Toyota introduced America’s first subcompact hybrid—the Toyota Prius c—at this year’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit, becoming the only automaker in the country to offer a plugless vehicle capable of topping the 50-mpg benchmark in urban driving: The nimble new Prius c is targeting an EPA line of 53 mpg city/47 mpg highway/50 mpg combined.

To help owners fully optimize the driving experience, the Prius c also will have three selectable driving modes, including an Eco mode that retunes key vehicle systems for enhanced fuel economy and an EV setting that allows drivers to travel about one mile, at speeds up to 25 mph, on electricity alone. But at the same time it raises the bar in terms of fuel economy, the three-door hybrid hatch lowers the price of admission to the Prius family by featuring an MSRP that will start under $19,000.

That opening price will net owners a strong list of standard equipment, too, including automatic climate control, nine airbags, an AM/FM/CD/MP3/WMA sound system with USB port and auxiliary jack, remote keyless entry, Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free phone and music-streaming capabilities, and a tilt/telescopic steering wheel with integrated audio, climate and Bluetooth controls. In keeping with the Prius c’s positioning on the premium end of the subcompact spectrum, a wide range of up-level equipment is available as well, including Toyota’s Display Radio and Entune connectivity/infotainment setup with advanced voice recognition.

The design of the Prius c evokes a premium approach to the segment as well, with a streamlined, aerodynamic exterior and unique proportions that create a planted, athletic stance. The car then lives up to its sporty looks with a uniquely tuned suspension that was specifically engineered for enhanced handling, stability and ride comfort, particularly in the confines of big cities. On the inside, according to Toyota, designers sought to “create a space that is futuristic yet passenger friendly;” it’s a goal that was achieved in part thanks to highly efficient packaging that also improves the Prius c’s weight distribution. For example, both the hybrid battery pack and gasoline fuel tank are located beneath the rear seat, where they lower the car’s center of gravity to refine handling even further.

Drivers can expect the 2012 Toyota Prius c to reach dealerships in March.

From its roots as a sport utility vehicle that put the emphasis on “utility,” the iconic Toyota Land Cruiser has branched out to build a reputation based on an equal mix of body-on-frame capabilities and best-in-the-game luxuries. And now, after more than 50 years of success in the U.S., the 2013 model year will bring significant enhancements to both sides of its ledger.

The changes start with a refreshed exterior design that puts a more sophisticated face on the Land Cruiser, with a new grille, HID headlamps, LED daytime running lamps and larger, revised front bumpers. Graceful, flowing character lines then bring that new look rearward, past refreshed side mirrors and distinctive chrome accents, to where a new tail-lamp design and rear fenders put the finishing touches on the Land Cruiser’s updated appearance. Inside, Toyota has dialed up the volume on the vehicle’s trim and accents, putting a higher gloss on its wood-grain finishes and brightening its silver instrument panel ornamentation and chrome-plated air registers.

There are plenty of new features on board, too, and all are standard; in fact, all features are now standard on the Land Cruiser, as Toyota continues to elevate the ownership experience in its big SUV. As a result, the spec list on the 2013 Land Cruiser will include:

• Toyota’s Entune multimedia system, with advanced voice-recognition technology, premium JBL speakers, hands-free calling, access to mobile apps like Pandora and iHeartRadio, an eight-inch touchscreen, Toyota’s HDD premium nav system, and an integrated rearview camera setup
• A new Multi-terrain Monitor that provides front, side and rear views of the areas immediately surrounding the Land Cruiser, simplifying life on the trail
• Toyota’s Dynamic Radar Cruise Control
• Heated front and second-row seats, along with a heated steering wheel
• One-touch fold-and-tumble second-row seating, for easy access to the Land Cruiser’s third row
• 28 air vents and a four-zone climate system with micro-dust and pollen filters
• A rear-seat DVD entertainment center
• Rain-sensing windshield wipers
• Headlamp cleaners
• A center console “cooler” box
• 10 airbags—driver and front passenger dual-stage advanced airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, front- and second-row seat-mounted side airbags, and three-row roll-sensing side curtain airbags with a roll-sensing cutoff switch

Of course, Toyota also put equal effort into improving the Land Cruiser’s off-road performance. Still leveraging trail-enablers like its advanced Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System, Torsen limited-slip locking differential, and approach/departure angles of 30/20 degrees, the vehicle will benefit from two new upgrades for the next model year: A Multi-terrain Select system and CRAWL Control with Off-Road Turn Assist.

The former lets drivers adjust the Land Cruiser’s wheel-slip control to match road (and off-road) conditions, improving performance in mud and sand, where some extra wheel spin can be a benefit. The latter provides five different settings to automatically control the Land Cruiser’s engine speed, output and braking force during particularly difficult off-road maneuvering, so the driver can concentrate on steering without having to worry about the brake or throttle.

