Autoblog

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The oddly-named JDM Toyota ist was formally introduced this week, and as was the case with the Toyota Blade Master, another new arrival in Japan's Toyota stores, a range of TRD accessories was announced very shortly thereafter. They do the job of dressing up the rather bland ist, which is Japan's version of the USDM Scion xD.

Naturally, there's a replacement grille, body kit, and new wheels. The look can be further augmented with branded scuff plates, TRD Sportivo suspension parts, and a TRD muffler. Hell, TRD even offers a red engine start button. The US-market Scions have always been pushed as being very customization-friendly, and really, it's no different for the JDM cars. The available accessories do a nice job of dressing things up.

[Source: Toyota via Carview]

Click on the image for a gallery of high-res pics of the Toyota Aurion Sportivo SX6

For years, the large, family car market in Australia has been divided between the Aussie built GM Holden Commodore and the Ford Falcon, both on the road and on the track. The large car market has been characterised not only by their size, but also by V6 or V8 powerplants running on rear-wheel drive platforms. For years, other competitors, including Mitsubishi with their Magna and more recently their 380 models, have tried to chip away at this virtual duopoly, with limited success.

The game is changing though. As the price of fuel has risen, the Australian car market has seen a massive shift away from large cars and towards more fuel efficient, medium sized models. The market is currently dominated by vehicles like the Mazda6, the Honda Accord, the Hyundai Sonata and in particular, the Toyota Camry. As Australia's largest passenger vehicle brand, Toyota has long enjoyed segment-leading sales with the Camry, and although it's not a sexy choice, Toyota's mid-sized sedan represents a smart purchase, with high re-sale value, good fuel economy and Toyota's reputation for outstanding reliability.

Continue reading the Toyota Aurion Sportivo review after the jump.

Nihon Car managed to get its hands on some pics of a Sportivo version of Toyota's new Auris, developed by TRD. We showed you how Europeans just got their first view of the new Toyota Auris only a few days ago, and already we have what looks like a version that could possibly challenge the MAZDASPEED3 or the Golf GTI in the hot hatch segment. Not so fast though. Literally. This TRD product takes care of sprucing up the exterior of the Auris with a sporty bodykit, but the engine is stock, for now. A complete spring kit, an antiroll bar, 17" rims and exhaust ARE part of the package, however.

As we told you recently, the Auris was just unveiled as a concept only a few weeks ago at the Paris Motor Show. The production version of this C-segment hatch was unveiled in Europe earlier this week. Available as a three- or five-door hatchback, the Auris will offer a choice of five engines, two gas and three diesel. The gas versions include a 1.4 VVT-i (97 HP) and 1.6 Dual VVT-i (124 HP), while the diesels are a 1.4 D-4D (90 HP), 2.4 D-4D (126 HP) and 2.2 D-4D Clean Power (177 HP). The top oil-burner should push the Auris from 0 to 62 mph in 8.1 seconds. Lucky Europeans can shift their Auris with their choice of a 6-speed manual transmission or a MultiMode automatic transmission with paddle shifters on select models.

Rear shot after the jump.

[Source: Nihon Car]