2009 Toyota Venza Base Wagon 4-door 2.7l on 2040-cars

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US-built Corollas will soon be exported to Latin America, Caribbean

Toyota has announced plans to export the American-made Corolla south, to 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean by 2014. The move follows statements made to The Wall Street Journal by Toyota's South American leader, Steve St. Angelo, that spoke to Toyota's resolve in emerging American markets.
Toyota is expected to begin export production in April, with initial production of 7,500 Corollas in the first year, courtesy of its Tupelo, Mississippi assembly plant. Years of unpredictable swings in the value of the Japanese yen has seen Toyota push its manufacturing operations in other countries, particularly the US, where its builds ten different models.
Scroll down to read the full press release from Toyota.

BMW-Toyota sports car heading towards Tokyo debut

Earlier this year, BMW and Toyota confirmed a four-part joint venture mostly focusing on increasing improving vehicle efficiency using fuel cells, lightweight materials and better battery technology. Also tucked into the announcement was a "feasibility study" for a shared platform to underpin a future midsize "sports vehicle."
In terms of the latter, it seems that things have stepped up from the feasibility stage to the conceptual stage, as Motor Trend reports we could see a pair of new sports car concepts debut later this year in at the Tokyo Motor Show. There isn't much information about the new program, but the article suggests the sports cars could be all-wheel drive hybrids, with electric motors powering the front wheels and a gas engine powering the rear wheels. While a partnership between Toyota and BMW might not lend itself to a catchy portmanteau like "Toyobaru," here's hoping it will bear fruit that is as exciting as the ones produced by the Toyota/Subaru tie up.

Toyota recalls 690,000 Tacoma trucks for rusty leaf springs, fire risk

Toyota has announced that it will be issuing a recall of 690,000 Tacoma pickups from model years 2005 through 2011. The affected vehicles include both the four-wheel-drive model and the two-wheel-drive PreRunner (but not the standard 4x2 pickups), which may have a rather serious problem with their rear suspensions.
In some cases, corrosion and stress could cause one of the three or four leaves in the rear suspension's leaf springs to fracture. While the trucks can still be driven with a broken leaf, Toyota is concerned that it could move out of position and impact other components in the rear of the truck, with a particular focus on the fuel tank. Needless to say, but a piece of metal continuously impacting anything, let alone the fuel tank, is cause for concern.
As of this writing, there have been no reports of crashes, injuries, fires or deaths due to this problem, although that won't stop Toyota from informing all affected customers of the issue. Those 690,000 owners will need to report in to dealers for inspections and, if necessary, repairs.