Court Dismisses First Sudden Acceleration Case Against Toyota Over Technicality

The sudden acceleration issue is still troubling Toyota, which has already paid $50 million in fines and recalled almost 8 million vehicles in the US alone in 2009 and 2010. The Japanese carmaker still has to face the lawsuits brought about by citizens and their families affected by the issue which, according to estimates, could cost the company as much as $10 billion.

However, the first sudden acceleration lawsuit lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge who ruled that it should have been filed in Utah instead of California. The case is about Paul Van Alfen and passenger Charlene Lloyd, who were killed in 2010 when a 2008 Camry driven by Van Alfen hit a wall in Utah.

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Posted on 09.19 / 0 comments / Read More

Toyota Design Boss Says "Pump That Up," But the Company's Ads Say, "It’s a Car"

As we reported earlier this week, raffish-haired Akihiro Dezi Nagaya, Toyota’s global design chief, plans to implement a more aggressive design theme for the brand. “We have eliminated emotion. We need to pump that up” he said in an interview at the Frankfurt Auto Show.

Changing Toyota’s “quiet and non-offensive” image won’t be easy. Nagaya will be faced with challenges both from within Toyota, a company known for consensus-driven conservatism, and with the brand's consumer base. Nagaya recognizes that Camry buyers, for example, “don't want something too aggressive.”

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Posted on 13.48 / 0 comments / Read More

Toyota May Shift Korean-Bound 2012 Camry Production from Japan to the U.S.

While the Lexus brand has been active in South Korea since 2001, the Toyota brand made its debut in the market only just last year. During 2010, the Japanese company sold some 4,200 Camry sedans, making it one of the best-selling foreign cars in the country.

As expected, Toyota is planning to sell the new generation of the Camry in South Korea starting from early 2012. However, the Nikkei business daily reported on Monday that the Japanese company is mulling transferring production of the South Korean Camry from Japan to the United States.

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Posted on 11.30 / 0 comments / Read More

Jackasses on Wheels and with Guns Terrorize Middle East Drivers [Video]

There's hooning. And then there's criminal hooning. These particular individuals shown in the video after the break no doubt belong to the second category with their idiotically dangerous antics.

Filmed somewhere in the Middle East (possibly in Saudi Arabia if we are to believe the Youtube commentators), the 10-minute long clip primarily focuses on the "achievements" of the driver and passengers of a silver Honda Accord and to a lesser extent, the crew in a Toyota Camry.

As if waving guns and shooting in the air on a public road isn't dumb enough, the wannabe drifters terrorize all the rest of the drivers throwing the Accord in front of passenger cars, trucks and even near a school bus.

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Posted on 14.55 / 0 comments / Read More

I, Robot: Toyota Retools Old Assembly Machines to Lower 2012 Camry's Manufacturing Costs

Toyota is the company that applied the (since copied by everyone) kaizen philosophy in car manufacturing to improve both on quality and efficiency. Now it has done something different: instead of installing new robots on the new Camry assembly line in Kentucky, it retooled the old units from its former plant in California.

The decision played an important role in Toyota's successful attempt to reduce the new 2012 Camry’s price by 2% compared to its predecessor.

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Posted on 13.54 / 0 comments / Read More

American Idol: U.S. Market Toyota Camry to be Built Exclusively in the Land of the Free

The Toyota Camry has been the best-selling car in the US for nine straight years. Yet, in its home market, it is virtually non-existent: even though it sold 82,000 cars in 1990, last year Toyota couldn’t shift more than 1,100 units! That’s because Japanese buyers prefer either the more sporty Mark X or the more luxurious Crown.

Therefore, for its seventh generation, which was only recently unveiled, Toyota decided to phase out imported Camrys from Japan and instead manufacture all cars earmarked for the North American market at its own plant in Georgetown and Subaru’s factory in Indiana.

