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Toyota, Lexus to build more CUVs to meet surging demand

What was the biggest takeaway from the auto industry's 2014? Besides the fact that recalls are now a sad and mostly unremarkable part of a vehicle's life, it's that you can't be a competitive, mainstream brand in the US without a really strong line of crossovers, SUVs or pickups. We saw evidence of this as recently as Monday, when Hyundai unveiled its HCD-15 Santa Cruz Concept, and now we're seeing it again with Toyota. The company already has a comprehensive lineup of both mainstream and luxury CUVs and SUVs, although surging demand – sales were up 16 percent last year, Bloomberg reports – has led the company to increase its production tempo at the plants responsible for the RAV4 and Lexus RX. "The freeze is still in place until the end of March of 2016," Toyota's Jim Lentz told Bloomberg during this week's Detroit Auto Show, referencing the production bump at the Japanese and Canadian factories responsible for the models. "That hasn't changed. All indications are that it will lift, but right now it has not lifted." The increased sales are even spurring the brand to consider additional CUVs, including a compact that would slot in below the RAV4, Lentz told the business publication. Such a move would give Toyota a player in an increasingly competitive and important segment. In 2014 alone, mainstream brands, including Honda, Mazda, Chevrolet and Jeep, have announced brand new products destined for the compact CUV market. "We're going to have to look at how the market under RAV4 develops," Lentz told Bloomberg. "There's no question that it's going to. That's going to be the next growth spurt." Related Video:

New Toyota Supra may get a twin-turbo Lexus V6

We've heard endless rumors that a successor to the much loved and much missed Toyota Supra is in the works. Toyota hasn't done much to deny these conversations. On the contrary, the FT-1 concept from two years ago and the partnership with BMW have only fueled the fire. Now, talk of a new Lexus engine has led to speculation about the supposed Supra's powertrain. To be clear, this is mostly heresay. Few things have actually been confirmed, but based on what we know a few conclusions can be drawn. We know that BMW and Toyota are working on a joint product. We've seen mules testing out in the wild. In BMW guise, the possibly Austrian-built car will more than likely powered by turbocharged inline four and six-cylinder engines. Unless Toyota wants to use Bimmer power, they'll need to shoehorn one of their own under the hood. That leads us to this rumor of a twin-turbocharged V6 that will presumably power the new Lexus GS and LS. Japanese automotive publication Mag-X first reported on this engine. It was then picked up by YouWheel and Car Keys. Mag-X cites Toyota insiders and even gives an engine code, 943F. This engine allegedly will make more than 400 horsepower and more than 300 lb-ft of torque. While unconfirmed, this makes sense for Lexus. Nearly every luxury competitor has a six-cylinder engine with forced induction. While Toyota has previously had turbocharged inline-sixes, they've never produced a factory turbo V6. Every automaker is downsizing engines in an effort to meet fuel economy and emissions regulations. Toyota and Lexus will follow suit. Taking that V6 and tuning it for a performance application is a solid, if unverified, possibility. Related Video:

Toyota recalling 1.67 million vehicles worldwide in 3 campaigns

Toyota is issuing three separate recalls covering 1.67 million vehicles worldwide with most of those models in Japan. It looks like the campaigns' impact on the US may be smaller, though. According to Reuters, Toyota isn't aware of any accidents, injuries or fatalities affecting the models. Some yet-unnamed Lexus models might also be affected.
The largest of the campaigns does not currently affect any US-market vehicles. About 802,000 units of the Toyota Crown Majesta, Crown, Noah and Voxy in Japan are being repaired to replace a seal that could leak in the brake master cylinder. Those already leaking get a new brake booster, as well, according to Reuters.
The only recall currently believed to affect the US is due to a problem covering approximately 759,000 vehicles with 423,000 of them here. The repair is to fix a faulty fuel delivery pipe that could cause a fire if the fuel leaks out. Unfortunately, we don't know which models it covers. Autoblog spoke to Toyota spokesperson Mona Richard and was told the information was still "under embargo." When exactly that embargo will lift isn't yet known, but we're on the case.