Clean on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Watch a Toyota Highlander ram a house, twice

Toyota has had plenty of problems in recent years due to claims of unintended acceleration, and now here's a video that actually catches such a claim on video. The driver of this 2010-2013 Toyota Highlander claims that the crossover's accelerator got stuck causing the vehicle to slam into the house twice, and resulting in damage to the Highlander, the house and two vehicles inside the garage. While we don't know when this accident took place, the video was uploaded to YouTube back in January.
It is impossible to determine what actually happened in this video, but what we do know is that a security camera captures the Highlander slowly pulling into the driveway before it lunges forward slamming into the garage. With the tires squealing and metal crunching, the driver then shifts between reverse and drive a couple times causing even more property damage before spinning out in the street and finally being able to shift into Park. Scroll down to see the video for yourself. Whether unintended acceleration or driver error, this was undoubtedly a harrowing ordeal.

400-hp Toyota Hybrid-R Concept gets second teaser

Toyota has released a second teaser of its Hybrid-R Concept, along with an estimation of the show car's power output. Using technology that's "similar to that used by Toyota Racing's TS030 Hybrid race car," the concept is expected to deliver over 400 horsepower.
The press release also mentions that the new concept is based on a current production model. While it's difficult to tell from the sole teaser image of the car's body, rumors are flying that it's related to the Yaris. If that's the case, though, it's difficult to know what to make of this concept. The teaser image is quite dark, but we played around with the exposure and came up with an image that reveals more details about the new concept. Take a look at the related gallery, below, to see the high-exposure image. We'll find out for certain what the Hybrid-R is in a few weeks at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Let us know what you think Toyota's newest concept is in the comments.

Toyota's Texas move could boost state's economy by $7.2B in 10 years

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and apparently that includes the Toyota's effect on the economy. The giant Japanese automaker's new headquarters in Plano, TX, will add an estimated $7.2 billion to the state over the next 10 years, according to a new study commissioned by the city and cited by Bloomberg.
The benefits appear to be an absolute steal compared to the direct incentives that Plano and the state are giving Toyota. The report finds that by the time the automaker's campus is complete in 2018, it could have 3,650 full-time workers there at an average salary of $104,000. The city has prepared $6.75 million in grants, plus property tax discounts, according to Bloomberg. In addition to that, the state is offering the business $40 million in incentives from its Texas Enterprise Fund. This is still a fraction of what Toyota is estimated to bring in.
Toyota announced in April that it would move its US operations to Plano after being headquartered in California since 1957. The move affects thousands of employees from the sales and engineering divisions. The first workers will arrive there this fall, but Toyota will eventually have a whole campus in Plano by late 2017. The move is expected to save it huge amounts in taxation and offer employees a lower cost of living. Toyota North America CEO Jim Lentz also says that the Texas location puts the headquarters closer to more of the business' factories in the south. Texas certainly appears to be showing it some southern hospitality.