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The Land Cruiser FJ Goes Live in Japan Months after it made its world premiere in Japan, the compact Toyota Land Cruiser FJ has reached showrooms in its home market. Carrying a base price under $30,000, it's an affordable way to get into off-roading. As it's based on the Hilux, it's got rugged underpinnings from the get-go, and true capability off the beaten path. It's just a shame that the U.S has little to no chance of ever getting it. The Land Cruiser FJ has almost everything an old-school of

Not Exactly a Secret Cars have been collecting data the moment vehicle telematics became widespread. These days, however, it's more extensive now given the advancements in technology. There are more data points to collect, which has become a concern for consumers. The worry here is that the data is being collected by third-party companies that then offer it for sale to those who need, or rather, want it. Since then, there have been several lawsuits against automakers that claim regarding the mat

As legacy market growth stalls, the world's largest carmaker is quietly placing a massive hedge with the poster child of rapid development, India. As reported by Nikkei Asia, Toyota Motor Corporation has formally committed roughly $1.9 billion (300 billion yen) to establish three new vehicle assembly plants in Maharashtra, India. This is a calculated investment in one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and a rising export hub. Toyota is tapping India to be its export hub for the Middle Eas

Toyota has good news for owners of the iconic A80 Supra, who will be able to replace the aging dashboards of their beloved sports cars with brand-new ones as part of its GR Heritage Parts Project. Gazoo Racing announced that it plans to reproduce and reissue the A80 Supra’s instrument panel, which is expected to become available to buyers in Japan this fall. Together with the already available GR Heritage Parts A80 Supra instrument cluster panel, the instrument panel forms the A80 Supra’s dashb

Toyota may have one of the most extensive lineups of hybrid models in the country, but it still lags behind in the EV space. The 2026 Toyota bZ Woodland will help to change this—it’s a longer and more spacious version of the bZ. Sharing much with the Subaru Trailseeker, the bZ Woodland has finally been priced, but the news isn’t good. The Toyota electric SUV is far more expensive than its mechanically similar Subaru cousin. Is there a reason for this, or is Toyota simply charging for its stronge

Toyota’s Lead Going Into 2026 Heading into 2026, Toyota is in a stronger spot than it is used to. The brand closed out 2025 as America’s top-selling automaker and kept its global lead as well. That consistency comes down to Toyota’s early and ongoing commitment to hybrids – a move the company treats as a foundation, not just a stopgap on the way to full electrics. With EV incentives in flux and buyers growing wary, Toyota’s hybrid-heavy lineup gave Americans a practical alternative. Shoppers who

The Reverse Import Wave Now, reverse importing to Japan isn't new. Honda, Toyota, and Mitsubishi did it way back in the '90s. The practice is making a comeback, though, as a way of appeasement to avoid retaliatory tariffs that could make Japanese-built cars prohibitively expensive, as well as to improve Japan-U.S. trade relations. Toyota and Nissan have committed to the program, but it's Toyota that's first to bring in its American-made cars in its home country. The first models are the Tundra a

Toyota and Subaru shared the GR86 and BRZ, and then they put their own badges on their nearly identical electric crossovers, the bZ and Trailseeker. But despite sharing nearly everything, the two EVs have a big gulf between their prices, with the 2026 bZ Woodland over $5,000 more expensive than the 2026 Trailseeker. At least, that was the case a few weeks ago, with Cars.com reporting that the bZ Woodland is now being offered with up to $5,000 in cash back for buyers and $6,500 in cash back for t

Return of a Halo Car Toyota is preparing to stage the public debut of the GR GT and GR GT3 at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2026 in Japan next month. The showcase will mark the imminent return of a true flagship sports car from the Japanese automaker, filling a void left since the Lexus LFA, which debuted in 2010. The Toyota GR GT is engineered for road use and will be powered by a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 hybrid powertrain, paired with an all-aluminum chassis designed to deliver weight savings. Bo

Betting on What Already Works Toyota announced a $1 billion investment as part of its broader $10 billion U.S. spending plan over the next five years. The move includes boosting production capacity for its top-selling models – the RAV4 and Camry – at its Kentucky plant. Increased production capacity could give the RAV4 and Camry a better shot at competing with the top volume sellers in the U.S., including the Ford F-Series and Chevrolet Silverado. In 2025, the RAV4 ranked as the third-best-selli

What's Old Is Still Brand New It's no secret that automakers still pump out pretty old cars in this day and age. One prime example of that is the Chevrolet Express. Introduced in 1996, the van turns 30 in 2026, and is just a few years away from matching the almighty Ford Panther platform that underpinned the Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, and Lincoln Town Car. But even then, that van beats all those as it's been that way for an entire generation. But we digress, as GM is far from being t

A Small Segment With One Big Player The compact truck segment in the US is shrinking. With the Hyundai Santa Cruz on its way out, the Ford Maverick is now the only player left. Fordsold about 155,000 Mavericks in 2025, proof that there’s real demand for a smaller, more affordable unibody truck that actually works for daily life. But just because people want these trucks doesn’t mean it makes sense to build another one. Toyota has been watching this space closely. The numbers show there’s interes