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Posted on 08.44 / 0 comments / Read More

Toyota Introduces Yet Another Variant of the 2012 Camry, this Time in Japan

Toyota continues the roll out of country-specific versions of its new generation Camry with the launch of the Japanese domestic market (JDM) derivative of the mid-size sedan, which follows the recent introductions of the North American and Ukrainian models.

In Japan, the 2012 Camry is offered at launch exclusively as a hybrid model with power coming from a newly developed 2.5-liter Atkinson cycle, four-cylinder engine delivering 160HP and an electric motor with 143HP, for a combined maximum output of 205 horsepower.

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Posted on 11.43 / 0 comments / Read More

2012 Toyota Camry Appears in Different Form in Ukraine [High-Res Gallery]

After this week's world premiere of the North American market 2012 Camry, Toyota is now preparing the debuts of its mid-size sedan in other regions of the world. First up is the Ukrainian version, which will most likely be offered in the same form in other surrounding markets including Russia.

While both iterations of the 2012 Toyota Camry share the same body and platform, the Ukrainian model sports a different and more prominent front-end design with bespoke headlamp units, bumper, hood, grille and front fenders.

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Posted on 07.14 / 0 comments / Read More

2012 Toyota Camry Video Bonanza

We have covered the 2012 Toyota Camry extensively these past few weeks, from the moment we first laid our eyes on an unofficial video from the dealer presentation in Las Vegas up until today when the Japanese automaker officially revealed the car.

And now, following our detailed report on the ins and outs of the new Camry, we have a plethora of videos including a walkaround with Toyota Senior Product Education and Development Specialist David Lee who talks about the features of the mid-size sedan and a promotional clip with NASCAR driver Kyle Busch spinning the Hybrid model around Daytona.

To check them all out for yourself, just follow the break.

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Posted on 17.32 / 0 comments / Read More

New 2012 Toyota Camry to Serve as the Official Pace Car at DAYTONA 500

The just-revealed 2012 Toyota Camry sedan will be the first Japanese vehicle and the second non-American model to pace a Daytona 500 race since the series started in 1959.

The Camry you see pictured above and below will serve as the official pace cat at next year's event which kicks-off the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season on February 26 at the Daytona International Speedway.

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Posted on 14.20 / 0 comments / Read More

2012 Toyota Camry: Officially Revealed, Pictured and Priced

It is finally here; the car many Americans love to hate buying, the brand-new, seventh-generation Toyota Camry, which was officially unveiled today ahead of its sales launch in States in the beginning of October.

If we wanted to highlight the most important features of the new 2012 Camry here's what we would go with: it's more powerful yet delivers better fuel efficiency, has a more upscale interior with higher quality materials, its styling is sharper but continues to be bland and will definitely not excite (on the other hand, it won't offend either), and finally, in some cases its priced lower than the outgoing model.

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Posted on 11.21 / 0 comments / Read More

All-New 2012 Toyota Camry to be Officially Revealed on August 23

After many leaks and much anticipation, Toyota is finally ready to officially show to the world what some readers have already seen thanks to a prematurely released Canadian annual auto guide, the brand-new 2012 Toyota Camry sedan.

The Japanese automaker revealed today through a flyer that the official presentation of its most popular model in North America will take place on Tuesday, August 23.

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Posted on 06.22 / 0 comments / Read More

2012 Toyota Camry: New Leak from Canadian Auto Guide Reveals All

While Toyota continues the 2012 Camry striptease with the weekly release of cropped images of the mid-size sedan, an Autoblog.com reader got his hands on a newly released Canadian auto guide in French that has a full set of photos and details of the North American model!

Our French is nothing to brag about, so if you any of you readers could translate and post some of the article's highlights after the break in the comments section, we'd appreciate it.

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Posted on 09.59 / 0 comments / Read More

Is this the JDM 2012 Toyota Camry?

We've seen official teaser shots and unofficial video footage of the next generation of the 2012 Toyota Camry that give us a rough idea of what the North American market version will look like when it arrives in showrooms later this year,

However, the USA and Canada aren’t the only markets expecting the new Camry. So is the Asia Pacific region, albeit in a slightly modified form.

