Clean 2008 Solara on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Toyota headed to New York with 2014 Highlander, revised Scion tC

Toyota has given us a look at what the company will bring to the 2013 New York Auto Show. Visitors will get to set their eyes upon the all-new 2014 Highlander, and while the automaker isn't saying much in the way of details, we do get the teaser you see above (click to enlarge) to ponder on until next week. The image shows little more than a headlamp and a bit of grille, but gives us the flavor of what the crossover will bring to the table.
Scion, meanwhile, says it plans to dust off the "new 2014 tC sports coupe." While we don't imagine the two door will have undergone a major surgery, we're interested to see what the automaker has cooked up. The tC last endured a redesign in 2011. Check out the brief press release below and look for the vehicles to bow on March 28.Y

Toyota amalgamates motorsports divisions under Gazoo Racing

Toyota has more racing divisions than we could wave a checkered flag at, with the company's various motorsport activities all coordinated by different operations. But the Japanese industrial giant is now bringing most (if not all) of them under one roof. From here on in, any racing that was done under the Toyota Racing, Lexus Racing or Gazoo Racing banners will now be united under the latter. That includes the LFAs it races around the Nurburgring, the TS040 Hybrid it fields at Le Mans and in the World Endurance Championship, the Yaris it will soon throw at the World Rally Championship, the Lexus racers that compete in the Super GT championship back in Japan... the works. The move does not appear to affect Toyota Racing Development, the automaker's American arm that handles its NASCAR racing activities, but from here on out, any Toyota or Lexus you see racing on most anything but a speedway will be competing under Gazoo Racing. The move appears to be more than symbolic and semantic, putting its racing vehicle development, technical support and marketing activities in the hands of the new Motor Sports Group. In announcing the consolidation, Toyota highlights in particular the benefit its various racing programs bring to its talent pool, if not the direct effect they have on the company's vehicles themselves. Toyota Racing, Lexus Racing and GAZOO Racing Unite Under GAZOO Racing Toyota City, Japan, April 9, 2015-Starting April 11, Toyota will unite all motorsports activities under GAZOO Racing. The move will clarify the role of Toyota's motorsports in its efforts to make ever-better cars and foster new generations of car enthusiasts. Until now, Toyota has participated in competitions around the world-including the World Endurance Championship (WEC), the Super GT in Japan, and the Nurburgring 24 Hours endurance race-through the separate Toyota Racing, Lexus Racing and GAZOO Racing teams. Of those, GAZOO Racing in particular was created to expand the role of promoting motorsports beyond that of traditional automakers, and carry out grassroots activities aimed at creating new and ever-growing generations of car enthusiasts. Concerning today's announcement, Toyota President Akio Toyoda said: "Our founder Kiichiro Toyoda once said that motorsports are vital to the evolution of car making and the entire auto industry.

Automotive Grade Linux will be the backbone of your connected car

Creating a backend for a secure, reliable, and expandable infotainment system is costly and time consuming. The Linux Foundation, a non-profit organization, has set out to promote and advance the Linux operating system in commercial products. Automotive Grade Linux, or AGL, is a group within the Foundation that seeks to apply a Linux backend to a number of automotive applications in a variety of vehicles from various suppliers and manufacturers. AGL's goal is to create a common, unifying framework that allows developers and manufacturers to easily implement applications across platforms. Currently, the focus is on infotainment systems, but AGL has plans for instrument clusters, heads-up displays, and eventually active safety software. At CES, a display from Panasonic showed a completely digital and customizable dashboard that allows information and apps to be moved from the gauge cluster to the infotainment screen and back, all through the use of gesture and touch controls. Although the organization has been around for five years, it's really only been in the past three that the group has been working hand in hand with automakers and suppliers. The first two OEMs to participate, Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover, have since been joined by Mazda, Suzuki, Ford, and, as of this week, Daimler. The latter is important as until now most of AGL's partner's have been based in Japan or the US. Other partners include suppliers Denso, Renesas, Continental, Qualcomm, and Intel. AGL want's to supply roughly 80 percent of the backend, allowing partners to then finish and refine the Linux system for each individual application. Think of how the Android operating system is refined and customized for individual smartphones from Samsung, LG, and Motorola. While the final product looks different, developers can have an application that will work across all AGL systems. Because it is open source, anyone can use and develop for AGL. You can even go onto the group's website and download a copy right now. There is also a software development kit available that helps facilitate app creation on the platform. Vehicle development cycles take roughly five years, so there currently are no cars that run an AGL backbone available for consumers. AGL Executive Director Dan Cauchy says products should be hitting the market later this year, with even more coming in 2018. Right now, the industry is relatively fragmented when it comes to infotainment and related systems.