Toyota Aurion 2011 News

Appealing to our national identity to support local product is the Toyota’s latest lure to entice buyers into showrooms. Toyota is pushing the “buy Australian” line with a 0 per cent finance deal on its locally assembled Camry, Camry Hybrid and Aurion sedans. Camry sales are still more than solid, with the sedan accounting for almost one in three cars sold in the mid-sized market. The Aurion, though, is being hammered by the move away from large sedans and sales are down 23 per cent so far this year. Toyota's executive director sales and marketing Matthew Callachor says the finance offer is an extension of the company's Local Pride advertising campaign, which features staff from the Altona production line in Melbourne’s west extolling the virtues of the vehicles. "Zero per cent (finance) is a way to encourage Australians to rediscover the value and other attributes of cars we build here," Callachor says. "Over many years, we have exported several times more Australian-built Toyota cars than we sell locally. Our long-term aim is to shift this balance closer to 50:50. We are supporting that objective by reminding local motorists that Camry and Aurion are built by Australians for Australians." Toyota built 96,618 cars at the plant last year, most of which were exported and will open a new $330 million engine facility in Victoria later this year to build the 2.5-litre four-cylinder engines that power the Camry range. The financial promotion is a means of offsetting the continued strength of the Aussie dollar, which effectively gives importers a default discount on their vehicles. Toyota isn’t the only carmaker with a 0 per cent finance deal. Renault and Nissan are pushing the interest-free loan on a three-year term for selected models. Kia and Mitsubishi are both touting 0.9 per cent finance and Honda has a 1.5 per cent rate on the Civic hatch. LOCAL VEHICLE PRODUCTION  

Toyota’s new large, front-drive sedan is not for Australians, and that's a good thing.Toyota USA took the wraps off the 2013 Toyota Avalon at this week’s New York Auto Show. Toyota USA spokesman Bob Carter said the new Avalon is more refined, more spacious, more technically advanced and more dynamically competent than the seven-year old model it replaces.But, before Toyota-philes get too excited, we should tell you up front that the fourth-generation Avalon will not come to Australia. Even though Toyota did build the (second-gen) Avalon in Port Melbourne from 2000 to 2006, Toyota Australia abandoned the Avalon program to develop the Aurion large sedan off the Camry platform.But still, we thought you’d like a look at the Avalon we ‘could’ have had, although any suggestion we’d be better off with this one is a long bow to draw, especially in light of the Avalon’s struggles in the USA. Sales of the third generation model which this one replaces have dropped from a first year high of 95,318 in 2005 to just 28,925 in 2011.By comparison Toyota Australia sold 9,815 Aurions locally in 2011. That’s just one-third the volume in a market one-fifteenth the size of America. It’s some consolation to Toyota USA that they have the best selling passenger car in the country in Camry, which sits in second overall behind the Ford F-Series utility truck. Where Avalon does 28,000 a year, Camry does around 42,000 a month.The American Avalon and Australian Aurion siblings may be similar insofar as they both are large front-drive sedans with the same 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine up front, but the American car is significantly larger overall — some 14cm longer and 2cm wider, thought it roofline sits 1cm lower — and therefore heavier.Last time I sat in an Aurion, I’m pretty sure it had loads of legroom. So, anyone who wants 14cm more is just being greedy. So, now you know. Ours is better than theirs.

