Mark Miller Toyota Downtown

If you keep up with current happenings in the automotive world, you've probably heard rumors of new Toyota RAV4 EV. Well, finally, three days ago (May 7, 2012) it was unveiled at L.A.'s 26^th International Electric Vehicle Symposium. The new electric version of the RAV4 originally made its debut at the 2010 Los Angeles Motor Show, but has received some updates, including a Tesla-powered powertrain, since that time.

It's true. Toyota is extremely focused on keeping its customers as far away from the gas pump as possible, and its efforts are paying off- especially in the state of California- which has the highest gasoline prices in the nation. Five of its models are especially impressive, as they offer an average combined fuel economy rating of an amazing 44 mpg.

Are you a manager or a member of a nonprofit community organization that needs some extra help in the transportation department? If so, you should really look into the Toyota "100 Cars for Good" program, which has now been launched for its second year. During the huge philanthropy project, the Japanese automaker is donating a hundred cars to a hundred nonprofit organizations over a hundred-day span. Every day during the competition, the winner will be selected through a public voting process on the auto brand's Facebook page.

Toyota Highlander Will Now Be Exported From America

The Toyota Highlander, a sporty SUV with a fun personality, has always been built in Japan, home base of Toyota, but times are changing. The Japanese yen continues to grow in value, which is great for the country, but is proving problematic for automakers and auto manufacturers that export vehicles built there to other countries. Soon, the Toyota Highlander will move its production to the United States, and Toyota has stated it will invest $400 million to expand its Princeton, Indiana plant. This plant already builds the vehicle, but its capacity will grow by a large margin. Toyota has also enlarged production at its new Mississippi plant with a second shift to reduce the needed number of Toyota Corolla imports from Japan.

Toyota has stayed far away from rental-car sales in the past, but this year, it breached the market much more deeply and saw a huge increase in profit, as compared to last year's numbers. In January 2012, Toyota sold over 24 thousand new cars and trucks to U.S. rental car fleets- a 47 percent increase from 2011. Without these extra fleet sales, the company would have only seen a one percent increase in sales, instead of the 7.5 percent increase it achieved.

There are no two ways about it, Toyota, as all Japanese auto manufacturers and key parts suppliers, was hit fast and hard by March's severe weather phenomenon. From March 11 to the end of May, the disasters had interrupted the production of 550,000 vehicles in Japan and another 350,000 overseas.

After assessing the extent of the damage in the aftermath, Toyota projected they would increase their operating levels from 50 percent to about 70-percent, in coming months and to 100 percent, hopefully by the end of this year. Happily, the market leviathan is not as crippled as…

Toyota has seen so much recent success with Yaris that they will add more models to the line up. There will be not one but two new "top of the range models" added to the Toyota Yaris in 2011. Both newcomers are based on the top trim level and go on sale in January, with special launch prices of course.

The Toyota Yaris "T Spirit" (as it will be named in the UK) includes an…

TOOELE, Utah - Sunday September 12, 2010, at Miller Motorsports Park, Greg Pursley battled all the way back to win the Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts Bonus Challenge after nearly losing the race due to a pit error.

Moments after race leader Patrick Long slowed suddenly, due to a flat right front tire on Lap 34, Pursley grabbed the lead from Paulie Harraka.

Harraka wound up getting passed by Eric Curran for second, followed by Moses Smith…

The Toyota Prius is the world's best selling and most quiet hybrid car. When the electric engine takes over control of the vehicle, you almost can't even hear it pass by. Well, this has been quite an issue in some areas, especially those with high pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

Several accidents over the years involving a collision between hybrid cars and those on foot or pedaling has raised concerns that the Toyota Pius…

Toyota is having avery good year, even with those pesky recalls looming over the Japanese auto maker's head. The company posted a $2.2 billion dollar profit in the second quarter for 2010. This is a 27% increase in profit for the company.

The Toyota Camry and Prius Hybrid, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary, are two of the best selling models from the car maker.

Over in Japan, Toyota sold their one-millionth Prius…