At the recent Tokyo Auto Salon, Toyota motorsports partner GRMN worked with the Japanese auto giant to introduce a turbocharged version of the popular Vitz (Yaris) compact. While the car on exhibit may be a one-off, Toyota is reportedly planning to shift its focus to downsized, turbocharged, direct-injection engines rather than focusing only on gas-electric hybrid technology.
While hybrids are capable of achieving greater urban fuel economy, small displacement turbocharged direct-injection engines deliver better day-to-day performance and are also a lot less expensive to develop than hybrid systems. Furthermore, Toyota's dominance in the hybrid market merely makes it a big fish in a small pond as the collective hybrid market in the United States only accounted for 274,927 sales while Ford's Ecoboost range attained that figure alone.
Although Toyota has used direct-injection and turbocharging in select models, other automakers have implemented these technologies across the line-up. Other drivetrain developments such as transmissions have been inconsistent as well. While the flagship Lexus LS luxury sedan offers an advanced 8-speed automatic, the RAV-4 makes do with an outdated 4-speed.
More:
New Toyota Corolla Could Get Direct Injection Turbo Engine on Autoguide.com
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