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Toyota's future fuel cell vehicle lineup revealed?

Being an Olympic sponsor from 2017 through 2024 puts Toyota in the international limelight, and the company is preparing a fleet of efficient, cutting-edge vehicles just in time for the Tokyo games in 2020. At least eight new models could be on the way, according to Automotive News citing Best Car from Japan. Three of those might make use of the hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain developed for the Mirai. While many of these fuel cells are going into Japan-only vehicles, one of them could come here. Reiterating earlier rumors, Automotive News reports a hydrogen-powered Lexus LS is set for 2018. It could be even lighter than the current hybrid model, too. A similar version of the Toyota Crown would launch there in 2019 and possibly an FCEV Estima minivan, too. Beyond fuel cells, Toyota also intends to put the JPN Taxi Concept from the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show into production in time for the games, according to Automotive News. For 2017, the brand's flagship Century is also expected to adopt a hybrid V8 to replace the current V12, as well. Plus, many of its Japanese-market vans are also due for updates. All of this is certainly a massive undertaking to be ready in time, but Tokyo want to use the games as a chance to show the city as an innovative, international destination. Automotive News predicts Toyota could supply thousands of vehicles to haul all of the athletes and dignitaries around. In addition, the Japanese government wants 6,000 fuel cell vehicles on the road and 35 refueling stations up an running for the games. Related Video:

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's Psy-style Waku-Doki ad inherits Japan's bizarre ad crown

A new Japanese Toyota ad featuring crisply suited businessmen driving into the jungle only to segue into a Psy-style music-video dance-off with a gorilla and natives is the latest car commercial to go viral. Jungle Wakudoki is the newest installment in a grand tradition of bizarre ads from the island nation that are by turns hilarious, head-scratching and occasionally even frightening.
Let's face it: My people are weird.
I'm half-Japanese and take suitable pride in my Asian roots, but even I can't figure out what's been slipped into the water coolers of the country's ad agencies much of the time - or the nation at large, for that matter. From Japan's ubiquitous obsession with all things adorable (kawaii) to its offbeat sense of humor and its bizarrely perverse and violent tentacle porn, it's clear there's a lot going on in the culture, and only some of it bubbles up to the surface in its marketing efforts. Much of the strangest and most amazing ads are for non-transportation products (e.g. laundry soap, snacks, energy drinks), but the automotive space has its fair share. This latest Toyota ad had me trawling YouTube for a common theme, trying to make sense of why these spots are the way they are. Scroll down to watch the Toyota ad in question as well as a bunch of other examples of Japan's most bizarre car-related ads and see if you can't find the thread that runs between them. Is it just that something's being lost in translation? Have your say in Comments.