Fuel costs shift Toyota product plans, FJ Cruiser and new Supra dead
The Detroit-based automakers aren't the only ones making rapid and dramatic changes to future product plans. Mighty Toyota is shifting its future mix directly in response to the reality on the ground. At the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, the company unveiled a hybrid powered coupe concept called the FT-HS. This coupe was believed to presage a revival of the Supra sports car that went away in 2002. It now appears that the Supra will remain dead in spite of the possibility of hybrid drive. This might have something to do with the lukewarm response that most performance oriented hybrids have received in the marketplace along with the need to increase fleet fuel economy. The general economic malaise also plays against a new premium sports car.
An existing product that won't see a successor is the FJ Cruiser. The FJ is a niche product in a rapidly shrinking SUV segment and the similarly sized 4Runner has already been redesigned for 2010 so the FJ will bite the dust. In the big trucks production is being slashed and smaller, more efficient base engines get more emphasis than the big 5.7L V8. Instead of all of these formerly hot selling and high-profit vehicles, even more small cars like the new 5-door Yaris and the new 2010 Prius, will become the focus of Toyota's attention and production capacity.
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
gorr 3:50PM (8/16/2008)
They should sell s.u.v's and pick up trucks with natural gas tank instead of losing billion$. They can save american car manufacturers just with this decision. Natural gas is produce in north america and farmers and town sewage facilities can sell methane too. It's easy to see that all this petroluem market is just a big oil and goverment hack against consumers back by gm,ford,toyota. Since 1973 american goverment put all the fault on arabs people and the truth is that the more problems there is with all that crap the more money goverment and big oil make to protect us?? They even enter the food market to starve us of food energy and study endlessly hydrogen instead of implementing it. Hydrogen is their nightmare because it pose no problems in fonctionality, cost, pollution.
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Serge 10:38AM (8/18/2008)
Hybrid power-train is a stepping stone to electric propulsion, which offers real performance and efficiency. Compare lukewarm reception of "performance hybrids" with outright hotness of "performance electrics" like Tesla Roadster or Lightning GT.
GM is paying attention, do you?
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Ghost 9:55PM (8/19/2008)
Personally I would like a diesel/electric (not a hybrid), with a 50 mile range on batteries, but if not then than a diesel which they sell outside the US would be nice.
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the pinkster 3:35PM (11/17/2008)
Sorry, my toyota garage says (and this is as of Oct 31, 2008) the supra is still on track for 2010, probably released in 2009
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