Did Jim Lentz spill the beans on accident or did the graphics artist inadvertently make a mistake? Autoblog has discovered an accidental leak during a recording of the SAA Auto Outlook Conference on Youtube. This conference was held at Cobo Center just a day before the opening of the NAIAS press days. Jim Lentz, CEO […]

In the digital age we are immersed in, it’s inevitable that leaks will occur thanks to the power of the internet. I give Toyota a lot of credit for not allowing any leaks to happen especially with the convenience of smart phones and social media. Toyota UK had posted a teaser photo last month on […]

Seeing a Lexus IS F on the road is not as common as seeing any generation BMW M3 anywhere. I was randomly browsing cars online and found a clean low mileage Starfire Pearl IS F that caught my eye. It had the two tone graphite and polished 19″ BBS wheels which is available as an […]

When Toyota launched the Corolla Hybrid onto the Japanese market a few weeks ago, they discreetly pointed out to me that “unlike what we usually do,” this is simply marketed as an engine package, not as a separate model. Some may think this is because there is no shortage of separate Toyota models on the […]

Never mind the upcoming Lexus NX small crossover, the IS-derived RC 2+2 sports coupe or even the rumored production version of the LF-LC concept expected to carry a 6-figure price tag. Forget any notions of a 3-row crossover SUV or a GS-derived 4-door coupe or even a CT F non-hybrid, AWD manual transmission hot hatch. […]

Another day…another report of a Toyota trademark filing. Or two of them, to be precise: NX 200t and NX 300h, both filed on 15 October 2012 for “use in association with automobiles and structural parts thereof”. In the United States, Trademark Application No. 85754116 was filed for NX 200t, and Trademark Application No. 85754176 for […]

As was the case with the original December 2011 agreement between BMW and Toyota, the rumormill started abuzz several days ahead of the actual signing of a new expansion of the two carmakers’ collaboration. On the weekend before Monday 25 June, Japan’s Nikkei business daily and Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine reported that Toyota planned to […]

Economies of scale. Allocation of finite engineering and research & development resources. Ever-tightening low emissions and high fuel economy regulations by the world’s governments. Figuring out which of the myriad alternatives to the internal combustion engine are more or less worthy of receiving time and attention. The mind-boggling challenges facing carmakers in the second decade […]

Over two years ago, the first thing this author wrote for Kaizen Factor included these passages: Although Toyota President Akio Toyoda famously stated at the 2009 Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Michigan that “Toyota is not the kind of company that is good at alliances”, his namesake company’s actions have sometimes belied these words. […]

As we’ve written a number of times in the past, we assiduously follow trademark filings by Toyota, as well as its Lexus and Scion brands for the clues and insights they provide into future product plans. As editor of my.IS, this author has written about the United States and Canadian filings for Lexus’ IS 250C […]

Toyota’s Global and USA Newsrooms recently informed us that post-earthquake Toyota and Lexus production boosts in Japan and North America would happen sooner than expected, starting in June instead of July and August as earlier predicted. But what about Europe? Fortunately, news from there is even better, as a press release from the Toyota Motor […]

As the world marks the grim 2-month anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and its ensuing aftermath, it is time for us at Kaizen Factor to offer an overview of where Toyota and its multiple affiliates stand in their efforts to return to a semblance of normalcy. A month ago our focus seemed to […]

Lately, it seems that Toyota can’t catch a break from Mother Nature’s wrath and fury. We’ve certainly been diligent in reporting on the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the tsunami and aftershocks that followed, and now, half a world away, another Toyota facility is down but not out because of a natural […]

With Toyota having set its pared-down post-earthquakes and tsunami Japan production schedule all the way until Friday 3 June, it is hardly surprising that the carmaker’s other production locales would soon follow suit. Here is how those plans currently stand: North America News releases on both the USA and Global Toyota Newsrooms extend North America […]

The last time we checked in on Toyota, Scion and Lexus’ Japan production schedule, the plan was set until the end of the traditional annual Golden Week holiday date of Monday 9 May. On Friday 15 April, however, Toyota announced via both its USA and Global Newsrooms that production will resume at all of Toyota’s […]