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US-built Corollas will soon be exported to Latin America, Caribbean

Toyota has announced plans to export the American-made Corolla south, to 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean by 2014. The move follows statements made to The Wall Street Journal by Toyota's South American leader, Steve St. Angelo, that spoke to Toyota's resolve in emerging American markets.
Toyota is expected to begin export production in April, with initial production of 7,500 Corollas in the first year, courtesy of its Tupelo, Mississippi assembly plant. Years of unpredictable swings in the value of the Japanese yen has seen Toyota push its manufacturing operations in other countries, particularly the US, where its builds ten different models.
Scroll down to read the full press release from Toyota.

Toyota unofficially teases TE-S800 plug-in hybrid roadster

We really want to party with the Toyota Engineering Society. With the mothership company showing a bunch of modifications at the Tokyo Auto Salon last month, that nutty engineering group used the event to unofficially show off its TE-S800 PHEV roadster, as you can see in the two-minute video below. The car is a plug-in hybrid that pairs the 115-horsepower gas engine that's standard issue on the Toyota Prius hybrid with a 102-horsepower electric motor. The right-hand-drive two-seat-vehicle also sits on the platform of the little-bitty MR2 (remember those?) so it weighs in at less than 2,000 lbs. And, as you can see, the car's also painted bright green (now there's a hint) and kind of cool-looking. Do the math of combining more than 200 horsepower with a featherweight car, and you've got a rather sporty vehicle that can sprint from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than six seconds, all while getting outstanding fuel economy. Yippee! Engineering Society aside, the Japanese automaker brought more than 30 customized vehicles to the Salon. Those included the Harrier G Sports Concept, a modified version of the Toyota's new crossover, and the Vitz RS G Sports Concept, which is a sported-out Yaris. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: Gas2Image Credit: YouTube (mikichan1984) Green Toyota Electric PHEV roadster

Autoblog Minute: VW finds CO2 'irregularities', Takata dropped by automakers, SEMA recap

Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal gets a new wrinkle, US regulators hit Takata Corporation with a substantial fine, and we head to Las Vegas for a look at tuner paradise at the 2015 SEMA show. Autoblog senior editor Greg Migliore reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal gets a new wrinkle. US regulators issue a significant fine to Takata Corporation. And we take a peek inside tuner paradise at the 2015 SEMA show. I'm senior editor Greg Migliore and this is your Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. The VW diesel emissions scandal, first brought to light in September, gets a new wrinkle, as an internal investigation by the German automaker revealed [00:00:30] irregularities in CO2 emissions that could affect approximately 800,000 vehicles. VW estimates the issue could pose a 2-billion euro economic risk. VW claims that most of the vehicles affected have diesel engines, but industry analysts say a 1.4-liter gas engine is also affected. VW says that fuel consumption figures were set too low during the CO2 certification process. During all of this, sales of some diesel-powered Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche models [00:01:00] have been halted. Takata Corporation is back in the news in connection with its deadly airbag scandal. Federal regulators fined Takata $70 million. If the parts supplier does not comply, the fine could balloon to $200 million. Takata was also dropped this week by its biggest customer, Honda. And now, Toyota and Mazda will be following Honda's lead in dropping Takata. We're also hearing that Mitsubishi and Subaru are considering a switch in air-bag inflator suppliers. SEMA 2015 [00:01:30] came and went. We saw offerings from Mopar, like the AWD Challenger concept. Honda unveiled a Ridgeline that it will race at the Baja 1000, which gives us a hint at what future production model could look like. The celebrity presence was also felt in Vegas as it always is. Kid Rock brought a Duramax Diesel Chevy Silverado, and Acura restored and presented Ludacris with his now famous 1993 Acura Legend. Those are the highlights from the week that was. Be sure to come back on Saturday for my full recap, [00:02:00] where I'll have some added insight into Hyundai's foray into the luxury sector. For Autoblog, I'm Greg Migliore. Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive.