2010 Toyota Camry Se Sedan 4-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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Toyota must go to trial over unintended acceleration suits

Toyota is surely readying its trial lawyers, as the Japanese giant is officially headed to court in a pair of cases relating to its unintended acceleration fiascos of 2009 and 2010.
In the first case, the United States Supreme Court has actually got involved in matters, ignoring an appeal from Toyota that attempted to use an arbitrator to settle its California lawsuits. The automaker will now go to trial to face owners of 2010 Prius models over an alleged defect with the anti-lock braking systems, which plaintiffs say made the cars more difficult to stop, according to Bloomberg.
The second trial is a bit more in depth, covering the case of Ida St. John, an 83-year-old from Georgia, that crashed her 2005 Camry in 2009. The accident is believed to have played a part in her death, although the suit, being filed by her grandson, doesn't actually place blame on Toyota for her death.

Lexus LX to get diesel engine?

Australian consumers appear poised to get another diesel-burning luxury SUV in the near future, and word is it's coming from Lexus, of all automakers. Sean Hanley, chief executive of the company's branch in Oz, recently told Aussie website Drive that he's "pretty confident" that the new engine for the LX is getting the green light.
Like in the US, the LX in Australia is currently only offered with a 5.7-liter, gasoline-burning V8. However, sales of the big SUV are presently minuscule Down Under, with Drive reporting just 153 LX570s sold in all of Oz last year. Hanley is negotiating with Japan to get the new diesel in hopes of boosting flagging sales. If his efforts are successful, it would be the first diesel engine offered in a Lexus there. Hanley didn't specify exactly which mill the SUV would get. However, given the LX's close relationship with Toyota Land Cruiser, the diesel 4.5-liter twin-turbo V8 already available in the Toyota in markets outside of North America seems like a natural choice.
Don't expect the variant to be hopping across the Pacific, though. Lexus spokesperson Allison Takahashi tells Autoblog she has heard "nothing" about an oil-burning LX coming to the US. That's not a huge surprise, though, because neither Toyota nor Lexus offer any diesels in their lineups today. Also, Lexus has only sold 1,981 LX570s through June, which only placed it ahead of the LFA supercar in the brand's sales. It's probably just not worth certifying the engine for such a low-volume model.

Toyota confirms i-Road electric trike for production

The wacky, three-wheeled Toyota i-Road we saw in Geneva earlier this year will be heading to production. But before you run down to your local Toyota dealer looking for one of these all-electric "personal mobility" vehicles, chances are, you'll never actually see one unless you visit Japan.
Announced at the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies (CEATEC) expo last week, Toyota said that the i-Road would be used as a part of the Ha:Mo car-sharing system in Japan. Weighing in at around 661 pounds, with a 28-mile-per-hour top speed and a two-passenger seating arrangement, the i-Road seems more like a fully enclosed scooter than a car, but it does offer a 30-mile driving range and has a nifty articulating front suspension that leans into corners. As for Ha:Mo, Toyota says that the number of cars in the program will increase from 10 prior to October 1 to 100 by the middle of this month, and the number of stations will almost double from 13 up to 21. Toyota has more details about the car and Ha:Mo in the press release posted below.