The Plug-in Prius: Waiting is the Hardest Part for Dealers and Customers

There’s a lot of excitement these days among our customers and dealers about plug-in hybrid vehicles. Earlier this week, Toyota’s Global President, Katsuaki Watanabe, announced that we are moving up our timetable from 2010 to early 2009 to deliver test Prius plug-in hybrids to commercial fleet customers in the United States and other parts of the world.

A lot of people can’t wait to try them, so it’s understandable that one of our dealers created some confusion recently by taking deposits on future Prius plug-in hybrids.

Although we hope some day to sell plug-in hybrids to retail customers, the only thing we have announced is that we will place several hundred plug-in Prius vehicles in commercial fleets by the end of next year.

In Praise of Value

You’ve probably noticed that this summer’s upward shift in the price of – well, almost everything has caused a general realignment in the way we all shop for, and buy, goods.

The new reality – indeed, the new ethic - is that if inexpensive is good, value is even better. And this is where the waters of the market begin to grow murky: What, exactly, is value? Dictionary.com, one of our favorite online resources, lists 18 possible definitions for the word "value." One we especially like occupies the penultimate position. It reads, "to consider with respect to worth, excellence, usefulness, or importance."

Translation, at least in reference to the things that interest us here on Open Road: Any new vehicle has to offer more than just a low price or excellent fuel economy, or both. It also has to offer other things, tangible and intangible, that add comfort, usability, convenience, worth, status and more.

So it is that we’re interested in a story published recently by the folks at Forbes.com. That story is titled, "Ten Most Value-Packed Cars."

Where There’s a Will (and a Prius), There’s a Way

By now, it’s pretty well documented that the cost of gas is causing drivers to rethink their driving plans – even to the point of wondering whether they should drive at all.

But sometimes, there’s no choice. As blues great Jimmy Thackery sings, sometimes you have to "Drive to Survive."

That’s the situation in which one J. Corey Oliver found himself recently. Oliver is chief cook and bottle-washer at a company called Traveler Guitar, located in Redlands, Calif. As the name suggests, his company makes electric and acoustic guitars suited to travelers.

Like almost everyone else in the universe of musical instruments, Oliver finds it important to attend the giant summer NAMM show in Nashville. NAMM, by the way, used to be an acronym for "National Association of Music Merchants." The company now is known as the International Music Products Association. By whatever name, the NAMM show is a big deal where companies show off their latest musical products.

Hybrid Options

It seems fairly well documented that the humongous increase in gas prices we’ve seen over the course of the last year has sent drivers scrambling to get themselves into hybrid vehicles such as the Prius.

But there might be alternatives to the Prius, as noted recently by Dan Edmunds, director of vehicle testing at the respected auto site, Edmunds.com.

He informs us that the folks at Edmunds.com recently conducted a little experiment. In a story called "A Tale of Two Hybrids," they conducted a comparison test using the Prius and the Camry Hybrid. They did this because, as Edmunds notes, buyers who think that the Prius might be for them are finding, especially when they go Prius shopping, that there are more choices out there than they realized. And that’s important, given the limited supply of Priuses.

The Prius is, Edmunds notes, the purist’s choice when it comes to hybrids, but the Prius is a mileage machine with its own special look and character. The Edmunds testers said they liked the Camry Hybrid better, not least because of what they called the Camry Hybrid’s "high-performance comfort and convenience."

They note, "the Prius' better fuel economy might tip the scales in the favor of the 2008 Toyota Prius for many people…. But not for us.… We'll take the 2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid, and we're not joking."

The point of all this is to point out that while Priuses are hard to find these days because of their intense popularity, the Camry Hybrid might be just the hybrid alternative you’re looking for.

