Toyota will add capacity at its engine plant in Huntsville, Ala., to increase North American production of four-cylinder engines. The expansion will allow Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Alabama (TMMAL) to produce 216,000 four-cylinder engines annually. Production will begin by summer 2011.

The plant currently builds both V8 and V6 engines. The expansion will bring its annual engine capacity to 577,000.

At least 240 new employees will be hired, raising total employment at TMMAL to more than 1,000. New investment will be $147 million, bringing the total to $637 million.

“The four-cylinder engines to be produced in Alabama will be for Camry and RAV4,” said Jim Wiseman, vice president of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

“Currently all engines for RAV4s made at our Woodstock, Ontario plant come from Japan, as well as engines for Camrys built at SIA in Lafayette, Ind.,” he explained. “We’re pleased to be moving all of this production to North America.”

He added that four-cylinder engines will continue to be built in Kentucky for Camry production at that plant.

Both of Toyota’s Bodine Aluminum castings plants, located in Troy, Mo. and Jackson, TN., will also add capacity to provide cylinder heads and blocks to TMMAL.

Combined investment for those two facilities will be $25 million with up to 60 new jobs.

Toyota is considering a recall involving headlights on the Toyota Prius. The HID bulbs on some Prius models can cost upwards of $1,000 to replace when they fail, prompting a slew of complaints by affected Prius owners as well as a lawsuit that may become a class-action suit.

The NHTSA has begun a preliminary investigation after receiving more than 300 complaints regarding the issue. Toyota claims that it is cooperating with the NHTSA but has refused to comment on the possibility of a recall.

Toyota has announced the annual subscription price for its all-new, proprietary telematics system, Safety Connect. The system will soon be an available option on the all-new MY10 Prius.

A complimentary one-year trial subscription of Safety Connect is included on all purchases of new Toyota Prius vehicles equipped with the service. One-year renewal subscriptions to Safety Connect will be available for $139.95, with multi-year subscriptions also available.

Safety and Security Features

The Safety Connect response center operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week―every day of the year. Using the system’s embedded cellular and GPS technology, subscribed Prius vehicles will provide these four safety and security features:

Automatic Collision Notification (ACN)

Helping drivers receive the necessary response from emergency services, in case of either airbag deployment or severe rear-end collision, the system is designed to automatically call the response center. The responding agent receives the vehicle’s location and attempts to speak with the vehicle occupants to assess the level of emergency. If the occupants are unable to communicate, the agent automatically treats the call as an emergency, contacts the nearest emergency services provider to describe the situation, and requests that assistance be sent to the location.

Stolen Vehicle Location (SVL)

If a subscribed Safety Connect–equipped vehicle is stolen, Safety Connect can work with local authorities to help them in the attempt to locate the vehicle. After filing a police report, the owner can call the Safety Connect response center to initiate this service.

Emergency Assistance Button (SOS)

In the event of an emergency on the road, a push of the “SOS” button will initiate a call to the Safety Connect response center. The answering agent can determine the vehicle’s location, assess the emergency, and request a dispatch of the necessary assistance.

Roadside Assistance

Via the “SOS” button, Safety Connect response-center agents can help drivers with a wide range of needs, such as: towing, jump start, flat tire, fuel delivery, etc.

Safety Connect will be available on MY10 Prius vehicles manufactured after August 1, 2009.

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., today reported that July vehicle sales of 174,872 vehicles trailed year ago levels by 11.4 percent, on a daily selling rate basis. The CARS program generated significant incremental sales for TMS this month.

“Beyond the tangible economic stimulus, the positive environmental benefits of the CARS program is clear to see,” said TMS President Jim Lentz. “The program is achieving its goal of increasing fuel efficiency. CARS-related Toyota sales, over the seven days alone, will save customers an estimated 8 million gallons of gas and 20 million dollars in gas spending over the next year.”

