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Cheap, honest transportation | 2017 Toyota Yaris iA

In The Love Bug, the main character (aside from Herbie) is a down-on-his-luck racing driver named Jim Douglas. Early on, he steps into an exotic car show room, and when the dealer asks him kind of car he's looking for, Douglas replies, "What do you have in the way of cheap, honest transportation?" The dealer quickly snatches his fancy liquor back from Douglas and soon after Herbie shows up from the back of the showroom. But if this happened today, you could easily replace the classic Beetle with a 2017 Toyota Yaris iA. The poor thing isn't nearly as endearing to look at as a classic Bug, as a result of the rather unattractive nose, and it's now using a second pseudonym (first Scion iA, then Toyota Yaris iA) to hide its Mazda heritage. However, everything else about it nails the description of cheap, honest transportation. And for that reason, it's a lovely little car. Let's start with honesty, and it begins from the minute you start equipping the car – the iA is a "what you see is what you get" proposition. You see, the iA moniker isn't the only holdover from the Scion era. The Toyota Yaris iA retains its "monospec" configuration, which means it comes with only one option: the transmission. Customers can choose from either a 6-speed manual like our test car, or a 6-speed automatic which costs $1,100. Everything else is standard, and "everything" includes some choice features. You get alloy wheels, air conditioning, cruise control, USB and Bluetooth integration, a rear-view camera, tilt and telescoping steering wheel with audio controls, and keyless entry with push-button start. Technically there are a number of dealer-installed accessories too, including your typical fare of mudguards, rear spoiler, cargo organizers, and such. However, none of them are really necessary, with one exception. For some odd reason, the Yaris iA does not come with a center armrest. It's a $195 accessory, and frankly it should be a standard feature because it's so useful. If you hadn't guessed, ours wasn't equipped with it. Everywhere else the iA is a thoroughly pleasant car, if not as sporty as the old Mazda2. The little 1.5-liter four-cylinder under the hood isn't particularly potent with 106 horsepower and 103 lb-ft of torque. But with a Miata-like 2,385-pound curb weight and our car's manual transmission, it manages to feel fairly sprightly, and never has any trouble dicing it up with traffic. That transmission is pretty decent, too.

2022 Lexus LX 600 First Drive | A substantial, stylish soft-roader

The Toyota Land Cruiser is dead. Long live the Toyota Land Cruiser 2022 Lexus LX 600 — the flagship SUV brought kicking and screaming into the 21st century with a much-needed overhaul. Back with a new powertrain, new shell and new possibilities, the LX is aimed at the top of the luxury SUV segment, taking the fight back to the likes of the Cadillac Escalade and Mercedes-Benz GLS. The Land Cruiser isn't truly dead, mind you; we just don't get it here in the U.S. — at least not yet. Fortunately, much of that new SUVÂ’s engineering lurks beneath the LXÂ’s skin. The new twin-turbo V6, for example, provides 409 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque and serves here as a baseline V8 replacement; it's paired to Toyota's new 10-speed automatic. The hybrid engine offered in the new Toyota Tundra and Sequoia is rumored to be on the way to the LX in the coming model years.  But while the Land Cruiser is traditionally known for its off-road prowess, the LX we tested was most definitely not. In place of a robust 4x4 system with locking front and rear axles intended to conquer unexplored terrain, we got a Torsen limited-slip differential, an F Sport suspension with performance dampers, and massive 22-inch wheels. Sure, the center differential lock and LSD will get you just about anywhere you could possibly need to go, even on dirt, but that's not the F Sport's intended use case. ThatÂ’s not to say the LX 600 canÂ’t hang when it comes to typical SUV duties. ItÂ’s nearly 17 feet long and equipped with a fold-flat third row, but it's also essentially a foot shorter than a standard Escalade. That partly explains why that third row is basically utility seating as opposed to consistent family transport. It also offers reasonable headroom at the expense of cargo space – just about all of it, in fact. If you really need to use the third row and bring some stuff along, you can always rent a trailer; itÂ’ll tow 8,000 pounds. Fortunately, the standard full-time 4WD and limited-slip differential donÂ’t need to be paired to the LXÂ’s off-road Crawl Mode to be worthwhile. Though our loanerÂ’s huge 22-inch wheels were wrapped in all-season rubber, the LX handled typical Michigan winter garbage with aplomb. Fresh snowfall was limited during the week we had the truck, but there was plenty of leftover, inches-deep crust and slush in the suburbs north of Detroit where we took the LX out to play. Competent though it may be over the rough stuff, comfortable it is not.

Toyota, Mazda partner to build EVs at new $1.6 billion U.S. plant

TOKYO — Toyota and Mazda plan to build a $1.6 billion U.S. assembly plant, the two said on Friday, as part of an alliance that will also see the Japanese automakers jointly develop electric vehicle technologies. The two will take small stakes in each other as part of the tie-up: Toyota, the world's second-largest automaker by vehicle sales last year, will take a 5 percent share of Mazda, extending its dominance in Japan's auto sector. Mazda will take a 0.25 percent share of its larger rival. The plant, something of a surprise at a time of overcapacity in the U.S. market, will be a boost to U.S. President Donald Trump, who campaigned on promises to increase manufacturing and expand employment for American autoworkers. The plant will be capable of producing 300,000 vehicles a year, with production divided between the two automakers, and employ about 4,000 people. It will start operating in 2021. The electric vehicles cooperation, meanwhile, comes as the tightening of global emissions regulations prompts more automakers to develop battery powered cars, as the industry struggles with hefty research costs and intense competition from technology companies over technology like self-driving cars. As part of the agreement, Toyota and Mazda will also work together to develop in-car information technologies and automated driving functions. Toyota, Japan's biggest auto company, has been forging alliances with smaller Japanese rivals for several years, effectively engineering a loose consolidation of the Japanese auto sector. It already owns a 16.5 percent stake in Subaru, Japan's No. 6 automaker, with which it also has a development partnership. Toyota is also courting compact car maker Suzuki to cooperate on R&D and parts supply as Toyota seeks to tap its smaller rival's expertise in emerging Asian markets. A stake in Mazda may also prevent future incursions by tech companies, one analyst said. "For a technology company which lacks the expertise in making cars, Mazda could look like a very interesting acquisition. They're very good, they're not too expensive. Maybe Toyota realizes this," CLSA managing director Chris Richter said. "By buying a 5 percent stake, Toyota takes Mazda off the table rather than having it sit out there like a free agent which could someday be used against them." COROLLA PRODUCTION SHIFT Mazda stands to gain from a deal that gives the small automaker a production foothold in the United States.