Rating the big three Aussies comes down so much to personal preferences. And those preferences could be based on anything from the shape of the driver's seat to the boot size or the fuel economy. And there is always the rivalry in the 'rust belt' - as Toyota calls it - between old-time favourites from Ford and Holden.All three locals are close in most ways and Australians are massively spoiled for choice, as well as value, in cars which are so big they are heading inevitably towards extinction. Then again, American cops are only just learning to love the Commodore-based Caprice ...FORD FALCON XR6There is nothing as homegrown as the punch from the Falcon's big six away from the lights, and that same engine-room strength makes the XR6 a fun car on a twisty road. You can cruise it or push it without every worrying. You also feel the same deep-down muscularity of the Falcon package every time you drive, although - for me - the car is a bit more boofy than the Holden. And, on the negatives, I've never felt as comfortable in the Ford because of its higher-set driver's seat. Ford has an update coming and I've yet to drive the new LPi car, but for me it's a close second.HOLDEN COMMODORE SV6 The Holden is a sharper package than the Ford, a little sweeter in most areas from the steering feel to the operation of the transmission. It turns a little nicer and is a tad more enjoyable on a long freeway run. Commodore buyers also get the advantage of the latest cabin update and a very impressive infotainment system, after dramas with the previous package, and the showroom impact from the driver's seat is probably winning sales. It doesn't feel as strong in a straight line, and it doesn't have Ford's latest capped-price servicing deal, but it's my personal choice.TOYOTA AURION This car is efficient and effective, but it's the transport choice and not for people who enjoy driving. I also wonder how the Aurion V6 can be classified as a large car when the Camry, which is identical apart from a four-cylinder engine, manages to run as the best selling medium-class car ... The Aurion has a giant boot, impressive quality, good fuel economy and is quiet on a trip, but it's bland and that is bad when the other locals have so much personality and punch.

A survey of car running costs for more than 600 popular models, to be released today by the NRMA, shows that motorists are saving $2 a week on the overall costs of running a car compared to last year. It now costs motorists an average of $183 a week to buy, fuel, repair, insure, and allow for car maintenance costs,

WILL Power's IndyCar winning streak ended in Alabama when he was only fourth in the third round of the American open-wheel series. He still qualified on pole position and leads the IndyCar points table despite being beaten to the win by his Penske team mate Helio Castroneves, with fellow Aussie Ryan Briscoe coming home sixth at Barber Motorsport Park.STEVEN Johnson qualfies as a V8 Supercar veteran this weekend when he makes his 150th championship start in Hamilton, New Zealand. Junior Johnson has spent his whole career with his father Dick's Ford team, including several early starts in satellite operations, and is only the 13th driver to clock up 150 round starts.CHAD Reed returned to Supercross action in the USA last weekend, taking fourth place for Kawasaki in his comeback race in Houston. It was his first race since January and he just missed the podium despite battling a poor start and a troublesome shifter.MARCOS Ambrose got his best finish of the 2010 season when he came home 11th in Phoenix last weekend in the seventh round of the Nascar championship series. He qualified brilliantly in fourth but struggled through the race, although the result still boosts him five spots to 24th in the Sprint Cup standings.AMERICAN drag racing legend Larry Dixon has just hit a new career milestone, scoring his 50th top fuel race win. He did the job by beating Antron Brown in the final of the Spring Nationals at Houston in Texas last weekend.The search for new talent in the V8 Supercar world has given four newcomers a crack in a Kelly Racing Commodore at Winton.  Amber Anderson, best known as the V8 Supercar pace car driver in 2009, joined New Zealander Jonny Reid, kart start David Sera and veteran Mini racer Scott Bargwanna in a driver evaulation day which could provide a Kelly co-driver for the endurance races later in the year.JACK Perkins proved he can still win with victory in an Aussie Racing Cars event in Darwin last weekend. The V8 Supercar refugee also cracked the lap record in his Toyota Aurion, although he was fourth for the roundDANIEL Erickson began his racing season in the USA the right way with second place in the Formula Ford 2000 opener at Virginia Raceway last weekend. The 22-year-old qualified quickest but was jumped at the rolling start and followed Brazilian Victor Carbone to the flag.

Australia's first hybrid, a petrol-electric Camry, is set for production in 2010 and work is nearly finished on the extra assembly stations at Altona. But, before the Camry hybrid, Toyota also has a minor tweak for the Camry and Aurion in the third quarter of this year. It's mostly about improved efficiency and value, but there will be changes to the front and rear bodywork. Toyota Thailand gave a hint on the new direction when it unveiled its version of the Camry hybrid last week, although the headlight and tail lamp treatments are sharper and more edgy than the Australian car. The local Camry will get new-style headlamps, most likely projector beams, and will have a new type of tail lamp cluster produced on an all-new production line at Hella Australia in Mentone. The facelift design work has been done at Toyota Style Australia under the direction of Paul Beranger and should be more acceptable to Australian tastes. But Toyota Australia refuses to make any comment on the upcoming updates, or the exact timing of the hybrid Camry. "Yes, there will be an update to the Camry and Aurion this year. But you will have to wait to see what we have," says Toyota spokesman, Mike Breen.