The Toyota Division posted July sales of 156,355 units, a decrease of 10.8 percent from the same period last year. The Lexus Division reported July sales of 18,517 units, a decrease of 16.5 percent from the year-ago month.

Toyota Division

Toyota Division passenger cars recorded July sales of 102,665 units, down 10.6 percent from the same period last year. Camry and Camry Hybrid remained Toyota’s volume leader in July, posting combined monthly sales of 33,974 units. The all-new redesigned Prius mid-size gas-electric hybrid posted best-ever July sales of 19,173 units, up 29.7 percent from the year-ago month. Corolla recorded sales of 29,593 units. Yaris reported sales of 5,483 units for the month.

Toyota Division light trucks posted July sales of 53,690 units, down 11.1 percent from the year-ago month. Light truck sales were led by the RAV4 compact SUV with best-ever July sales of 15,912 units, up 32.5 percent over the same period last year. Highlander and Highlander Hybrid posted combined sales of 9,407 units, up 39.1 percent over July 2008. The Tacoma mid-size pickup reported sales of 12,552 units for the month, up 7.6 percent over July 2008. The Tundra full-size pickup recorded July sales of 6,313 units.

Scion posted July sales of 6,754 units. The xB urban utility vehicle led the way with sales of 2,838 units. The tC sports coupe recorded sales of 1,939 units. The xD reported sales of 1,976 units for the month.

Lexus Division

Lexus passenger cars reported July sales of 9,904 units, a decrease of 25.1 percent from July 2008. Passenger car sales were led by the ES entry luxury sedan with July sales of 4,393 units. The IS entry luxury sport sedan posted combined sales of 4,029 units. The LS flagship luxury sedan recorded combined sales of 874 units. The GS luxury sport sedan reported combined July sales of 551 units.

Lexus Division light trucks recorded July sales of 8,613 units, down 3.9 percent from the year-ago month. Lexus sales were led by the RX and RX Hybrid luxury utility vehicle, which posted combined July sales of 7,811 units, up 10.0 percent over last July.

TMS Hybrids

TMS posted July sales of 24,295 hybrid vehicles, up 19.3 percent from the same period last year. Toyota Division recorded sales of 22,853 hybrids for the month. Lexus Division reported July sales of 1,442 hybrids.

There were 26 selling days this month and last July.

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has announced financial results for the first quarter ending June 30, 2009.

TMC Senior Managing Director Takahiko Ijichi said of the results, “Although we were able to make certain improvements in fixed cost and cost reduction efforts, the decline in vehicle sales and the appreciation of the Japanese yen had a severe impact on our earnings.”　

On a consolidated basis, net revenues for the first quarter totaled 3.836 trillion yen, a decrease of 38.3 percent compared to the same period last fiscal year. Operating income decreased from 412.5 billion yen to a loss of 194.9 billion yen, while income before income taxes and equity in earnings of affiliated companies was a loss of 138.5 billion yen. Net income (net income attributable to Toyota Motor Corporation) decreased from 353.6 billion yen to a loss of 77.8 billion yen.

Operating income decreased by 607.4 billion yen. Major factors for the decline include 650.0 billion yen due to the effects of sales volume and mix and 140.0 billion yen due to the appreciation of the Japanese yen mainly against the U.S. dollar and the euro.

Consolidated vehicle sales for the first quarter amounted to 1.40 million units, a decrease of 785 thousand units from the same period last fiscal year.

In Japan, vehicle sales were 407 thousand units, a decrease of 105 thousand units.

In North America, vehicle sales were 387 thousand units, a decrease of 342 thousand units.

In Europe, vehicle sales were 213 thousand units, a decrease of 88 thousand units.

In Asia, vehicle sales were 194 thousand units, a decrease of 68 thousand units.

In the ‘Other’ region that includes Central and South America, Oceania, Africa and the Middle East, vehicle sales were 200 thousand units, a decrease of 182 thousand units.

Operating income in all regions declined due to global weakness in the new car market. Operating loss in Japan was particularly significant, as a result of lower export profitability due to the appreciation of the Japanese yen.

