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Two new RWD Toyota sports cars to join FR-S?

Toyota as we know it could become a thing of the past. According to Australian site Car Advice, the Japanese brand known for bland cruisers like the Camry and Corolla is preparing to bring two new rear-drive cars to market that would slot above and below the Scion-badged FR-S. This is very, very good news.
Car Advice spoke to the GT86/FR-S' chief engineer, Tatsuya Tada, who claimed, "Akio Toyoda always says to me, Toyota sports car [family] should be three sports car brothers. 86 is in the middle." The oldest "brother" would be the spiritual successor to the Supra, even if it doesn't wear that name. Tada is in charge of that project, while a sub-GT86 project is being headed-up elsewhere.
Tada refused to comment on names (CA specifically mentions MR2 and Celica) for the new small car, but did say that, "Yes it is rear-wheel drive and that's Toyota's strong position - Toyota sports car must be rear-wheel drive." Perhaps the juiciest bit of information obtained from Tada's interview with Car Advice was his hinting that both new sports cars would be joint ventures, like the GT86/FR-S/Subaru BRZ triplets. Tada wouldn't say who Toyota was in bed with on the smaller model, but did mention that the Supra would be a product of the world's largest automaker's partnership with BMW.

Dutch Toyota dealer has plans for old Prius batteries as solar backup

A Toyota dealer in the Netherlands is looking to the sky for power. The Louwman Hague Toyota dealership has put almost 1,000 solar panels on the roof, and there might be some Prius hybrid batteries involved. Our Dutch isn't as good as it could be and our questions to Toyota in the US haven't turned up any definitive answers, but there is some mention that these solar panels are will someday be feeding power into a bank of Toyota hybrid batteries. The 1,000 panels make up 1,600 square meters, about the size of 4.5 IMAX movie screens, and is the largest in the area. They generate around a quarter of a megawatt of energy [as our readers point out, this is what the translation says, but it doesn't make sense, so we think it might mean a quarter MW of power a day], which is enough to power 80 homes. The excess electricity will go into the battery packs that have (possibly) already been used in a Prius or another of the company's hybrid. There are many examples of automotive batteries being tested as stationary back-up power sources, and maybe this Dutch solution can be used as a guide when Toyota sets up its new US headquarters in sunny Texas.

119K Toyota Avalon sedans recalled over airbag woes

Toyota has issued a voluntary safety recall for 119,000 2003-2004 Avalon models because in some cases the airbags could inadvertently deploy.
The automaker says that circuits within the airbag control module could be damaged by electrical noise, which could cause the front airbags and seatbelt pre-tensioners to activate. Dealers are going to repair cars by adding an electrical noise filter to the module. Owners will be notified by first class mail.
Toyota Public Affairs Manager Cindy Knight told Autoblog that there was one reported injury caused by the sudden deployment, but there have been no accidents or crashes. The company is currently preparing the parts for dealers now, and the component takes 90 minutes to two hours to install. "We don't believe there are any other affected models," said Knight.