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Here's the 2017 Toyota 86: Don't call it a Scion

After we heard the bells toll for Scion yesterday, we told you that the Scion FR-S will transform into a Toyota. That's right: just a rebadging. The practical question is, which badge? The philosophical question, which we can't answer yet, is where it'll sit in the pantheon of front-engined, rear-drive Toyota sports cars, of which the Supra was the last one to visit our shores, from 1992 until 1998 in its fourth generation. And as if summoned by this conversation, this camouflaged prototype appeared. Our best guess is that this is going to be the US-bound, Toyota-badged version of the Subaru BRZ and all the other 86-badged variants: the Toyota 86 (in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South America, and South Africa), Toyota GT86 (in Europe and New Zealand again), and Toyota FT86 (in Nicaragua and Jamaica). For simplicity's sake, let's call it a Toyota 86. Peer into the 86's swirly camo, and it looks like the car is going in for a light refresh. The lower intake in the front fascia, if it's representative of a production part, adopts a different shape and is considerably wider and narrower than either the BRZ or FR-S units. It also appears that the turn signal and its surround are reshaped, different than any of the current variants. Changes out back appear mild. The area around the license plate seems to be smoother, and there is likely a predictable light restyle of the bumper skin and defuser under the camo. We don't expect a significant power increase, and certainly not a turbocharger (sorry!), but crossing fingers wouldn't do any harm. Related Video:

2013 Toyota Avalon Hybrid

People, us included, make a big stink about the importance of family sedans. There's no doubt they're critical - they represent a huge slice of the market's annual sales and profits. However, despite accounting for far fewer transactions than the midsize sedan segment, the fullsize sedan is getting attention from manufacturers now that our market's entire lineup of those (slightly) smaller four-doors has turned over in the last two years or so. As most of the fullsize segment's mainstays derive a fair bit of their platform and powertrain technologies from their midsize cousins, these larger four-doors offer the potential for fatter profit margins, too. And with the newly stylish duds found on many of the industry's most successful midsize sedans, it's only right that automakers no longer think about fullsizers as big, squishy, vanilla family haulers with flat seats, vague steering and a thin layer of 'luxury' in the form of faux wood trim.
As manufacturers have again started diving into large sedans feet-first, the cars themselves have become sharper. The interiors are now of a higher quality and loaded with tech, while the exteriors have become further extensions of each manufacturer's design language. There's perhaps no greater example of this than the Chevrolet Impala and Ford Taurus, two models that evolved from subpar offerings into market leaders. This segment-wide transformation happened quite quickly, whether because of coincidental timing or because manufacturers are trying to get more out of their big cars, recognizing they account for a small portion of overall sales (just 3.5 percent of the new-car market in the first half of 2013).
The 2013 Toyota Avalon Hybrid is one such vehicle. We remarked on the changes to the V6 variant last year, and while we previously had a quick steer of the gas-electric hybrid, we figured the new model was worth a closer week-long look.

Ford Fusion production scaled back just 3 months after it was accelerated

Three months after kicking off production of the Ford Fusion at its Flat Rock, MI factory, Ford Motor Company is taking steps to trim output in the face of heavily discounted competition from Toyota and a growing supply of vehicles.
The addition of Fusion production in Flat Rock - which also builds the Mustang - was meant to be what pushed the handsome mid-sizer past its arch-nemesis, the Toyota Camry. An extra facility building Fusions was also meant to curb the growing demand for Ford's highly profitable sedan.
But with word that Flat Rock would take "approximately" one extra week off for the holidays combined with an 88-day supply of Fusions - reportedly due in no small part to what Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas called "aggressive discounting of the Camry" - some analysts are now beginning to wonder if Ford may have overextended itself by adding a second Fusion facility to the mix.