2021 Toyota Highlander Xse Sport Utility 4d on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Toyota C-HR stays sharp from prototype to production

Scion is dead. While the troubled brand was given 13 years to make a case for itself, it never quite succeeded. And that's a shame, because we're pretty confident that this, the production-spec Toyota C-HR would have been one of its biggest hits. Instead, when it arrives in the US, it will be as a Toyota... where it will still likely be a big hit. The new small CUV made its debut after literally years of teasing concepts, the most recent of which was shown late last year in Los Angeles, where it was badged as a Scion. After seeing that car, it's quite clear that Toyota has strained itself to translate its style to the real world. Up front, there's clear inspiration from the Toyota Auris/Scion iM. But aside from the front, the C-HR's biggest inspiration appears to be the Nissan Juke. View 14 Photos It's like Toyota has tried to go even further, though. Its wheel arches are flared even more aggressively and they feed into a strong character line on the lower portion of the doors. In back, Toyota's designers seem to have just rotated the Juke's taillights 180 degrees while they sit below an extremely fast rear window. Said window is integrated into today's latest design trend, a floating roof. Mechanically, the C-HR rides atop Toyota's New Global Architecture, which is Japan's answer to Volkswagen's MQB architecture. Power comes from a hybrid drivetrain, good for a relaxed 120 horsepower. If you don't want hybrid power, Toyota will sell the C-HR with the Euro-market Auris' turbo 1.2-liter engine, but we almost certainly won't see that here in the US. Instead, American drivers will probably be left with nothing but a 2.0-liter, naturally aspirated four-cylinder. That engine will be exclusively paired with a continuously variable transmission that sends power to either the front- or to all four wheels. So there's Juke inspiration, but not in the driving character. Toyota says it will build the C-HR Hybrid in Turkey. We don't know if that facility will handle US-market vehicles or just Europe, but we wouldn't be surprised to see additional facilities come online to produce this stylish little bugger. Related Video: TOYOTA C-HR Toyota's Fresh New Take on the Crossover 2016 Toyota Motorshow Geneva Making its world debut at the 2016 Geneva motor show, the C-HR gives Toyota a powerful new presence in the crossover market.

The real reason automakers are giving away free hydrogen

Just like Hyundai did with its Tucson fuel cell, Toyota is offering free hydrogen fuel with the $57,500 Mirai H2 sedan. Toyota is being a bit vague about the details, saying simply that Mirai drivers will get, "complimentary hydrogen fuel for up to three years." Turns out, the reason that the hydrogen avant-garde will not be paying anything at the pump isn't because the automakers want to give them a boost or because the OEMs are kind. Instead, it's simply impossible to accurately charge people for hydrogen right now. It's simply impossible to accurately charge people for hydrogen right now. At an in-depth hydrogen seminar this week as part of the Mirai preview, three representatives from various hydrogen organizations revealed that the current hydrogen stations (most of which are in California) are not set up to accurately measure the hydrogen that is dispensed. Without this little bit of information, you can't charge customers for the fuel they use. Toyota is well aware of this, and Toyota Motor Sales' national manager of environmental, safety and quality communications, John Hanson, said that, "There are no set standards, so there is no way to charge people for anything." Alberto Ayala, the deputy executive officer for the California Air Resources Board, said CARB is in the middle of developing a way to sell a given amount of hydrogen, "which up to this point doesn't exist. If you think about it, it's a real simple yet real practical challenge. If you're going to pay for X amount of hydrogen, you're actually getting that amount of hydrogen." Ayala said it's not a difficult technical problem to measure the hydrogen as it goes into the car, but "we just have not done it. We are at a point where we are solving multiple remaining questions [with hydrogen infrastructure], and that just happens to be one of them." The National Institute of Standards and Technology says that there has been a discussion to change the current tolerance of two percent up to 10 or 20 percent, but that new technology should be able to measure accurately to within one percent. Air Liquide is working with Toyota to launch the Mirai in the US and Air Liquide CEO Ole Hofelmann told AutoblogGreen that being able to charge customers will be key to the technology's success. "We need to make sure we accurately measure the gas," he said.

Ford tops GM in US vehicle sales in May, driven by fleets

DETROIT - Ford, bolstered by heavy sales to fleet customers, surpassed General Motors in US new vehicle sales in May, according to figures reported Thursday. Ford said May sales rose 2.2 percent from a year ago to 241,126 units. GM sales dropped 1.3 percent to 237,364. GM said it had been trimming sales of heavily discounted vehicles to car rental companies. Such fleet sales made up about 19 percent of its total sales in May. Ford's fleet sales rose 8.4 percent, representing more than 34 percent of total sales. The industry average is around 20 percent. Analysts had expected mixed results for the industry, with sales likely propped up by heavy discounts. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said May sales dipped 0.9 percent to 193,040. Toyota's US sales dropped 0.5 percent to 218,248. Nissan said US sales in May rose 3.0 percent, to 137,471. After demand fell in March and April, analysts estimated May sales at just over 1.5 million. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales in May was estimated at 16.8 million to 16.9 million vehicles, about the same as April. A year earlier, sales stood at 17.55 million vehicles. Early reports indicated that sales over the three-day Memorial Day weekend were helped by heavy discounts. "While demand for new vehicles is still relatively strong, it's a bit of smoke and mirrors," said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of industry analysis at Edmunds, the car shopping website. Manufacturers and dealers "really pushed the deals over the holiday weekend to prop up their May numbers," she said. "Incentives were up sharply, and it seems automakers are putting more cash on the hood to nudge car shoppers to buy versus lease." General Motors dealers were offering discounts of up to $12,000 on the full-size Chevrolet Silverado pickup, while some dealer discounts on Ford Motor Co's F-series pickups were more than $10,000 on 2017 models and more than $14,000 on leftover 2016 models. The 2017 model year started eight months ago. Reporting by Paul LienertRelated Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Earnings/Financials Chrysler Fiat Ford GM Nissan Toyota US