Ripping around Albert Park last weekend in a couple of racing cars was rare old fun.There is something special about cutting loose in the 21st century with no restrictions and no speed cameras.It's the automotive equivalent of clearing your sinuses after a terrible head cold. You can breath again, your eyesight is better, your head is clear and things just seem to be crisper and sharper.I was lucky to be asked to sprint a BMW 135i in a three-way run-off against a V8 Supercar and a Formula One racer in the Ultimate Speed Challenge and even luckier to be given a miniature Toyota Aurion to run in the Aussie Racing Car contests at the AGP.Track time in the 135 convinced me I was right to rate it as a real-world alternative to an M3. The baby BMW is quick, balanced and real fun - particularly with the traction control switched off and all the space at Albert Park to throw it around.The track car was very mildly tweaked with a free-flow exhaust, but was lapping quicker than a Z4M I drove a year earlier. This time I managed a win over the real racing cars, although Greg Murphy scored the overall win with two victories in his Sprint Gas Commodore.The Aussie car was something else again.I was not sure what to expect from the scaled-down V8 Supercar, because lots of people joke that they should be carrying clowns from the circuit.But there is nothing silly when you strap inside and uncork the 1.2-litre motorcycle engine fitted to a race-bred chassis. Except, perhaps, your smile.The Aussie Aurion was of the most demanding and rewarding cars I have driven, with supercar punch and cornering grip that trumps a real V8 Supercar. The braking distances at Albert Park, after topping 220km/h down the straight, were stupidly short.I never got close to the front-runners in the Aussie class but my race on Saturday was the best I have had in more than 25 years of motorsport, with more passing between two cars than you often see in a whole V8 Supercar contest.

He is the man you definitely want on your side. Senator Carr is the most impressive politician I have met, at least on the car business, since the late Senator John Button in the early 1980s. Button set the original review agenda for the car business and now Carr is driving the motor industry into the 21st century with a clear picture, incredible energy, and a genuine understanding of what it's all about. His enthusiasm was obvious this week as he helped open a new production line at Hella in Mentone which will supply lamps for the update of the Toyota Camry and Aurion later this year. "I'm only here as eye candy today, and I'll let our hosts tell you about the plant and what it means for Hella, Toyota and Australia," Carr says, weaving humour into a serious message. "But I can't pass up this opportunity to re-affirm the government's central messages about manufacturing. "First, that we want Australia to be a country that makes things. And, second, that we want it to be a country that makes cars." That is great news for all the people in the motor industry, but also the Australians who share a common history that is wrapped around the ability of the automobile to conquer the vast distances in our country. Carr has found money and support for the industry but stresses that companies must also work together as part of his new Car Plan. "The success of any industry depends on what companies do together - how much they can rely on each other and how closely they collaborate. If anyone wants to know what a vigorous, creative and competitive Australian component sector would look like - well, it would look like this: "Hella delivers the inputs Toyota needs, at the right price, to the right standard and - as Toyota has taught every manufacturer in the world to say - "just in time". It took the German-owned lighting specialist just nine months to get its new Kaizen line operational and global boss Dr Juergen Behrend says the benefits will flow well beyond the two founding partners. "What we have learned with Toyota will also benefit our other customers, like Ford and Holden," Behrend says. So it's becoming more and more of a family affair, with the Godfather stressing the need for a shared commitment. "The industry is only as strong as its weakest link, so we have to ensure that every link is rock solid," says Carr.

