As we noted in a May 2016 article, the future of the 2nd-generation Lexus CT premium C-segment hatchback has been the subject of much conflicting conjecture. In June 2014, Glenn Brooks of just-auto reported rumors of an additional 4-door sedan body style and of a plug-in hybrid variant. On February 2015, GoAuto.com.au‘s Byron Mathioudakis wrote […]

Every year since 1991, Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch corporate and investment banking division puts together their Car Wars study that assesses the relative strength of each automaker’s product pipeline in the US. Most commentary articles out there tend to fixate on the study’s broad conclusions that X, Y or Z carmaker should see its […]

In a contemporary and future automotive world where B and lower C-segment crossover SUVs are the hottest and fastest-growing vehicle classes and most major carmakers are leading an inexorable march towards the holy grail of the fully autonomous vehicle, the traditional lightweight 2-seat roadster sports car is seemingly doomed to become the latest automotive dinosaur. […]

As Tuesday 27 October morphed into Wednesday the 28th on the United States east coast, this author was intently following the goings-on and unveilings at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show half a world away. It soon became apparent that the go-to source for near real-time, up-to-the-minute English language commentary was Autocar’s Tokyo motor show live […]

Since last June, when we reported on several U.S. trademarks filed by Toyota and its Scion and Lexus brands, there have been a number of new trademark and patent filings by Japan’s largest carmaker that are worthy of note. CH-R…er…C-HR On September 1, as the Toyota Europe Newsroom announced the global debut of the second […]

For an automotive make or model online fan forum to discover a new model trademark filing ahead of the A-list big boys of automotive journalism is hardly new or surprising in this day and age. I’ve been there. So chalk up one more for David, for the little guy when the administrator of the Supra […]

Japanese carmakers will reveal their latest cars-to-come at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show which will open to the media on November 20, and which will stay open to the public through December 1. Here is what you will see at Toyota’s booth in Tokyo – unless you prefer to go to the LA Autoshow, that […]

The Center for Automotive Research (CAR), defined by Wikipedia as “a nonprofit research organization based in Ann Arbor, Michigan that conducts research, forecasts trends, develops new methodologies, and advises on public policy” is probably best known among industry geeks like yours truly for its annual Management Briefing Seminars, “an annual gathering of more than 900 […]

A bare-bones Japanese language Toyota news release linking to a page on the Toyota Japan website promising a new Harrier crossover SUV in winter 2013 led to a stream of predictions that we were looking at the 4th-generation of the Lexus RX – minus the spindle grille – based on the historic relation between the […]

Last month, we commented on Mike Connor of Motor Trend‘s May 2013 print edition good news/bad news MT Confidential column. Good news because it predicts a Mercedes SLK, BMW Z4, and entry-level Porsche Boxster-rivalling small Lexus roadster. Bad news because, in Connor’s words, News that BMW and Toyota will collaborate on a new sports car […]

Back in 17 November 2010, a Toyota RAV4 press release concluded by informing us, in an almost throwaway fashion, that “by the end of 2012, Toyota will add seven all new (not next-generation) hybrid models to its portfolio”. We scrambled to figure out what they were, and 2 days later, the first of our Informed […]

Although the Toyota GT 86 (or, simply, 86) / Scion FR-S / Subaru BRZ triplets have finally been revealed, there still remain a number of half-answered or unanswered questions, such as North America pricing and precise curb weights, Scion equipment levels and detailed driveline information, such as which Aisin manual and automatic transmissions and Torsen […]

Ahhh… Pavlov and the conditioned reflex. For those of you that stayed awake during high school science or psychology classes, this was the famous experiment where Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov would ring a bell at the same time as offering a dog food, with the latter making the dog salivate in anticipation. Eventually, the dog […]

In the Internet age of automotive journalism, it has become something of a cottage industry to scan and post press brochures and internal training and information material ahead of their official release. This author certainly recalls the pivotal role played by World Car Fans in leaking the Lexus CT 200h press brochure a week ahead […]

The buildup to the launch and reveal of the final production versions of the Toyota/Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ sports coupes (the so-called “Toyobaru twins”) has been one long, drawn-out, sometimes agonizing striptease or string of teasers and concept cars. On the Toyota side alone we had the original FT-86 Concept that debuted at the […]