The last quarter of the year 2008 had been terrible for the auto industry and for the world’s economy in general. Needless to say, Toyota Motors Corporation had not been an exemption to the negative upshots brought about by the said status of the financial system. It had also incurred great downturns in sales. Although, for the first two quarters up to the third quarter of the current year, the global sales of the car marque it showed signs of stability. Come October of this year, it showed 5% increase in the over-all worldwide sales which is equivalent to a total of 640,000 units sold for the month. This is in comparison with the sales that the Corporation had declared for the same month last year. Even if it had suffered a decrease of 3.5% in the U.S., it came back with good news from China and Japan where it reached the 45% and 15% increase respectively. Toyota executives had attributed this to the easier comparisons of car models released on the past years with the current models. There has not been any statement released yet if the Cash For Clunkers still has to do with the proliferation of sales in Japan which is still bound to continue up to the end of the year or so. Moreover, the end of the Cash for Clunkers in the United States might have caused the decrease in sales as well. That, however, is still an unguarded assumption.

The Toyota Sienna is a family minivan currently manufactured in the United States by the Japanese automaker Toyota. It was first introduced in the United States in 1993 and later replaced the Toyota Previa in the US market. It doesn’t have the most elegant look on its first release but it boasts an excellent crash test ratings. In January 2004, the second-generation Sienna was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show. They made a very successful redesign with this generation, while the third generation was premiered in Los Angeles Auto Show on December 2, 2009.

Toyota will stage the world premiere of the all-new 2011 Sienna minivan at a press conference at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show. The redesigned 2011 Toyota Sienna kicks off the third-generation of this minivan. The Sienna will join the Camry, Prius, Rav4, Venza, Highlander and many more on Toyota’s ultra-flexible “MC” platform. It had been heavily modified around the hood, front fender and the entire rear quarter panel

The 2011 Sienna almost certainly will stay with a version of the current 3.5-liter V-6, though it’ll use a six-speed automatic transmission instead of a five-speed. A bigger step would be introduction of a gas-electric hybrid version.

The 2011 Sienna could offer a table-and-chairs arrangement like the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan plus a satellite TV reception and USB iPod connectivity.

Production of the ‘11 Sienna will start in January of 2010 at Toyota’s Princeton, Indian plant — the plant formerly charged with Tundra production.

Everyone’s curious about the 2010 model. Is it worth it to be curious about? How bout’ this, fresh interface & features incorporates a telescopic steering column, adjustable driver seat, and of course my favorite heated front seats. In its previous years the famous V model has dramatically improved its fog lights, LED headlights & the monster 17-inch alloy wheels vs the 15s which we often see on other models. Plus, there’s another stuffs offered on this model. These high-end specs can usually be established only on cars sold by Toyota’s Lexus department, encompassing adaptive cruise manipulation. Some additional choices also comprises of solar roof panels that can supply power on a ventilating fan every time the vehicle is parked and air conditioning which turns on for up to three minutes just enough to cool down the whole car space before getting in.

Taking a step forward in the field of hybrid car technology, Toyota Motor Corp. recently revealed a new hybrid described as “a more expensive and bigger hybrid-only model than its hit Prius”. The new sedan named “Sai”—which means “talent” and “color”—aims to promote green technology to the market. By using an electric motor instead of the usual gas engine, hybrids will definitely get better mileage than regular cars.

According to the Japanese automaker, the Sai has a bigger 2.4 liter engine. It doubles the mileage of an engine-powered vehicle, specifically getting 23 kilometers per liter. Its predecessor, the Prius only has a 1.8 liter engine, getting 38 kilometers per liter, which goes around 48 mpg on the highway in the U.S. Moreover, this new hybrid is much more expensive as it starts at $37,500 compared to the $22,000 starting price of the Prius.

Provided the increasing awareness of hybrids nowadays and at the same time carmakers starting to enhance their hybrid lineup, it is expected for the Sai to be the frontrunner in creating a more widespread promotion of hybrid cars in a worldwide scale. Hopefully, this will hold up to its hype especially that it the successor of the much celebrated and successful Prius.

Toyota is, no doubt, already gaining recognition as the new world’s number one auto maker corporation. Amidst the crisis that the other auto makers experienced in the last four quarters, Toyota Motors even increased sales this year in comparison to last year’s. Although, to date, it is already good to note that other corporations are reporting stability in their sales.

In line with this good news on the side of Toyota Motors, there are already speculations that they will increase their production come year second quarter of 2010 due subtle signs of increase in the demand for new cars and trucks. It has also been said that the World’s Largest Automaker has raised its sales forecast by 3% to 6.7 million units for the year ending March 2010.Toyota, however, hadn’t released any formal and final statements on this yet.

Guess, they should be thankful to the cash for clunkers being implemented in the United States. It can be recalled from other reports that this program of the Obama administration had also helped, first and foremost, the local car corporations slightly regain balance on sales. It can also be noted that this year, many car models’ production were closed. This might have swayed car purchaser to grab a Toyota instead.

Source: Auto Blog