Also packing a 5.7-liter, 381-hp V8 engine that makes 401 lb.-ft. of torque, the 2013 Toyota Land Cruiser roars into dealerships later this year.

Despite significant headwinds caused by last spring’s tragedies in Japan, Toyota quality and value helped five of the automaker’s products become the best-selling vehicles in their class in 2011, including the Toyota Camry, which was both the No. 1 mid-size sedan last year and—once again—America’s most popular car of any kind.

The Camry also was the only car in the U.S. to sell over 300,000 units in 2011, thanks in part to the introduction of the all-new, completely redesigned model this past fall. With the 2012 Camry earning a strong reception, along with 33,506 December sales, the Camry nameplate as a whole tallied 308,510 deliveries for the year; that was almost 40,000 units more than its next closest rival.

Among compact cars, even with the launch of competitors like the Chevy Cruze and next-gen versions of the Hyundai Elantra and Honda Civic, it was still the Toyota Corolla that set the pace. The Corolla notched 240,259 sales last year to also become the third-best-selling car in America.

The country’s best-selling minivan? That title went to the automaker’s “Swagger Wagon,” as the Toyota Sienna leveraged its unique set of available features to garner 111,429 sales in 2011, representing a robust 12.9 percent increase over its performance in 2010. The Sienna is the only minivan in America to offer all-wheel-drive, a sport model and a thrifty four-cylinder engine.

The U.S. compact pickup segment was won by the Toyota Tacoma, as a significant refresh of the truck, introduced late last year, propelled the Tacoma to 110,705 total sales in 2011. The 2012 Tacoma now presents a bolder, more aggressive front-end design along with a comprehensively upgraded interior that offers Toyota’s Entune connectivity and infotainment system.

Finally, the Toyota Prius was the best-selling hybrid in this country last year, a position it’s held ever since the car was first launched in America some 10 years ago. Toyota sold 136,463 Prii in 2011, and that’s a total that should be far surpassed this year, since the automaker is adding the Toyota Prius v and Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid to the fold.

Designed to extend the Prius’ reputation for fuel-efficiency—and its all-electric driving range—farther than ever before, the new Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid recently earned a place on Forbes’ list of “Most Anticipated Cars of 2012.”

The Prius Plug-in builds on the successful formula of the world’s best-selling hybrid, but adds a new 4.4 kWh lithium-ion battery pack to enable up to 15 miles of driving on electricity alone, at speeds of up to 62 mpg; but then, if the batteries run out of juice, the car can leverage the same Hybrid Synergy Drive found in the standard Prius to deliver hundreds of more miles of traveling with an EPA combined driving mark of 49 mpg. Thanks to quick charging times, it also will be easy for drivers to recharge that battery pack during their daily routine.

A full recharge takes about 2.5 to 3 hours using a standard 120-volt outlet or as little as 1.5 hours with a 240-volt unit. In addition, Toyota has collaborated with the EV supply equipment company Leviton to develop home-charging solutions specifically for the Prius Plug-in. The home chargers are available in 120- and 240-volt configurations, and feature compact and simple-to-use designs, full UL certification, affordable pricing, and a Prius-exclusive web portal at Leviton.com/Toyota.

The 2012 Prius Plug-in Hybrid will roll out to select launch markets in the U.S. in the coming year, with an MSRP that begins at $32,000 and includes a wide range of premium content; it will be available nationwide in 2013.

For more information, contact your local Toyota dealer.

With more than 1 million sales around the globe, the Toyota Corolla was once again the best-selling car in the world in 2011—further extending its position as the world’s best-selling car ever: More than 30 million Corollas have been delivered since Toyota first introduced its iconic compact back in 1966, and for 2011, this included some 235,000 sales in the U.S. alone.

That’s a number that should keep increasing, too, thanks to some fine-tuning accomplished by the automaker for the 2012 model year. The big news is a fresh audio system that will be standard across the Corolla family. The setup includes AM/FM/CD/MP3/WMA functionality, Bluetooth hands-free calling and audio streaming, a USB port for iPod connectivity, an auxiliary input port for other music devices, and auto-sound leveling, which adjusts the system’s volume based on the level of ambient noise. In addition, the Corolla LE and Corolla S now showcase steering-wheel-mounted audio controls.

Other adjustments to the Corolla lineup for 2012:

• The starter Corolla gains more standard content, including color-keyed power side mirrors, power windows with an auto-down feature on the driver’s side, power door locks and remote keyless entry.
• Corolla LE benefits from new 16-inch wheels.
• Corolla S adds eye-catching double-stitch seat accents to its sporty package.

