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Toyota recalls another 2.9 million vehicles over Takata airbags

Subaru, Mitsubishi and Hino doing recalls, too.

Lexus planning a hydrogen fuel-cell LS by 2017

Toyota's Fuel Cell System will certainly migrate to other vehicles in the carmaker's lineup, but Australian car site Motoring reports that one of the models at the head of the queue is the Lexus LS. According to its sources, the executive barge powered by hydrogen will be released by 2017 and take the top spot in the range, rolling in above the LS Hybrid. We're told that Toyota engineers will find a way to slide two hydrogen tanks into its bodywork with the same general setup as on the Mirai – one under the rear seats and another under the rear parcel shelf. The 150-kW fuel cell stack will be placed under the front seats. Motoring says the resulting sedan and its 220-kW electric motor would come in "at around 2,100 kg," which is 4,620 pounds; that's a ginormous 539 pounds less than the listed curb weight of the current LS Hybrid, and 387 pounds more than the standard LS. Assuming all goes as planned, it would have a range of roughly 238 miles, a few dozens less than the Mirai's range of about 300 miles. It would look slightly different, too, the front end getting larger intakes to cool the power unit. It wouldn't surprise us if Lexus does have a hydrogen LS planned – it would be a statement car, and the company likes making statements, even if few heed them; it has stuck with its LS 600h for the past seven years, yet of the 7,539 LS models sold through the end of November this year, only 61 of them were hybrids. The timing would be intriguing, however; by the time the LS hybrid came out, Lexus had already worked over its filet-and-potatoes models. And if the hydrogen version is going to come in above the $120,440 hybrid, well, that will be a statement indeed.

Toyota, Lexus will offer low-cost automated braking system

First, a technology gets better, then it gets a lot better, then it gets less expensive, then it gets a lot less expensive. Advanced driver safety and convenience systems are about to make that last step thanks to Toyota. Centered around a pre-collision braking system, there will be three suites of driver aids known as Toyota Safety Sense C (TSS C) for compact cars, Toyota Safety Sense P (TSS P) for midsized and premium cars, and Lexus Safety System+ (LSS+) for the luxury brand. TSS C pairs a camera with laser radar to provide a pre-collision system that prompts the driver to brake if it detects an impending accident, and can supply additional braking force and automatically brake between seven and fifty miles per hour. There are also Lane Departure Alert and Automatic High Beam. TSS P pairs a camera with more precise millimeter-wave radar. Starting with the three functions in TSS C, it adds pedestrian pre-collision capability and adaptive cruise control. This one will be available first, coming on the new RAV4 Hybrid and Avalon. TSS - either C or P - will expand to three more vehicles by the end of the year. The wallop is in the price: TSS C will be a $300 option, TSS P will cost $500. Compare the Ford Fusion SE, for instance - it's Driver Assistance Package comes with Lane Departure Warning, Automatic High Beams, it has Lane Keep Assist, Blind Spot and Cross Traffic Detection that neither TSS has, but doesn't have any autonomous braking feature. It costs $1,200, but requires you to add the Technology and Luxury Packages for a total price of $3,165. If you want Autonomous Cruise Control, that's another $995, for $4,160 in total. Instead of $300 or $500 on the Toyota. Lexus' LSS+ will come first on the new RX then spread to four more models by the end of this year, and cost between $500 and $635 to add as an option. It also uses a camera and millimeter-wave radar for its vehicle and pedestrian pre-collision system, lane departure warning and lane keep assist, automatic high beam, and auto cruise control. The similar package on a BMW X5, with no pedestrian component, is $1,200. Toyota says both safety suites will eventually be on "nearly all" of it products and all trim levels by the end of 2017.