RAV4 EV? Not Anytime Soon Toyota has transformed the RAV4 into a hybrid-only vehicle for the 2026 model year, signaling the possibility of a fully electric version in the future. However, new RAV4 chief engineer Yoshinori Futonagane told Australia’s Drive through an interpreter that going fully electric is not expected to happen, at least in the coming years. Instead, Futonagane-san pointed to Toyota’s multi-powertrain approach, which may have helped the brand deal with changing EV policies, a c

"We're a Bunch of Oddballs Who Love a Challenge" There are a bunch of questions that can be answered with "why not?" We didn't need to go to the moon, nor did we have to explore the oceans. In Toyota's case, it didn't really have to move the engine of the GR Yaris from the front to the middle. But that's exactly why the folks at Gazoo Racing did. The result of that experiment is the TGRR (Toyota Gazoo Rookie Racing) GR Yaris M Concept, and it was first shown at the 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon way back

Built Tough, Wired Wrong Toyota debuted the next-generation Hilux late last year with several updates, including a switch to electric power steering (EPS), which enables lighter low-speed operation while supporting more advanced driver-assistance features. Just months later, the model is being recalled due to an issue linked to the EPS system. According to Toyota Australia, approximately 13,390 ninth-gen Hilux units fitted with a Toyota Genuine Accessory bull bar or nudge bar with a light bar ma

Roughly two months after its debut in Thailand, where it is built for the local and global markets, the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ has launched in Japan. The compact, rugged off-road SUV has officially gone on sale in Japan today with a single engine, a single trim level and a price that makes it the most affordable Land Cruiser-badged SUV in Toyota's home market. At This Price, Is the FJ the Most Desirable Toyota or What? To

Not Just Another Entry-Level Land Cruiser In stock form, the Land Cruiser FJ already shows what Toyota is going for. It’s smaller, easier to handle, and sits below the American Land Cruiser. But seeing it in Thailand, surrounded by finished builds and accessories, changes how I see it. The new FJ isn't an entry-level Land Cruiser – it’s meant to be an off-road toy. Up close, the proportions stand out even more than those of the well-loved Suzuki Jimny. It looks like something you’d actually want

Popularity Breeds Longevity The previous Toyota FJ Cruiser was probably one of the longest-running models ever produced by the brand. It was produced and sold from 2006 to 2022, a full 16-year production run featuring very small updates in between, yet retaining the platform's much-loved purity throughout. A lot of people were sad when it was killed off in 2022, but Toyota was quick to point out that an all-new model was on the horizon. A short three-year hiatus later, here we are with the all-n

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released new crash-safety scores for 16 models this month, and only two of them managed to achieve a safety award. This comes as the authority’s safety tests are made progressively more challenging. One notable vehicle that missed out on a safety award is the Toyota Land Cruiser, a model more closely associated with durability and toughness than most others. While not as large as the previous Land Cruiser, the new one’s more modern design was exp

Toyota is expanding its smallest commercial vehicle range in Japan with a new battery electric version of the Pixis Van, adding a dedicated BEV option to a kei class work van that is built for urban delivery duty. Toyota says the model goes on sale February 2, and it is aimed at last mile operators who want a compact footprint, predictable running costs, and the ability to power small equipment on site.

When Toyota revived the C-HR nameplate last year in the form of a small electric crossover, we expected it to start at around $30,000. That would’ve made it one of the cheapest EVs in America and a lot cheaper than the company’s larger bZ. Pricing has now been released for the 2026 C-HR, but it’s not nearly as affordable as we had hoped, especially considering the recent influx of affordable EVs like the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model Y Standard. However, with its potent performance and unique look

A Common Weak Spot Among Midsize Trucks Trucks today are a lot more polished than they used to be, but the back seat still isn’t where you’d volunteer to sit. That’s doubly true for midsize pickups, where engineers are always fighting for every inch of space. Unlike SUVs, pickups have to deal with a three-box layout consisting of the engine bay, passenger cabin, and cargo bed. The bed itself creates a hard limit behind the rear seats, which usually means upright seatbacks, tighter legroom, and a

Lexus Dealers Are Already Lining Up Toyota has begun laying the groundwork to bring the GR GT to the U.S., with more than 100 Lexus dealers already expressing interest in handling sales, according to Automotive News. The automaker is said to be taking a more controlled approach, creating a customized sales and service process to ensure proper customer delivery. This appears to be a much more deliberate rollout than when the Lexus LFA was launched – though, to be fair, Toyota did not initially an

Plug-In Pickups Are Already Out There Electrified pickups are slowly gaining ground, but plug-in hybrid versions are still a rare sight in the U.S. In other parts of the world, though, they’re already much more common. Ford has rolled out the Ranger PHEV, while China’s BYD is pushing the Shark plug-in hybrid pickup in markets like Mexico, Asia, and Australia. Nissan has also introduced a plug-in version of the Frontier overseas. Toyota has also been pushing electrification in its pickups, but mo

One of the best decisions Japanese automakers ever made was to create North American branches, and they have traditionally been a reliable source of cash for these companies when things in the rest of the world are challenging, but Toyota North America has posted a $1.21 billion loss for the 2025 fiscal year. After a $681.4 million profit the year before, what is the cause of this decline? There are several: Trump tariffs, investing in EVs, and the war in Iran. However, new CEO and former CFO Ke