2007 Lexus Es 350 4dr Sedan - 16,246 Miles - Very Good Condition One Owner on 2040-cars

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Toyota profits up 23% on high US sales, despite mounting legal costs

Toyota earned $9.3 billion in net income in the financial year that ends next month. The number beats earlier forecasts and marks a five-year high for the automaker, with both operating income and revenue up by 9.5 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. Toyota saw quarterly profit enjoy a year-on-year jump of 23.4 percent, with the manufacturer earning more than $1 billion between October and December 2012. The good news comes in spite of the fact that the Japanese automaker actually endured an operating loss in North America, due in part to legal fees.
Toyota is set to pay more than $1 billion to owners who claim their vehicles decreased in value as a result of the company's recent spate of recalls. Even so, all three of the automaker's brands enjoyed a 13.5 percent sales increase in the US in the last quarter, beating the industry average. Toyota faltered in Europe, however, where it earned $99 million in operating profit last year, compared to $111 million in 2011. You can take a closer look at the company's full press release below for more information.

Lexus planning a hydrogen fuel-cell LS by 2017

Toyota's Fuel Cell System will certainly migrate to other vehicles in the carmaker's lineup, but Australian car site Motoring reports that one of the models at the head of the queue is the Lexus LS. According to its sources, the executive barge powered by hydrogen will be released by 2017 and take the top spot in the range, rolling in above the LS Hybrid. We're told that Toyota engineers will find a way to slide two hydrogen tanks into its bodywork with the same general setup as on the Mirai – one under the rear seats and another under the rear parcel shelf. The 150-kW fuel cell stack will be placed under the front seats. Motoring says the resulting sedan and its 220-kW electric motor would come in "at around 2,100 kg," which is 4,620 pounds; that's a ginormous 539 pounds less than the listed curb weight of the current LS Hybrid, and 387 pounds more than the standard LS. Assuming all goes as planned, it would have a range of roughly 238 miles, a few dozens less than the Mirai's range of about 300 miles. It would look slightly different, too, the front end getting larger intakes to cool the power unit. It wouldn't surprise us if Lexus does have a hydrogen LS planned – it would be a statement car, and the company likes making statements, even if few heed them; it has stuck with its LS 600h for the past seven years, yet of the 7,539 LS models sold through the end of November this year, only 61 of them were hybrids. The timing would be intriguing, however; by the time the LS hybrid came out, Lexus had already worked over its filet-and-potatoes models. And if the hydrogen version is going to come in above the $120,440 hybrid, well, that will be a statement indeed.

Toyota will race C-HR CUV in 2016 Nurburgring 24 Hours

There won't just be traditional racecars competing in the 2016 Nurburgring 24 Hours; Toyota Gazoo Racing will take the bizarre route of prepping the C-HR crossover for the grueling event. The squad will enter more conventional machines, too, including a Lexus RC and RC F for the race that will run from May 26-29. Details about the C-HR Racing are scant at the moment. "We decided to take on the new challenge of creating ever-better cars using a crossover rather than a pure sports car," the company's announcement said. It makes no mention of the vehicle's specs, but the included photo show the CUV with a more aggressive front fascia, vents along the hood, and a big wing at the rear. The driver lineup includes Masahiko Kageyama, Kumi Sato, and another person to be announced later. Toyota will reportedly introduce the production version of the C-HR at the Geneva Motor Show, and the final one will allegedly carry over the current rakish shape and hybrid powertrain. The company also showed it with Scion badging at the 2015 LA Auto Show to suggest a likely arrival in the US. This year will mark a decade of Gazoo Racing's competition in the 24 Hours of the 'Ring. The squad notably raced the LFA there for several years, but it showed a willingness to bring weirder vehicles too like a Lexus CT 200h in 2011. Nothing has been quite as odd as racing a crossover there, though. Toyota GAZOO Racing Celebrates Decade of Participation in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring with Triple Entry for 2016 Race Toyota City, Japan, January 15, 2016-Toyota GAZOO Racing announces the entry of three vehicles-a Toyota C-HR Racing*, a Lexus RC, and a Lexus RC F-in the 44th 24 Hours of Nurburgring endurance race to be held in Germany from May 26 to 29, 2016. The 24 Hours of Nurburgring plays an important role in Toyota's motorsports activities for building ever-better human resources and vehicles under intense racing conditions. Beginning in 2007, the 2016 event marks the 10th year of Toyota's participation in the race under the banner of GAZOO racing. When asked to look back over the last ten years, team representative Akio Toyoda said, "I remember GAZOO Racing first taking on the challenge of the Nurburgring in 2007 in an Altezza like it was yesterday. There are so many memories running through my mind–the interaction with the roads of the Nurburgring, whose characteristics seem to change with each shift in the weather, the meeting and parting with new and valuable friends.