Author Archives: jruhi4
The small Lexus roadster. Is it happening after all?
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 … Continue reading
Dear Volvo: Toyota was first with i-ART
Yours truly was inexplicably drawn to an Autoblog article titled Volvo promises new diesels, 8-speed auto. With a bare minimum of commentary, the “article” was, primarily, a cut-and-paste of a press release that included the following passage: Volvo Car Group’s … Continue reading
Is Spyker’s newest sports car powered by Toyota?
On the fringes of the “top tier” of super sports car makers (think Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and McLaren) that make their own engines for their much-admired creations lies another group of manufacturers that depend on larger outside carmakers for the … Continue reading
Lexus ES to be phased out? You’ve got to be kidding…
Among this author’s many oddball geeky/nerdy automotive interests is following Motor Trend magazine’s annual Power List of the “Top 50 movers, shakers, heart-breakers in the mercurial world of autodom”, as they described it in 2008. This ritual goes back further … Continue reading
A RWD 5-door Toyota hatchback as baby GT-86?! Yes, please…
…but we’ll believe it when we see it. The notion of a sub-GT 86 rear-wheel-drive sports Toyota is hardly a new one, and is one we previously discussed as recently as October 2012 and as long ago as August 2010, … Continue reading
The 2013 Toyota, Lexus and Scion “launch list” gets tweaked yet again!
Another day, another set of teaser hints and pronouncements over what new or revised vehicles Toyota, Scion and Lexus will introduce during the 2013 calendar year. First, on 11 September 2012, Toyota Division U.S.A. group vice president and general manager … Continue reading
7 or 9? The other 2 new Toyota…er…Lexus models for 2014
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 … Continue reading
Informed speculation: the 7 all-new or updated Toyota and Scion vehicles for 2013
As the calendar turns from 2012 to 2013 and we look back at our previous predictions (some dating back to 2010) on what new or revised models Toyota, Scion and Lexus models were launched, we are reminded that Toyota is … Continue reading
The 2012 Informed Speculation scoreboard
Rare is the car magazine that does not have a section dedicated to brief notes and comments on future vehicle news, rumors and what we refer to as Informed Speculation, bearing titles such as Upfront, the Oracle, Ampersand and MT … Continue reading
Should Toyota be considering a Yaris-derived, sub-RAV4 crossover SUV?
Back in the mid-to-late 1990s, Toyota almost singlehandedly created 2 vehicle segments which would go on to become of pivotal importance in the automotive universe and spawn a plethora of imitators and competitors. The first of these is the compact … Continue reading