- Jon F. Thompson, Editor, Open Road

More on Venza Design

To many, the process of automotive design is, and always has been, an enigma. With the all-new 2009 Venza slated to hit showrooms later this year, we’d like to help demystify the design evolution puzzle, starting at the beginning. And, while I’d love to be the one to tell you all about Venza’s new-genre design, it's better that you hear the scoop directly from Kevin Hunter, president, Calty Design Research, Inc. in the video below:

For a look at our first post focusing on the Venza design sketch process you can click here .

- Sona Iliffe-Moon, Corporate Communications

When Four is More

If you’re a car guy, the muscular rumble of a V8 engine is something you take for granted. It constitutes the sound track of our automotive dreams.

It’s been that way at least since 1932, when Henry Ford introduced his Ford Model B, equipped with Ford’s first production V8 engine. Derivatives of that engine were produced into the 1950s. It so made Ford’s reputation for speed and durability that Ford V8s were the get-away cars that famed American outlaw Clyde Barrow most liked to drive.

Ford’s V8 wasn’t even the first. Chevrolet was offering a V8 in 1914, and there may have been even earlier examples of engines using this inspired layout.

All of which is to say that if there’s an American engine, the V8 qualifies.

European Dream: Will the Land of $8-per-Gallon Gas Foretell our Future?

My bride and I recently returned from our honeymoon in France. While there, we sipped champagne, choked down garlic-butter-laden snails and poured a significant share of our travel budget into the tank of our diesel-powered subcompact rental car.

At each fuel stop, the numbers on the LED readout zipped by like a Las Vegas slot machine offloading its jackpot. Only, in this case, we got to play the role of banker.

Do the math, at your peril. One liter of diesel was running in the neighborhood of 1.5 Euros. At the current unfavorable exchange rate, that translates into $2.25. There’s 3.75 liters per gallon. So, in American terms, that’s $8.43 to cover 30something miles of pavement—or roughly 28-30 cents [edit] per mile.

A Milestone for Corolla

You may not know this, but for years now, we’ve been building Corollas in North America.

In fact, on Tuesday, August 19 we passed an important milestone. That was the day the 5 millionth Corolla rolled off a North American production line.

Originally launched in 1966, the Toyota Corolla began its American journey in 1968 and instantly became a favorite of drivers looking for value, fuel efficiency, comfort and utility.

The demand was such that we began Corolla assembly at New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) in Fremont, California in 1986, and, two years later, commenced production at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada in Cambridge, Ontario. And now we’ve assembled Corollas here in North America by the millions.

So this is our tip of the Toyota hat not only to those canny drivers who have chosen Corolla, but also to those team members who have helped assemble Corollas here in North America over the years. To you all we say, "Well done."

- Tania Saldana, External Affairs, Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America

Californians to Know the Score

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) recently introduced an interesting new concept aimed at helping people as they shop for new cars.

CARB decreed that all new 2009 model-year vehicles sold in the state must carry a sticker that details the state’s assessment of the vehicle’s carbon impact. Because the rule affects 2009 model-year vehicles, the stickers will appear in showrooms as soon as those ’09 vehicles do.

The sticker displays two scores. The first is a Global Warming score, which is based in part on the vehicle’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The second score is a smog score, which is based on smog-forming emissions produced by the vehicle. The higher each score – they go from 1 to 10 - the less impact the car has on the environment.

The Toyota Highlander is Getting a New Engine

The 2009 Highlander will offer an all-new, 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine, arriving at dealerships mid-to-late January. This new engine will generate 187 horsepower at 5,800 RPM and 186 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,100 RPM on regular 87 octane fuel.  The Highlander will be EPA-rated as an Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEVII) and its new engine will place it among the leaders in fuel efficiency in the mid-size SUV segment. An all-new six-speed electronically-controlled automatic overdrive transmission with intelligence (ECT-i) will enable the new Highlander to tow a maximum of 3,500 pounds. Click below for the full release.

- Ming-Jou Chen, Corporate Communications

TOYOTA HIGHLANDER TO FEATURE ALL-NEW FOUR-CYLINDER ENGINE