In addition, the LE and S can both be enhanced with a Display Audio system with navigation and Toyota’s Entune multimedia system. Entune leverages advanced voice-recognition technology and a 6.1-inch touchscreen to provide easy access to apps like Bing, iHeartRadio, MovieTickets.com, Pandora, OpenTable and more. This upgrade also brings HD Radio with iTunes tagging, six speakers and a complimentary 90-day subscription to SiriusXM Satellite Radio.

The 2012 Toyota Corolla, with an MSRP that begins at $16,130, is on sale now.

It’s not always easy to find the perfect vehicle for winter travel, but “If only a minivan can really meet your basic transportation needs, there’s just one choice to be made: the 2012 Toyota Sienna with optional On-demand All-wheel Drive System with Active Torque Control.” That’s the expert advice from Kelley Blue Book’s KBB.com, which recently named the all-wheel-drive Sienna as one of the Top 10 Winter Cars for 2012.

But not only is the Sienna the sole minivan in America to offer AWD, it also boasts the comprehensive Toyota Star Safety System, which combines a wealth of standard technologies aimed at keeping vehicle occupants safe in any weather. Among them: anti-lock brakes, electronic brake-force distribution, brake assist, enhanced vehicle stability control and traction control. In addition, the Sienna offers seven standard airbags, including the first driver’s-side knee airbag in the segment.

For added peace of mind, Toyota’s Safety Connect telematics system is standard on the Sienna Limited and available on the Sienna XLE. Safety Connect brings four more advanced technologies into play:

• Automatic Collision Notification—Designed to automatically connect with a live advisor if the system detects an airbag deployment or severe rear-end collision; if the advisor can’t communicate with Sienna passengers, he/she can dispatch first responders to the vehicle’s location.
• Emergency Assistance Button—In case of an emergency, this “SOS” feature enables communication with a live advisor with just one push of a button.
• Roadside Assistance—Safety Connect provides quick and easy access to help for non-emergencies, too, like flat tires and lockouts.
• Stolen Vehicle Assistance—If a Sienna with the system is stolen, advisors can work with local law enforcement to track it down and recover it.

For more information on the Toyota Sienna, contact your local dealership today.

Details about two of the most popular members of the Toyota lineup were recently announced for the 2012 model year, with the automaker releasing information about MSRPs and upgrades to the Toyota Prius and Toyota RAV4.

Toyota’s best-selling hybrid, the Prius, receives a fairly deep refresh for 2012. On the base model, designers introduced a restyled front fascia, revised tail lamps, nifty new 15-inch wheel covers, LED daytime running lamps, and some notable increases in standard content, too. The biggest change? The addition of Toyota’s Display Audio sound system, boasting a big 6.1-inch screen, USB port, Bluetooth functionality for hands-free calling and music streaming, and more. Uplevel Prius models share the same design enhancements and now feature Toyota’s Entune connectivity and infotainment setup, navigation, a rearview camera system, an eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, and, on the Prius Four and Fiv, a high-efficiency, eight-speaker JBL GreenEdge sound system.

Many options are available as well, including the Prius’ first head-up display, which projects key vehicle information onto the windshield in front of the driver, helping to eliminate the need to take his/her eyes off the road.

The starting price of the 2012 Toyota Prius—expected to go on sale in January—is $23,015 for the entry version. It’s a fairly moderate change that reflects Toyota’s decision to hold cost increases to 2 to 4.3 percent depending on the model.

And the price of admission to the RAV4 family advances by an even smaller amount. The base MSRP of the entry model is now $22,650, reflecting an increase of .8 percent; all other models see price bumps of less than that, with the RAV4 Limited benefiting from a .5 percent reduction in its MSRP. Despite this, all RAV4 models get a new audio system that includes—as a standard feature—Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free calling/online music streaming.

The automaker’s Display Audio sound system is available as well on the RAV4 Limited, and features both Entune and navigation. Toyota also will continue to offer both two- and four-wheel-drive powertrains in the RAV4, along with the only third-row seating in its class.

The 2012 Toyota RAV4 is on sale now.

When a top NFL program builds a dynasty that competes with the best in the league year after year after year, you’re likely to hear the old cliché that the team doesn’t have to rebuild between seasons—just reload. Well, much the same can be said of Toyota and the all-new 2012 Toyota Camry: The best-selling car in America for nine straight years—and counting—recently scored a place among KBB.com’s “10 Best Redesigned Cars for 2012.”

According to Kelley Blue Book’s popular website, “Bolder looks, more comfortable seating and an even-longer roster of standard features on this recast mid-size sedan are complemented by improved fuel economy, significantly better handling and a stronger emphasis on value pricing that extends across the entire Camry lineup.”

And notably, that lineup now includes “an absolutely brilliant new iteration of its mileage-maxing hybrid model.”

