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Toyota and Lexus show off advanced safety research vehicle [w/video]

While Google and Audi explore the possibilities of autonomous vehicles, Toyota and its Lexus division are studying the intermediate step of vehicles equipped with a deep suite of technology that help drivers make the best decisions. Introduced at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the Lexus advanced safety research vehicle is an LS sedan fitted with three high-def color cameras to detect objects up to almost 500 feet away, 360-degree Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) lasers that can detect objects up to 220 feet away, three radar units to keep track of other vehicles at intersections, a precision odometer on the rear wheel, GPS that estimates orientation and an accelerometer.
Currently testing at a purpose-built 8.6 acre urban testing ground at the Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Susono, Japan the Toyota research vehicle is being used to study how to make better drivers, as well as figuring out how to reduce crashes as the industry's journey through passive and active safety systems progresses. In the event of a crash, new rescue systems are also being tested.
Further investment is being put into the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) that would use shortwave signals to harness information from the car and from other vehicles on the road, as well as roadside infrastructure and even pedestrians. Toyota reasons it could then build a picture of interactions and, for instance, alert the driver to a potential collision at a blind intersection.

GM, Audi, Jaguar halt Russian sales amidst ruble's collapse

The value of Russia's ruble currency has sunk like a stone tossed in the Volga for much of the year, losing over 40 percent of its worth since June. The change is having bizarre effects on the auto industry there and leaving some automakers scrambling to adjust. According to Bloomberg, Russians are buying up luxury goods including automobiles at the moment to have a physical investment in case the ruble sinks further. However, with the money worth so little, the companies aren't making much from these transactions. Things are so dire that several automakers are temporarily ending deliveries until the situation stabilizes. According to Bloomberg, General Motors stopped sales on December 16 with no set date to start again. Audi did the same thing but with the intention to resume once it has adjusted model pricing. Jaguar Land Rover terminated business until December 19 to see how things changed. Toyota is increasing its pricing, as well, but keeping business open at the same time. Some automakers have subtly been reacting to the slumping Russian auto market all year. The moves have included Volkswagen cutting production by 30,000 units from its factory in Kaluga. Ford also got rid of 950 workers from two plants due to low demand. Some analysts have even speculated that the contracting industry and possibility of lower import duties into the country could cause companies to end their manufacturing in Russia completely.

Anti-EV messaging alive and well at Toyota, sort of

The folks at Toyota in Japan can be pretty blunt about electric-vehicle technology prospects as a viable transportation alternative to the internal combustion engine. Here in the states? Slightly more sanguine. Toyota global head of research and development Mitsuhisa Kato, according to Automotive News, discounts the potential of substantial EV sales in the near future because the appropriate technology that provides comparable driving distances and fill-up times relative to conventional vehicles doesn't yet exist. While Toyota has been conducting testing programs with shorter-commute-distance EVs in countries such as Japan and France, its only production EV in the US is the RAV4 EV, and Toyota sold just 546 of those in the States during the first half of the year. Toyota is much more excited about the debut of its first hydrogen fuel-cell production vehicle, in both Japan and the US, next year. Toyota Motor North America spokeswoman Jana Hartline was a little more charitable when discussing the EV's prospects in an interview with AutoblogGreen. "For shorter range, EVs serve a really great purpose, but as far as having equal mile range to an internal combustion engine, there's going to need to be some serious breakthroughs," Hartline said. "And that where the fuel cell comes in." Last month, Toyota said its fuel-cell sedan that will debut in Japan next April will be priced at about $69,000, though the company emphasized that it shouldn't be assumed it will be priced similarly in the US and Europe. Toyota hasn't released many performance details, though the sedan is expected to have a full (hydrogen) tank range of about 435 miles, or about five times that of a Nissan Leaf. Read here for Autoblog's First Drive of Toyota's fuel-cell sedan.