In financial services, operating income excluding interest rate swap valuation losses increased by 8.7 billion yen to 34.6 billion yen. Improvements in the lending margin and decreased residual loss-related expenses contributed positively.

For the fiscal year ending March 2010, TMC upwardly revises its forecast of consolidated vehicle sales from 6.5 million to 6.6 million units, reflecting improving vehicle sales in Japan.

TMC also revises its consolidated financial forecasts for this year, to net revenues of 16.8 trillion yen, operating loss of 750.0 billion yen, loss before income taxes and equity in earnings of affiliated companies of 700.0 billion yen and net loss (net loss attributable to Toyota Motor Corporation) of 450.0 billion yen. These are based on the assumption of the foreign exchange rates: 90 yen against the U.S. dollar and 130 yen against the euro.

Senior Managing Director Ijichi commented on the outlook: “The introduction of demand-stimulating measures such as scrappage incentives by individual governments including Japan have begun to trigger a revival in some countries and regions. The upward revision of Japanese sales reflects the positive effects of the Government’s measures such as the ‘eco-car tax break’ being felt throughout the market. In addition, the recently launched new hybrid models such as the third generation Prius and the Lexus HS250h have received a very positive response from our customers.

In view of this, and a continuing reduction in fixed costs, we raise our target for Emergency Profit Improvement activities from 800 billion yen to 900 billion yen. We will strongly promote profit improvement activities across the company in order to further improve our earning prospects.”

The Toyota Highlander Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle – Advanced (FCHV-adv) achieved an estimated range of 431 miles on a single full tank of compressed hydrogen gas, and an average fuel economy of 68.3 miles/kg (approximate mpg equivalent) during a day-long trip down the southern California coast.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Savannah River National Laboratory (SNRL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), approached Toyota to participate in a collaborative evaluation of the real world driving range of the FCHV-adv. On Tuesday, June 30, two fuel cell vehicles, two Toyota Technical Center engineers, an SRNL engineer and a NREL engineer completed a 331.5 mile extended round trip drive between Torrance, California and San Diego.

“This evaluation of the FCHV-adv demonstrates not only the rapid advances in fuel cell technology, but also the viability of this technology for the future,” said Jared Farnsworth, Toyota Technical Center advanced powertrain engineer.

The route encompassed a variety of drive cycles, including high speed highway driving, moderate highway driving and stop and go traffic on surface streets, in an effort to capture a typical commute. Each vehicle was outfitted with a data collection system that captured vehicle speed, distance traveled, hydrogen consumed, hydrogen tank pressure, temperature and internal tank volume.

Driving range data from each vehicle was calculated by SRNL and NREL engineers. The results were averaged for an estimated range of 431 miles, with an average fuel economy of 68.3 miles/kg.

For comparison, the 2009 Toyota Highland Hybrid achieves an EPA-estimated rating of 26 mpg combined fuel economy and has a full-tank range of approximately 450 miles. With premium grade gasoline currently priced at about $3.25, the gasoline-powered V6 Highlander hybrid is estimated to travel approximately 26 miles at a cost of about $3.25. Currently, hydrogen gas pricing is not fixed, but DOE targets future pricing at $2 to $3 per kilogram. Therefore, the FCHV-adv is estimated to travel approximately 68 miles at a projected cost of about $2.50 – more than double the range of the Highlander Hybrid, at equal or lesser cost, while producing zero emissions.

SRNL and NREL analyzed all data gathered during the evaluation and prepared a formal report to DOE verifying range results and miles per kilogram achieved. This report will assist regulators and government research programs to accurately assess the status of the fuel cell industry and viability of the current technology.

“Toyota’s hydrogen fuel cell technology has advanced rapidly over the last two years,” said Irv Miller, TMS group vice president, environmental and public affairs. “In 2015, our plan is to bring to market a reliable and durable fuel cell vehicle with exceptional fuel economy and zero emissions, at an affordable price.”