Is the Auris the new Corolla?

The Toyota Corolla is one of the most successful and recognizable cars in the world, and to celebrate the 40th year of its launch, Toyota has set-up a microsite celebrating this popular model. It is interesting how simple things, like a floor mounted gearshift and reversing lamps, that we now take for granted, were considered important to make the original Corolla more accessible, and thus more popular. Another aspect that cannot be ignored is that the Corolla established the benchmark for production quality and fit-and-finish, which in turned caused the entire car industry to match, if not surpass, this standard. Check out the website, http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/vision/corolla/index.html and tell us why you think the Corolla has become such a worldwide success.

Poised to become the No. 1 carmaker in the world, and producer of the Corolla and Camry, two of the most successful and recognized model ranges ever, when Toyota develops a car for the future, its definitely worth taking a second look. At the 2005 Aichi World Expo in Japan, Toyota showed off a number of interesting concept cars, but by far the most radical was the i-unit, a single-seater mobility pod. Powered by a lithium-ion battery and an electric motor, the design for the i-unit was inspired by a leaf. A development from the PM concept car that Toyota showed at the 2005 Tokyo Motorshow, the i-unit assumes an upright and compact stance in town, but gets lower and longer as it moves faster. The i-unit also features some radical ideas about driver interface, some including the recognition of the driver’s veins! Another interesting feature is that the i-unit’s body panels are made from kenaf the fiber from a quick growing and CO2 absorbing plant grown in South East Asia. If the i-unit was shown off by any other car maker, it would easily be dismissed as pure fantasy. But as the level-headed engineers at Toyota have developed it, it may very well be the Corolla of the future! Check it out at: http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/vision/emerging_tech/i-unit/about.html

Tucked in a corner next to the Lexus LF-A concept car, Toyota/Lexus displayed a model of the V-10 engine that will probably find its way into the next Supra and Lexus coupe. Not many details of the engine have been revealed accept that it has a capacity of "less than five litres", according to the press release. The release also says that it is "an engine capable of developing more than 500bhp"! This engine is able to rocket the LF-A to a claimed top speed of 322km/h, which would make it a rival Ferraris and Aston Martins. The LF-A certainly looks good, and lets hope the production car maintains the style and proportion of this concept car.