Autoblog

To feed the insatiable demand for fuel-efficient vehicles, and follow the striking success of the Toyota Prius, the Japanese automaker will introduce a second hybrid-only vehicle in 2009. The all-new model will have a 2- to 2.5-liter engine, suggesting it will be larger than their current popular four-door hybrid (the Prius uses a 1.5-liter gasoline powerplant). The new model will be sold side-by-side with the Prius, Camry Hybrid and Highlander Hybrid. Toyota will also sell a rebadged version under the upscale Lexus brand, where it will join the LS Hybrid, GS Hybrid, and RX Hybrid. Toyota's master plan is to sell 1 million hybrid vehicles annually throughout the world, and considering the market, there's little doubt that the automaker can pull it off. Toyota's next hybrid debut is scheduled for Detroit in January, and we'll be there to cover it.

[Source: Daily Times]

Toyota's got some changes and rearranges underway with its North American facilities to better serve the demands of the market. The biggest news is that Prius production will be coming Stateside, which will help unkink the supply pipeline, if not also lower costs. A new facility in Blue Springs, Mississippi is being readied for the battery-pack-mobile, though the location was initially meant to turn out Highlanders. With consumer desires shifting with the rise of fuel prices, cranking out more Priuses is a higher priority, and beginning in fall 2009, the Highlander will shuffle off to Princeton, Indiana. With the Highlander elbowing its way into the Princeton plant, the vehicle currently produced there, the Tundra, will see its production move under a single roof in San Antonio, Texas.

The big-truck moves are of little consequence when the plants are scheduled to be idled beginning August 8th due to lack of demand. Huntsville, Alabama will also hold up on cranking out V8 engines. While Toyota is putting some plants in neutral, it pledges to provide employment to affected team members during the shutdown. All of this shuffling is an attempt by Toyota to avoid sustaining humongous hits as the market for new cars takes a dump, as well as ensuring that the products it remains building match up with consumer desires. Always a good thing to make the things people want.

[Source: Toyota/Open Road]

Click above for a gallery of high-res pics.

When the 2009 Chevy Traverse goes on sale in September, it will be the fourth, eight-passenger Lambda-based crossover to come from GM. The bow-tie CUV will carry the lowest starting MSRP of the quartet, and it will also carry the most power, with 288 hp and 270 lb.-ft. of torque, along with the highest towing capacity of 5,200 lbs.

Hit the jump to view several comparison videos that pit the Traverse against one of its main competitors, the Toyota Highlander. The first video is a walk-around of the Traverse to point out unique styling points, and from there it's all competition. We judge everything from the interior volume to the driving experience, and then take the two CUVs into uncharted territory -- the track. Enjoy!

Slightly more than 90,000 Toyota Highlanders are being recalled for a seatbelt problem in the third row. The recalled crossovers are all 2008 models built between May of 2007 and March of this year. The stock belts could prevent secure mounting of a rear-facing child seat in the third row, and dealers will install a redesigned part on affected Highlanders. The problem with the third row belts hasn't spawned any complaints or injuries, and owners will be notified starting in June. Still, Toyota has put the brakes on Highlander sales until current stock is retrofitted and assembly lines are resupplied with the new part.


[Source: AP via WCVB]

There are few words in the English language which can conjure up as much meaning, and likely so many memories, as these: road trip. We've all been on them before; some are the highlights of your life and some... well, not so much. But having the right vehicle can make all the difference in the world. Thule, maker of "transportation accessories", has added its name to the ever-growing list of companies that have invented an "__ of the year" award. For this particular honor, Thule has broken the automotive landscape in half, dividing its choices for the best vehicle to take a road trip in at the $30 grand mark. Without further ado, the winners are:

• Best road trip vehicle under $30,000: Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited
• Best road trip vehicle over $30,000: Toyota Highlander Hybrid Limited

If you really want to read all of the reasons that Thule offers for choosing these vehicles, there's a whole press release pasted after the break. We're not going to argue with their choices, as both the Outback and the Highlander are fine vehicles, which would be suitable for a group of four people and their assorted belongings. Sure beats the old funny-smelling air-cooled VW van that had trouble keeping up with the slow-moving traffic that some of us can remember from our childhood.



[Source: Thule]

click above image for more pics of the 2008 Toyota Highlander from our review

Consumer Reports seems to have a few more fans ever since the folks there proved that they have no bias for Toyota by knocking the Japanese automaker down a few pegs. One of the measures taken after three Toyota vehicles, including a Lexus, were bumped from CR's recommended list was that no future Toyotas would get the benefit of the doubt and be labeled as "Recommended" based on the automaker's past performance. The first Toyota vehicle to be hit by this mandate is the new 2008 Toyota Highlander, which, despite becoming the highest rated mid-size SUV (it's really a CUV, but whatever) with three rows of seating, did not receive an automatic "Recommended" designation from the magazine. The Highlander received the highest score of 81 in CR's most recent test, while competitors that were tested alongside the Highlander like the Subaru Tribeca and Ford Taurus X scored 70 and 75, respectively, yet managed to earn the "Recommended" label. Like the Highlander, the Buick Enclave scored relatively well (75) but did not get recommended, with CR citing insufficient reliability data to make the call.

Though Toyota does not find itself in CR's good graces at the moment, the magazine has made it clear that if Toyota's reliability rating returns to "excellent", it will resume automatically recommending its models again. We're just curious, but do any CR readers out there know what other brands or automakers (not individual models) are also automatically recommended based on their past performance?

Click here to read a non-subscriber's version of CR's article, and click here to read our own review of the 2008 Toyota Highlander Sport.

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]

click above image to view high-res gallery of the 2008 Toyota Highlander

The Highlander's undergone a nearly Kafka-esque transformation from its start as essentially a Camry wagon with all-wheel-drive and extra ride height. For 2008, Toyota's middle-child 'ute has been bulked up into more of a maxi-cruiser than previously. At first glance it appears what's emerged from the chrysalis is a grotesquely overinflated Forester, but the new Highlander is more butterfly than cockroach.



All photos ©2007 Dan Roth / Weblogs, Inc.

As expected, Toyota officially announced its plans to build the Highlander in northeast Mississippi. The company will invest $1.8 billion in the project and initially employ 2,000 workers. Toyota officials, along with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (speaking in photo), made the announcement this morning at a press conference in Tupelo, Miss.

"We in Mississippi and especially north Mississippi are excited to have been chosen by Toyota as its partner," Barbour said at the conference. "Toyota is the world's premiere auto manufacturer and our state will be the best partner the company has."

Plans are for the plant to be up and running by 2009, producing as many as 150,000 gasoline-powered 2010 model Highlanders a year. Hybrid Highlander production will remain in Japan. With an incentive package somewhat smaller than the state offered Nissan in 2003, Toyota will acquire the entire 1,500 acre site that straddles three counties.

[Sources: The Clarion-Ledger, The Commercial Appeal, Sean P. Thompson]