ALL ABOUT SPEED

Future Toyota vehicles will get a new grille and ‘family face’, as part of company boss Akio Toyoda’s aim to give his cars more emotional appeal. Even though the front-end look is still being decided, Toyota Europe boss Didier Leroy says it will be regular and more recognisable than the current line-up.

Smaller cars will be made to look bigger, rather than vice versa, yet, there will still be differences between ranges to differentiate them, with product groups such as SUVs and sports models obtaining their own look.

The Geneva motor show debuted FT-86 Coupe Concept will show a possible new front-end look for Toyota.

With all the rumors and anticipation surrounding Toyota's joint venture with Subaru to produce a front-engine, rear-wheel drive coupe, the automaker's Supra successor has been put on the news cycle's back-burner.


However, according to a report by Best Car, development has continued in earnest since the FT-HS Hybrid Sports Car Concept debuted at the Detroit Auto Show in 2007 and a prototype will supposedly begin making the rounds later this year.


While details are still limited, several sources are suggesting the rear-wheel drive sports car will be offered with a 3.5-liter V6 and the Lexus GS450h's 2GR-VSE 3.5-liter V6 which will be paired with the Toyota's Crown hybrid system. While the current 3.5-liter V6 only produces 268 hp and 248 lb-ft or torque, the Crown's hybrid system could enable the Lexus' V6 to produce more than 400 hp.


If Best Car's report is to be believed, we could see the next iteration of the FT-HS concept at the Tokyo Motor Show this November, with the production model debuting sometime in 2010 before its on-sale date the following year.

Toyota has again been hit by an embarassing fault in a new model, with all Australian dealers being ordered to stop selling the new V6-powered RAV4 compact 4WD.

The RAV4 V6 launched only a fortnight ago to join the four-cylinder model launched in early 2006. A problem relating to the engine follows shortly after Toyota Australia's Aurion TRD resumed sales in October after an investigation into an engine failure.

Toyota Australia spokesperson Mike Breen says the RAV4's 3.5-litre V6, which is shared with the Aurion, Kluger, and Tarago, is not operating "as smoothly as would be expected", and there appears to be an issue with the engine's electronic managment control system.

The problem was detected in a couple of company demonstration models and the decision was made to stop customer deliveries as a "precautionary measure". "There has been no customer feedback," says Breen.

Breen says the problem does not constitute a recall. "It is not safety related so it isn't a product recall."

The latest problem has come only days after one of the Japanese group's directors admitted the company's response to vehicle quality problems "was not perfect".

Toyota, which has grown to be the world's largest carmaker mainly on the strength of product reliability, issued the freeze order on the RAV4 V6 following concerns about the car's drivability. Details of the exact fault were not available last night, but a Toyota spokesman said it was not a safety-related issue.

It is the latest in a string of quality-related problems to hit the Japanese giant this year, both in Australia and overseas, and reflects the problems that come with growing rapidly year after year.

Toyota directors were so concerned about deterioration in quality levels two years ago they formed the Customer First committee to address the problem, executive vice-president Mitsuo Kinoshita, told The Age last week in Tokyo.

"Quality is our first priority. Unfortunately, two years ago, vehicle [problems] increased so much at that time we decided to establish the CF committee," said Kinoshita. "We have been doing that for two years and, as a result, the quality is getting better and the recall level is comparatively decreasing."

Apart from the pressures of having to rapidly increase production, Mr Kinoshita said a major source of problems was the increasing use of electronics and, in particular, integrated circuit boards, in cars.

Toyota sales have been growing by between 500,000 and 800,000 vehicles a year, which means the company has had to build at least two factories a year to keep pace.

"Finding skilled people is one of the biggest challenges for us," Mr Kinoshita said. "We now employ 300,000 people around the world. That has doubled in the last 10 years."

Mr Kinoshita said Toyota had been forced to create its own "university", the Toyota Institute, where managers from around the world are taught "The Toyota Way" of building cars.

In addition, the group has established its Global Production Centre, where production group leaders learn how to teach their team members.

"We took many countermeasures to produce more skilled workers. Of course, it is not perfect..."

The freeze on RAV4 V6 sales comes only a month after Toyota Australia was forced to halt sales of its locally developed supercharged V6 Aurion TRD sedan after the engine in one of the early models failed. That was traced to some over-enthusiastic driving by a dealer.

Earlier in the year, Toyota was forced to halt sales of the newly released Corolla range after it was found an incorrectly fitted stay allowed the steering columns to slump to their lowest position.

Toyota's usually rock-solid reputation for reliablity has also had a set-back in the United States after an influential consumer magazine said the company's cars could no longer be automatically recommended.

As cool cars go, the Toyota FT-HS Concept Car offers a glimpse of what the next Supra could look like. So, in anticipation of an actual hybrid sports car hitting the market at non-boutique dealer prices, let’s look at the HT-FS concept.

Check out this cool Toyota Billabong extreme sports lovers car mash up called the Ultimate Venza. This new project was started by Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. which teamed with Billabong and Street Image to create the perfect active sports vehicle capable to take you the beach, lake, mountains, skate park or anywhere in between and have a blast.

This 2009 Toyota Venza was modified by Street Image in order to support top extreme athletes at future competitions. A new and aggressive custom body kit was added and this includes a unique Toyota/Billabong exterior paint design, fender flares and alloy wheels. The custom roof rack was designed by the manufacturer to accommodate surf, snow and wake boards.

Street Image also installed a front and rear hitch receiver and Grinch Winch in order to pull wake boarders into waves or snow boarders and skaters across flat land to a jump or rail. The kit is completed by the large Enkei wheels wrapped in Nitto tires. Behind these wheels, we have a new Toyota Racing Development (TRD) big brake kit that was added to provide superior traction and stopping power when driving off the beaten path or to the beach. Inside, the Ultimate Venza features genuine Billabong materials and construction: the seats are custom upholstered with wet suit materials and incorporate Billabong’s latest design scheme and colors while the headliner is an artistic color collage depicting Billabong athletes in action.

Also, the interior modifications includes “living” features that, according to the manufacturer, they will allow the athletes to conduct many everyday endeavors while on the go or at competition sites. One of the most interesting features would be the custom heated shower system with a 10 gallon capacity for rinsing off after surfing. A Verizon Wireless access point router was also installed, which will allow athletes to receive up-to-date surf or snow reports and other important information. Of course, the car needed a state-of-the-art audio and video equipment from Fujitsu Ten’s legendary Eclipse brand that features a multi-media DVD head unit, iPod interface, head rest-mounted LCD monitors, 18 speakers and 2,200 watts of power.