Thanks to substantial upgrades to Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive powertrain—including a revised, high-efficiency I4 gas engine with 2.5 liters of displacement—the 2012 Camry Hybrid offers a total of 200 combined hp, yet still rings up EPA marks of 43 mpg city/39 mpg highway/41 mpg combined; that’s better mileage than either the 2012 Ford Fusion hybrid or 2012 Hyundai Sonata hybrid. And Toyota also double dips with the gas-only four-cylinder Camry model: That car gains a +5 percent bump in horsepower yet receives EPA increases of 3 mpg city/3 mpg highway/2 mpg combined for a line of 25/35/28—no other comparable mainstream sedan does better. Even the 2012 V6 Camry owns fuel-efficiency marks that are unsurpassed in its segment.

The 2012 Toyota Camry and Camry Hybrid are on sale at local dealerships now.

Still the best-selling car in America, the 2012 Toyota Camry showcased the automaker’s traditional approach to safety in recent testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), once again scoring a 5-star overall ranking.

Achieving this important benchmark was on Toyota’s radar screen right from the start of the new car’s development, and is evidenced by features like a reinforced body structure featuring B-pillar and rocker-panel reinforcements made from high-strength steel. The robust construction helps keep the cabin from deforming in severe collisions, while also absorbing impact energies, to significantly enhance the safety of all occupants. In addition, the 2012 Camry boasts a best-in-class 10 standard airbags, including advanced dual-stage SRS front airbags, front and and rear seat-mounted side airbags, side curtain airbags and driver’s and front passenger’s knee airbags.

Also standard on the Camry is Toyota’s “Star Safety System.” This package of technologies includes vehicle stability control, traction control, anti-lock brakes, electronic brake-force distribution, brake assist, a tire-pressure monitoring system and Toyota’s Smart Stop brake-override system.

Other safety enhancers available on the new Camry:

• A rearview camera system with driver-guideline overlays for easier parking
• Safety Connect, which provides automatic access to a live operator who can dispatch first responders in case of an emergency, along with automatic collision notification and a GPS-based stolen-vehicle tracker
• A new blind-spot monitor that can alert drivers to vehicles outside of their regular sight lines

According to the automaker: “We are very pleased that the all-new 2012 Camry has earned a five-star composite safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The fact that the Camry earned this 5-star overall score after enduring a more rigorous NHTSA testing procedure targeted at raising the bar for overall vehicle safety is testament to the strong design, and safety-focused engineering consumers can expect in the nation’s top-selling car.”

Beginning this year, the Toyota Prius is on its way to expanding its family with three new members, and its progeny are already living up to their parent’s award-winning ways: In fact, three Prii—Prius Liftback, Prius v and Prius Plug-in Hybrid—recently combined to earn the “Best Green Car to Buy 2012” recognition from GreenCarReports.com.

“The Prius is more than just one car this year,” said John Voelcker, editor, Green Car Reports. “With a new Prius v and the Prius Plug-In Hybrid, it’s now a family of vehicles with some of the highest gas mileage on the market today, and the Prius name is likely to help encourage buyers to take the plunge into plug-in vehicles.”

The award reflects the Prius family’s standout technologies, customer-friendly practicality and (low) impact on the environment, all of which are standard features regardless of which Prius you choose:

• Prius Liftback—After more than 10 years and 1 million U.S. sales, the original Prius continues to be the top-selling hybrid in America—and the most efficient one, too. With EPA ratings of 51 mpg city/48 mpg highway/50 mpg combined, the 2012 Prius showcases an MSRP of just $23,520.
• Prius v—All-new for the 2012 model year, the Prius v offers the expected high fuel-economy numbers (44 mpg city/40 mpg highway/42 mpg combined) in a super-sized package that delivers up to 67.3 cubic feet of cargo space, which is more than most small SUVs and crossovers. The Prius v is on sale now with a starting price of $26,400.
• Prius Plug-in Hybrid—The Prius Plug-in takes things to the next level with an all-electric, zero-emissions driving range of up to 15 miles at the equivalent of 87 mpg; then if its battery is depleted, drivers can enjoy hundreds of more miles of driving by relying on the car’s gas-powered hybrid powertrain. Which is capable of 48 mpg combined. The Prius Plug-in goes on sale in select markets in the spring of 2012, with an MSRP of $32,000.

And also slated to launch early next year will be the Prius c. While it’s designed for young drivers shopping in the subcompact segment, the Prius c expected to feature big-time EPA ratings that top 50 mpg in the city.

As proven by the latest honor from GreenCarReports.com—and explained by Bob Carter, Toyota Division group vice president and general manager: “This is no ordinary family. It’s a modern family with a Prius for everyone.”