As we reminded you in an earlier Kaizen Factor story, poking around trademark and copyright applications and registrations filed by carmakers can provide vital clues to their possible future plans. We have just learned of two new trademark applications filed by Toyota Motor Corporation.
The first of these, HSD, was filed on 23 November 2010 under U.S. Trademark Application No. 85183366 and Canadian Trade-Mark Application No. 1504968. This one is rather anticlimactic: it appears that the HSD suffix (an abbreviation for Hybrid Synergy Drive) will become a hybrid model designator in the United States and Canada, just as it is already in Europe (starting with the Toyota Auris HSD).
The second one is only mildly more surprising: ES 300h. After all, we did mention this possibility in a recent Kaizen Factor story. This trademark was registered just over a week ago, on 8 December 2010, as U.S. Trademark Application No. 85193249 and Canadian Trade-Mark Application No. 1507011.
ES 300h is actually the second “300h” trademark registered by Toyota for use by its Lexus marque, after CT 300h. In Lexus hybrid-speak, this will use a 4-cylinder engine of less than 3-liters that, when coupled with the hybrid’s battery system, will provide the performance of a 3-liter V6. Given that the current 2.4-liter 4-cylinder 2AZ-FXE hybrid powertrain is designated by Lexus as an HS 250h, expect an ES 300h to pack a larger and more powerful engine, most likely a 2AR-FXE hybrid powertrain derived from the newer 2.5-liter 2AR-FE 4-cylinder engine. Or it might be a 1AR-FXE hybrid powertrain based on the slightly larger 2.7-liter 4-cylinder 1AR-FE engine from the current Toyota Venza, Highlander and Sienna.
At any rate, it seems that the Lexus ES 300h will share its entire drivetrain with the Camry HSD version of the upcoming 7th-generation of what is still the most popular car in the U.S.
Our thanks to k3vo for providing this information
Be First to Comment