Toyota sales get a boost in February

The men and women at Classic Toyota, alongside Toyota employees across the country, have been working hard. It shows: This past February saw another significant increase in overall Toyota sales compared to February of last year. Monthly sales performance is a good measure with which to take the pulse of an automaker. Overall sales for the entire Toyota Division totaled 128,032 units in February, up 48.5 percent from February of last year. Let’s break down the numbers in a macro and micro sense, identifying the top individual sellers for Toyota this past February along the way.

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Toyota could have plug-in hybrids by 2012

As an avid environmentalist, I immediately latched onto the hype surrounding the Toyota Prius when it was released a few years ago. The car was stylish and efficient – a combination that at that time was essentially a non-entity. With new announcements from other major manufacturers across the industry, Toyota is trying to stay at the forefront of the eco-friendly driving movement.

A recent announcement from the Japanese manufacturer claims Toyota will begin mass-producing plug-in hybrid vehicles as early as 2012, producing between 20,000-30,000 cars in the first year. While the company hasn’t announced how many of those will reach the U.S., you can bet many of those cars will be featured on Toyota Kenosha showroom floors.

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Toyota Tundra test drive

As the last wisps of summer fade into the chilly fall and winter winds, Chicagoland will turn into a frozen tundra over the coming months. Icy, windy driving conditions will soon lure drivers into Kenosha Toyota dealers to test-drive a vehicle with power and finesse, one that can handle the harshest of driving conditions but will remain stalwart in roominess. Well, I was lucky enough to test-drive the brand new Toyota Tundra, a full-size truck that contends well with quality competitors like the Chevy Silverado, Dodge Ram and Ford F-150.

The 2010 Toyota Tundra’s new 4.6-liter V8 is the most significant upgrade to the already high-performance vehicle, replacing its predecessor’s five-speed unit with a six-speed automatic to promote better fuel economy.

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Rav4 still the perfectly sized SUV

A lot of people extol the virtues of the Camry and Highlander as the best vehicles in the Toyota lineup. I’ve read that very thing recently on this blog, in fact. It’s not that I disagree, but I feel there is room for one more model in the terrific-Toyota class. And I would argue the Rav4 belongs there.

Why? Because the Toyota Rav4 is still an SUV, but it handles like a car, is tremendously fuel-efficient, and provides all of the cabin space you need in an SUV. The Rav4 remains, as it always has been, the perfect size for just about any SUV buyer. With its length (shorter than a Camry), it is right at home on a sedan platform. This means a less-rigid ride than all of the SUVs on truck platforms provide.     … Continue Reading