Now, thanks to a forum member of VW Vortex we have what appears to be scans from an unnamed magazine allegedly featuring brochure shots of the Japanese domestic market [JDM] 2012 Toyota Camry.

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Posted on 18.30 / 0 comments / Read More

2012 Toyota Camry Official Teaser Shot No2

Toyota is gearing up for the official reveal of its all-important 2012 Camry with the release of the second teaser photo this month.

While the first image showed us the front end of the car, this latest picture gives us a cropped look at the next generation Camry's rear end with a clear view of the sedan model's tail lamps, which kind of remind the ones found on the Chrysler 200 (as always, feel free to agree or disagree in our comments section below).

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Posted on 13.16 / 0 comments / Read More

2012 Toyota Camry: First Official Photo

We've already had our first taste of the upcoming 2012 Toyota Camry through some video footage shot during a dealer presentation in Las Vegas back in June, but today, the Japanese carmaker released the first official teaser of the mid-size sedan via its Twitter account.

All we get for now is a cropped image showing a 3/4 view of the 2012 Camry's edgier styled front end and the promise for "more info on the upcoming launch" soon.

We'll keep our eyes and ears open for any updates as the new Camry is scheduled for launch this fall and will post them as they come through. In the meantime follow the break to check out the full-size image.

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Posted on 10.20 / 0 comments / Read More

And the Most-Frequently Stolen Car in the US is…

Honda may now be caught in war of words with Consumer Reports over the results of its test drive of the 2012 Civic sedan, but the Japanese firm's models continue to be preferred by a…certain type of drivers.

According to the latest findings of The National Insurance Crime Bureau [NCIB], the 1994 MY Accord was the most frequently stolen car in the US in 2010 for the third year in a row. The not-for-profit organization stated that the reasons can be found in the car’s weak security systems and the demand for used parts.

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Posted on 11.21 / 0 comments / Read More

Toyota and Honda want to Win Back Sales Share from Hyundai Sonata with New Models

Not too long ago, if someone told you that a South Korean model would challenge America’s best selling sedan, the Toyota Camry, you would have probably laughed in his or her face.

Needless to say, a lot has changed over the past few years with Hyundai and in particular its latest Sonata sedan, not only challenging, but this past May even surpassing the Camry in U.S. sales for the first time in history.

Of course, the fact that Toyota’s production capabilities were seriously affected by the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, played a significant role in Hyundai’s accomplishment.

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Posted on 12.14 / 0 comments / Read More

2012 Toyota Camry Revealed in Leaked Presentation Video?

Last week, we told you about Toyota’s national dealer meeting in Las Vegas where the company briefed its associates on the firm’s current and future plans which include the launch of the all-new 2012 Camry sedan.

It appears though that the Japanese company did a bit more than simply brief its dealers on its plans as a video allegedly showing the presentation of the new Camry has made its way on the internet.

While we can’t be 100 percent sure that what we’re seeing in this amateur footage is the new Camry but given that the color of one of the vehicles depicted in the clip as well as the background seem to match the official video showing Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) President Akio Toyoda standing next to the 2012MY mid-size sedan, we wouldn’t be surprised if it is the real thing.

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Posted on 08.04 / 0 comments / Read More

All-New 2012 Toyota Camry and Camry Hybrid Coming this Fall

Toyota officially placed the arrival of the all-new 2012 Camry sedan and its hybrid sibling (2010/2011 Camry pictured above) in the U.S. market for this fall during the company’s annual national dealer meeting which took place on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

The Japanese company said that the next generation of its best-selling model will move away from the conservative designs of the past.

“Designed to meet the changing needs of the 21st Century driver, the new Camry will provide technologically advanced features, a contemporary design inside and out, improved performance and refined ride and handling,” Toyota said in a press statement.

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Posted on 06.52 / 0 comments / Read More