to pass. Ford originally passed, claiming it'd wait until its new F-150 was launched to adopt the new standards, leading GM and Ram to follow suit. Nissan, meanwhile, has said it will adopt the new standards as its vehicles are updated, meaning the company's next-generation Titan should adhere to the same tow ratings as its competitors. While the adoption of SAE J2807 will be helpful for light-duty customers, those interested in bigger trucks will still be left with differing standards. There is no sign of the new tow standards being adopted for the heavy-duty market.

Are Toyota and Lexus planning to use Mazda's straight-six and new platform?

Japan's Best Car magazine has what appears to be a whopper of a rumor. The mag said it scooped Mazda's development of a straight-six engine that Mazda only revealed in March, the carmaker having buried the information in a financial statement. By way of Lexus Enthusiast and according to Google translate, Best Car writes that as it was speaking to a Toyota source on an unrelated matter, the magazine found out that Mazda's work on the straight-six was predicated on the engine's use in Toyota Group vehicles, which includes Lexus. Here's the account of how the engine and Mazda's coming front-engined rear-drive platform, dubbed "Large Architecture," will make their way to Toyota City: The first appearance for the straight-six, predicted to come in at a hair under 3.0 liters, is the Mazda Atenza/Mazda6 successor coming around 2022. The powertrain will get a 48-volt hybrid system for increased fuel economy, and the automaker's said to be considering a plug-in hybrid version. Toyota's first shot at the platform and the straight-six will be whatever fills the slot of the Japanese-market Mark-X sedan. We once had a version of the Mark-X in the U.S. as the Toyota Cressida. In Japan, it's sold as a rear- and all-wheel drive option to the Camry. The Mark-X is slated to end production in December this year — a "sporty four-door coupe" on Mazda's platform and with Mazda's engine eventually taking its place. Lexus has a number of plans for the components from Hiroshima. The next Lexus IS is said to evolve from the current sedan, using a Lexus V6 but migrating to Toyota's TNGA platform. Best Car says the IS after that, perhaps sometime around 2026, will hop onto Mazda's new platform and use the inline-six engine. Before that, the replacement for the Lexus RC in 2022 will sit on the Mazda platform and get that inline-six. What's more, Lexus will introduce a new model to slot between the $64,750 RC and the $92,950 LC employing Mazda's architecture and engine. Best Car says the model will act as a "next car" for RC owners, but we can't tell if the magazine means a two-door or a four-door coupe; the article also says the Lexus model will compete with the Audi A7. Toyota and Mazda partnered up in 2016 on technology sharing. Best Car's take is that, as was done on the Supra, Toyota is picking up all the tech it can from suitable sources so that it can continue to sell models that don't make sense to develop alone.