Kaizen Factor has learned of a couple of official statements from Toyota regarding the tragic earthquakes and tsunami afflicting Japan. The first of these comes to us from Toyota spokesperson Dion Corbett via an article from The Truth About Cars‘ Japan-based correspondent Bertel Schmitt and reads as follows: TMC has established a company-wide emergency task […]

On Wednesday 9 March 2011 word came that an earthquake of 7.3 magnitude on the Richter scale was felt in Japan. As optimistic reports of no damage or casualties emerged, the world breathed a collective sigh of relief and turned its attention elsewhere. Unfortunately, that tremor was but a warning shot for what transpired two […]

Our world-exclusive invitation to witness the de-vanning process of the first three (followed by the second three) Lexus LFAs to arrive in the United States led to a clamor by other automotive media to witness the process for themselves. Jonathon Ramsey of Autoblog wrote an excellent and very informative account of the process for LFAs […]

The 2011 auto show season has brought us Toyota’s somewhat unexpected two-pronged approach to the first additional member of the “Prius family”: the 5-passenger Prius v with a nickel-metal hydride battery hybrid system for North America, and the identically-bodied 7-passenger Prius+ with a lithium-ion battery hybrid system for Europe. We were left to wonder, however, […]

The 2011 Geneva Auto Show is home to key Toyota models that have been unveiled for the world to see. The FT-86 II Concept, Yaris HSD Concept, the Prius+ (aka Prius V for North America) and the EV Prototype (which is an electrified version of the Toyota/Scion iQ). Toyota’s global vision is to bring back […]

Following up on our recent article on six of the official Toyota-branded vehicles at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon, here are the other six vehicles that complete the “Toyota dozen” at the TAS: Toyota FJ Cruiser JAOS Selected by Modellista (by Modellista) Founded in 1997, Modellista is an in-house Toyota arm whose primary (but by […]

So how do you turn the flagship LS 600hL into the newest premium luxury compact hybrid, the CT 200h? Dr. Tokokira has the answer… “The Minimizer Story – The experiments of Dr. Tokokira. Episode 4” Source: Lexus Italia

Our previous Kaizen Factor story certainly sent tongues wagging and hits soaring, while raising much suspicion among the hardcore Lexus LFA fan community. The resemblance between Paris’ purported LFA and the Pearl Yellow prototype that was the subject of Kaizen Factor stories as far back as August 2010 was a bit much for numerous internet […]

The members of Club Lexus, like other self-respecting Lexus fans, have been doing their share to track The Sexy Six, the first six Lexus LFAs to arrive on U.S. soil. A constantly-updated thread stickied atop CL‘s LFA Forum will keep a very useful running tab on the LFAs as they emerge from the Motomachi plant […]

For fans of aftermarket tunes, mods and tweaks, be they mild or wild, to factory-stock vehicles, each major car-producing continent offers an annual blowout show that showcases the newest and, some times, most outrageous offerings by carmakers and aftermarket firms alike. In the Americas, it’s the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Manufacturers’ Associaton) Show held annually in […]

With January 2011’s Detroit Auto Show relegated to history and next week’s Chicago Auto Show expected to reveal little news except for the Lexus Five Axis Project CT 200h Concept, we look forward to March and the Geneva (Switzerland) Auto Show, which should be more compelling in terms of new model debuts. The big news, […]

Troy Sumitomo is no stranger to making concept cars a reality. As the man with the plan at Five Axis, he’s responsible for building many Lexus concept cars including the Five Axis Concept IS F, GS F-Sport, IS F-Sport Sedan, Convertible, and of course the Yellow Lexus LF-Ch Concept that eventually gave birth to the […]

Just about a month from now, we will get a chance to see the latest interpretation of the Toyota FT86 concept at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show 2011. Entitled the FT86 II, Toyota Motor Europe gives us a sneak peak at whats to come. The teaser pic shows us a familiar FT86 concept but with […]

Just before Christmas 2010, Car & Driver‘s Justin Berkowitz discovered the logo at the top of this story, which he so aptly described as “clearly a cross section of a boxer engine, featuring one horizontally opposed piston on each side and a highly stylized number 86 inserted in the center where the crankshaft would live.” […]

The votes are in and its official, “Lexus Dark Ride” has won the Favourite Website Awards’ People’s Choice Award for 2010! The “Dark Ride” is an interactive short film showcasing the upcoming 2011 Lexus CT 200h. This unconventional marketing campaign has been instrumental in gaining new interest in this new five door premium compact hybrid […]