TOYOTA CITY: Toyota Motor Corp has developed new powertrains and improved hybrid systems, which will be deployed in major markets over the next five years.
By end-2021, the new powertrains will feature in 60 per cent or more of Toyota and Lexus vehicles sold annually in Japan, the United States, Europe and China.
The new powertrains are aimed at delivering smooth, Responsive, "As Desired" driving as well as lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
Their lineup includes a 2.5-litre direct-injection, inline 4-cylinder petrol engine that has one of the world's best thermal efficiencies ― 40 per cent when used in petrol-powered vehicles and 41 per cent when used in hybrid vehicles.
Also, Toyota has developed two new automatic transmissions ― the 8-speed Direct Shift-8AT and the 10-speed Direct shift-10AT.
The new automatic transmissions are more compact and lighter than comparative conventional transmissions, lowering a vehicle's fuel requirements.
And their lower center of gravity results in both improved straight-driving stability and better cornering stability.
Meanwhile, Toyota has also enhanced its hybrid system for 2.5-litre engines and developed a new, high-performance Multistage Toyota Hybrid System II (THS-II) for rear-wheel-drive vehicles.
For the fourth-generation Prius, Toyota has applied size-reducing, weight-reducing and loss-reducing technologies.
Further enhancing the system for plug-in hybrids is a large-capacity lithium-ion battery that largely increases the EV-mode cruising range to 60km or more.
By end-2021, Toyota plans to introduce 17 versions of nine engines, including the new 2.5-litre engine, 10 versions of four transmissions, including multi-geared automatic transmissions and a new kind of continuously variable transmission, and 10 versions of six hybrid systems.
In related developments, Toyota Motor Corp will launch the TOYOTA NEXT open innovation program on December 7.
Toyota will accept and review proposals for new services which are submitted by various companies and R&D organizations regarding their proposed topics, and will develop new services with the selected companies.
Japan is currently undergoing a variety of changes, such as low birth rates and a growing aging population, as well as an increased concentration of the population in urban areas with a corresponding depopulation of rural areas.
The country is also advancing in terms of IT and technology.
Against this backdrop, Toyota believes that as a business entity, it must respond in a broad manner in a timely fashion to the diversifying consumer needs.
The TOYOTA NEXT program is intended to promote joint development of new services by utilizing new ideas, technologies, and solutions held by various companies and R&D organizations regardless of scale, as well as by businesses that have already launched services.
This is a departure from Toyota's usual practice of trying to be self-sufficient in terms of development.