It seems the Toyota's supercharged TRD Aurion is ready for the road, judging by this example spotted on the Hume Highway between Yass and Gundagai. While Toyota has issued a frontal photo of its high-performance Aurion, this is the first glimpse of its rear spoiler and hi-tech-looking peepholes for the twin exhausts. Check out also the big wheels - 19-inches by the look of them - and TRD-issue red calipers. As previously seen, the frontal treatment introduces a stronger-jawed look than the mainstream Aurion. The relatively restrained rear treatment looks like its keeping with TRD's philosophy for its go-fast Aurion, a position somewhere between Subaru's Sti division and the V8-powered glorious excess of HSV and FPV. “TRD stands for an optimal blend of performance, refinement, handling and Toyota's traditional quality, durability and reliability,” Toyota marketing chief David Buttner says. The TRD Aurion's door badges, bearing the Mercedes-like designation of 3500 SL, are no doubt calculated to add to its up-market image. With about 235kW and substantial torque lift from its 3.5-litre supercharged V6, Buttner compares the TRD's performance with refinement formula to the Alfa Romeo 159 or Volkswagen Golf R32. We'll be able to decide for ourselves when the TRD Aurion is launched next month; it is expected to be priced about $60,000. Aside from the usual local Holden SS and Ford XR suspects, there's not a surfeit of biggish sedans to offer comparable bang for these kind of bucks, with Mitsubishi having shelved plans to put the hot supercharged TMR version of its 380 into production. A front-wheel-drive and presumably cheaper version of Alfa Romeo's currently all-paw-only 159 V6 is part of the revision planned for the 2008 range. Volkswagen says the R36 version of its Passat V6 4Motion will arrive either by the end of 2008 or early 2009. With Toyota having long since expunged any remotely stirring models from its line-up (who'd have thought it possible to feel nostalgia for the Celica or the last MR2?) it will be amusing to see if buyers cotton-on to what seems the borderline bizarre idea of a high performance car with this maker's badge. Indeed, if it's only half-decent, the TMR would serve to provide the only spark of excitement in Toyota's utterly vanilla line-up. It's not as though a company whose perennial sales success seems as assured as the coming of the dawn actually needs such a gadget, which makes it all the more gratifying that they're having a bit of go. Still, Lexus money for an Aurion?  

The countdown has begun for Toyota's push into Ford and Holden's heartland. The new TRD contenders will be in showrooms within four months and the Aurion V6 and HiLux have been out for final verification work, as they are prepared for battle against SS Commodores and XR Falcons. More signs are also pointing to a V6 RAV4, that shares its 3.5-litre engine with the Aurion, becoming the third TRD model. The two confirmed starters are familiar to anyone who has been to a major motor show this year, but still the HiLux looked impressive when photographed last week. The TRD operation is now moving from test and development into full-scale assembly work being done in Melbourne by Prodrive, which also holds the rights to fast Ford road cars in Australia. The Aurion will be out first and, even though the HiLux is confirmed for November, Toyota Australia is still trying to keep full details secret. The car is likely to be available from September; the press preview drive is scheduled for late August. “The car is coming in the third quarter. At this stage, that's all I can say,” Toyota spokesman Mike Breen says. “It's all done. It's ready to go. You have basically seen it at the motor shows. It's supercharged V6 et cetera.” The first TRD Aurions have already been ordered, Queensland police taking 11 for highway patrol work. They will join a batch of regular Aurion Sportivo V6s already in police paint. The HiLux is more subdued than that unveiled at the Melbourne Motor Show in March, but still promises plenty of go with a similar supercharged engine. “The HiLux is in November,” Breen says. “It is undergoing final testing. It's the 4.0-litre petrol engine, supercharged.” Toyota has confirmed the TRD Aurion is quicker than expected, using a new Eaton twin-vortices supercharger packaged in Melbourne by Harrop Engineering. “Total engine performance is one of the key positives of the TRD Aurion package,” TRD Australia chief engineer Stephen Castles says. “The TVS unit has performed really well and definitely helped deliver the engine performance we need.” Work on the engine has also been done by the Orbital Engine Company in Perth, which focused on testing and component development.