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Toyota donates engineers, not money, to country's largest anti-hunger charity

Key to production of any kind is efficiency - the ability to achieve maximum productivity with minimal effort or waste. Toyota has become a master of efficiency, with streamlined manufacturing operations around the world. In fact, the Japanese brand has become so well known for efficient operations that it now offers consulting services for organizations and companies outside the auto industry.
It also offers the same consulting for non-profits, free of charge. The New York Times took an in-depth look at the transformative impact that Toyota's engineers had on the city's charities, including The Food Bank, the country's largest anti-hunger charity. The auto manufacturer helped revolutionize the way these organizations served the community, showing that there's more to corporate philanthropy than just donating money.
Head on over to the Times' website and give the story a read.

Everything new at the 2019 New York International Auto Show

Transcript: Welcome to the 2019 New York Auto Show. It's the last auto show, and so far it's my favorite of the year. We have a new buggy, compact pickup and trail ready SUV from Volkswagen. Ford brought the new Escape and a new Mustang performance variant, and we have a brand new Toyota Highlander and Subaru Outback. Let's go take a look around. We're here at the New York Auto Show with the Subaru stand. Normally the Subaru stand is just some white carpet and some show lighting. This year it's like we're in a national park. It's ... Frankly, I'm from Oregon. You're from Colorado. Yeah. It's making us feel at home. And in that way what better place and what better people to introduce this Subaru Outback which is pretty much the official car of Colorado and Oregon. Yeah. You actually have to buy a Subaru before they let you move to Colorado. Now instead of climbing up there and taking a look because we've been told we can't do that we're gonna go over there and check out another one. So the exterior, not that different. No. Looks exactly like an Outback. There's actually oddly a little more black plastic trim on the outside. A little too much for me. Right. It's interesting because it kind of slowly went away from that from the beginning because in the beginning the black plastic trim kind of made it an Outback, and now they're kind of bringing it back. I guess they needed to make it more macho. Right. Right. Now we're inside. Inside it looks pretty different. Swank. It's kind of swank for an Outback which has been pretty plain. Now this is the newly available vertically gigantic touch screen here. 11.6 inches. That is massive. This is how big it is when it's turned on ... just for the viewers. Now this is the onyx trim. So with that you get the black mirrors, the black wheels. This upholstery is special to the onyx, so it's gray and black and you also have this green stitching. Yeah, I like this accent stitching. It's kind of neat. Oh there's also a little tray there. Well this is a deep bin here. You can probably fit a phone. There we go. Almost. Yeah there are two USB ports. There's an additional two in the backseat. So this thing here you pop in the cup holder and it gives you a little more space or less space. These are really big, so if you have one of those Nalgene bottles I'm guessing it's going to fit in there. One of my complaints about my Subaru that I own now which is a naturally aspirated Crosstrek is that up in the mountains. It's slow?

Where the 2023 GMC Sierra AT4X fits into the hierarchy of off-road trucks

The world of off-road pickups sure seems like it's getting crowded, but the reality is that half-ton trucks were always pretty capable, even with what seemed like fairly basic 4x4 packages. It wasn't until recently that manufacturers really started to carve out different off-road niches for their mainstream pickup offerings. With the introduction of the 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 AT4X (alongside its mechanical twin, the Chevy Silverado ZR2), the crowd has grown even thicker. Even we have trouble keeping up with the increased segmentation of off-road pickup trucks, so we threw together this handy guide to help you understand just where these various packages fit into the broader pickup hierarchy. Let's dive in.  Your basics If we say "Z71" or "FX4" to you, both will probably ring a bell. That's because they've been around a few days short of forever and their respective customers have grown so used to these package codes that OEMs got into the habit of just plastering them on the side of so-equipped truck beds. Anybody who sells a pickup truck offers some sort of basic off-road prep package like this one. Z71 is found on GM vehicles; FX4 is Ford's. Ram just calls it "Off Road Group," but no matter what you call them, they're all pretty similar.  Typical upgrades for this category include some additional ground clearance, a basic all-terrain tire, heavy-duty suspension upgrades and likely either a limited-slip or locking rear differential. These are pretty handy for anything beyond a rutted dirt road. On newer trucks — especially on higher trim levels — you'll probably also get some dedicated off-road drive modes.  Mid-range This is where things start to get interesting. To qualify for this category, a locking rear differential is a must. Most of the names in this segment are well-established too, though some (Nissan Titan Pro-4X, anyone?) may not necessarily be on your radar. The Toyota Tundra TRD Pro checks in here, as does the Ram Rebel, Chevy Silverado Trail Boss and GMC Sierra AT4 (no X!).  Realistically, if there's somewhere you need to go and one of these trucks won't do it, you might want to consider a helicopter. But it's 2021, and our thirst for capability is strong, so of course, there's a way to spend more of your money on this type of thing. Onward! Entry-hardcore Here we are, the home of the new 2022 GMC Sierra AT4X and Chevrolet Silverado ZR2. This is a tiny niche, otherwise occupied only by the Ford F-150 Tremor.