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Weekly Recap: Toyota wants cars to be your 'close friends' around 2020

Toyota confirmed plans this week to launch autonomous technology in its production cars around 2020. The automaker's version is called Highway Teammate, and it's one element of a broader mobility strategy that includes vehicles communicating with each other and the grid. "Toyota believes that interactions between drivers and cars should mirror those between close friends who share a common purpose, sometimes watching over each other and sometimes helping each other out," the company said in a statement. That sounds utopian, and perhaps a bit cheesy, but it's an acknowledgment that autonomous driving requires more than technology developed in a vacuum. Toyota is looking at its research in a broader context, and dubs its overall strategy the Mobility Teammate Concept. Highway Teammate is the first step. Its test vehicle is a modified Lexus GS, which uses road-mapping data and external sensors to merge or exit highways, change lanes, and maintain safe distances during driving. It's operated on the Shuto Expressway in Tokyo. Toyota has been working on autonomous tech since the 1990s, with the goal of providing mobility for older people and the disabled, as well as lowering the frequency of traffic accidents. Toyota's push comes as an early adopter, Nissan, is hedging on its own deadline to implement the autonomous tech by 2020 due to a lack of firm laws governing self-driving cars around the world. Conversely, Volvo took the landmark step of being the first automaker to accept liability for when its cars will operate in autonomous mode, and urged the US government to set federal guidelines to regulate the technology. OTHER NEWS & NOTES 2016 BMW M4 GTS: Your water-injected, turbo-boosted demon BMW is unleashing its most powerful M4 ever, a 493-horsepower special edition that's road legal yet bred for the track. The company is making 700 copies for sale around the world, and 300 of them will come to the United States. The twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter six-cylinder revs to 7,600 rpm and uses a water-injection technology to cool the intake air and lower the compression temperature. BMW says this allows it to wring more power out of the inline six. The car also uses carbon-fiber reinforced plastic for the roof, hood, engine compartment strut brace, drive shaft, and rear spoiler to reduce weight. The M4 features BMW's organic light-emitting diode taillights, which are said to be an industry first.

Eiji Toyoda dead at 100

Toyota has had number of chiefs over its 76-year history, but none ever served as long as Eiji Toyoda. The younger cousin of the company's founder served as president of the automaker from 1967 to 1982 and as chairman of the Toyota Motor Corporation for another ten years following the unification of the manufacturing and sales divisions.
During his 25 years at the helm, Eiji Toyoda (pictured above in 1967) was credited with establishing the company's headquarters in Toyota City, spearheading the development of the Prius, expanding production overseas for the first time, launching the Lexus brand and turning Toyota from a minor player into one of the largest automakers in the world.
Even after his retirement in 1992, he remained an honorary chairman and close advisor to his successors, and chaired the company's museum. He died of heart failure, ending a 100-year life that started on September 12, 1913, before the company that bore his family's name (albeit slightly modified) had even started building automatic looms, let alone automobiles. We extend our condolences to the Toyoda family and our congratulations on an accomplished life.

Toyota recalling 615k Sienna models over rollaway risk

Toyota has announced a recall affecting approximately 615,000 Sienna minivans due to a possible rollaway risk. All of the vehicles in question are from the 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009 model years.
In an official statement, the automaker states that the problem stems from the vehicle's shift lever assembly. "Because of the potential for damage to the shift lock solenoid installed in involved vehicles, there is a possibility that the shift lever could be moved out of the 'P' position without the driver depressing the brake pedal," Toyota said. Because of this fault, the affected Sienna models could roll away without warning, increasing the risk for a crash.
Owners will be notified via first class mail, and the affected Sienna models can be taken to Toyota dealerships to have the shift lock solenoid replaced with a new one. Have a look below for the automaker's official release.