Prius

With gas prices continuing a steady upward climb, you may be headed to the dealer in search of something less thirsty at the pump. But which cars' sticker price gives you the most bang for your buck? We asked Edmunds.com to look at the vehicles with the lowest sticker price per fuel-economy rating. The math was simple: divide the car's base price by its EPA rating for combined fuel economy. The result gives a look at how much each mile per gallon will cost you. Photos: Top 10 cars with lowest cost per mpg Topping the list is Ford's C-Max Energi.

Toyota's announcement Friday that it will start building the Lexus ES 350 at a factory in Georgetown, Ky., is part of a larger policy of moving production of cars to the markets where they are sold that could result in the automaker's Prius hybrid being built in the U.S. In an interview with The Times, Toyota's North American CEO Jim Lentz said the Prius would be the only major gap in Toyota's North American production once the Lexus assembly line...

Two key Toyota models, the flagship Camry sedan and the Prius v wagon, failed an important new crash test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an insurance industry group. Honda's newly redesigned Accord tied for the top safety rating with the Suzuki Kizashi, a car that will soon no longer be sold in the United States. The redesigned Ford Fusion also scored well. The results raise concerns that the Toyota models can't provide protection from serious injuries in common accidents.

Since introducing the first Prius in Japan back in 1997, Toyota Motor Corp. has sold 5 million hybrids worldwide, including 2 million in the U.S., the automaker said Wednesday. Toyota said the owners of its hybrids have saved more than 3 billion gallons of gasoline compared with vehicles powered by gasoline only. According to Department of Energy estimates, the hybrid vehicles on the road today save nearly 500 million gallons of petroleum annually in the U.S. "Toyota not only created the hybrid segment, they have consistently dominated it since launching the Prius in the U.S. back in 2000," said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book.

Toyota is recalling its 2010 Prius and Lexus hybrids worldwide because of brake problems, marking another setback for a carmaker already plagued with recalls and suspended sales because of safety issues. The recall will include 437,000 vehicles, including 133,000 Prius and 14,500 Lexus models in the U.S. to update software in their anti-lock brake systems. In addition, the company is recalling about 7,300 of its 4-cylinder 2010 Camrys in the U.S., also for a possible brake-related problem.

Toyota is raising the U.S. price of its Prius hybrid by $500 for the 2009 model. Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. sales unit said the suggested retail price for a Prius will rise 2.2%. Base prices will range from $22,000 for the standard Prius to $24,270 for a touring model. The Japanese carmaker also announced new prices for a dozen other Toyota and Scion models, with an average increase of $181. Lexus, Toyota's luxury brand, announced higher prices for four vehicles as well.

Re "Sticker shock," editorial, Sept. 17 I'm not used to blasphemy on The Times' editorial pages, but there it was Saturday. Yes, we Prius owners tend to wax on with unsolicited self-righteous orations about all the benefits of driving a hybrid. Our family is probably worse than most because we have two Priuses (Prei?) and a Honda Civic hybrid. I enjoyed reading The Times editorial, right up to the last sentence. Just a car? How can your editorial page ignore the heritage that made us the gridlocked, smog-choked slice of heaven that we are today?

Since introducing the first Prius in Japan back in 1997, Toyota Motor Corp. has sold 5 million hybrids worldwide, including 2 million in the U.S., the automaker said Wednesday. Toyota said the owners of its hybrids have saved more than 3 billion gallons of gasoline compared with vehicles powered by gasoline only. According to Department of Energy estimates, the hybrid vehicles on the road today save nearly 500 million gallons of petroleum annually in the U.S. "Toyota not only created the hybrid segment, they have consistently dominated it since launching the Prius in the U.S. back in 2000," said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book.

Toyota's announcement Friday that it will start building the Lexus ES 350 at a factory in Georgetown, Ky., is part of a larger policy of moving production of cars to the markets where they are sold that could result in the automaker's Prius hybrid being built in the U.S. In an interview with The Times, Toyota's North American CEO Jim Lentz said the Prius would be the only major gap in Toyota's North American production once the Lexus assembly line...

Toyota Motor Corp. will roll out the hybrid Prius' big brother this fall in the U.S. market. The Prius v is targeted at young families, with the "v" representing the versatility of increased interior room and cargo space. The Japanese automaker hopes to begin selling the vehicle in the U.S. in October, said Ed La Rocque, Toyota's U.S. marketing manager for advanced technology vehicles. Toyota will offer a plug-in version of the current Prius model in the first quarter of next year and a smaller version dubbed the Prius c in the first half, making the U.S. market the only one in the world with four Prius models.

California Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield says that green car buyers deserve a bigger reward than they are getting for helping to reduce emissions. That's why the San Fernando Valley lawmaker wants to extend an existing perk for 10 more years. Drivers of electric, natural gas- and hydrogen-powered cars can already ignore occupancy requirements and drive in a carpool lane or pay a toll. But that benefit will expire in 2015. The Blumenfield bill--AB 266--was introduced this week with the goal of extending the clean car perk until 2025.

Toyota Motor Corp. profits soared in the latest quarter, helped by strong sales in North America and a slide in the value of the Japanese yen. Toyota, which surpassed GM in 2012 to become the world's largest auto company, said profit for its third fiscal quarter, or the three months ended in Dec. 31, rose 23% to $1.09 billion (99.91 billion yen), compared to the same period a year earlier.  Sales for the quarter rose 9% to $58 billion (5.3 trillion yen). “Given increased overseas vehicle sales mostly in North America, progress in our company-wide profit improvement activities and the slight weakening of the yen,” Toyota now expects a full-year fiscal year profit of $9.3 billion (860 billion yen)

Toyota Motor Corp. announced recalls of 1 million vehicles, including some models of its popular Toyota Corolla and its Lexus IS sports sedan. About 752,000 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles are being recalled to fix an air-bag control module that is susceptible to short circuiting that could eventually cause the front air bags and seat belt pretensioners to deploy when they shouldn't. The recall affects Corollas from the 2003 and 2004 model years. There have been two reported accidents and 18 injuries linked to the problem, said Brian Lyons, a Toyota spokesman.

The bestselling vehicle in America is Ford's big F-Series pickup. California's favorite car is a hybrid that can almost fit in the bed of that truck. Underscoring the state's eco-consciousness, pricey gas and crowded commutes, Toyota's Prius has toppled the Honda Civic from its two-year reign as the bestselling vehicle in California. Since its introduction more than a decade ago, the hybrid has developed a loyal following in California, which accounts for more than a quarter of U.S. Prius sales.

Toyota's Prius has toppled the Honda Civic from its two-year reign as the bestselling vehicle in California. It was a thin margin. Toyota sold 60,688 of the hybrid last year, almost 26% of the Prius cars sold by Toyota in the U.S. last year. Honda sold 57,124 Civics. The Toyota Camry was third with sales of 50,250. The sales data are from the California New Car Dealers Assn. and tracked retail auto registrations, which do not include sales to rental car companies, government and other fleet customers.

General Motors reported strong sales of nearly 9.3 million cars and trucks globally in 2012 -- but the push doesn't seem strong enough to overtake Toyota. The Japanese automaker is forecasting a sales increase of 22% to 9.7 million vehicles last year -- numbers it will finalize at the end of this month. GM said Monday that its 2012 sales got a 2.9% boost. The Detroit-based company held the world's top sales spot for more than seven decades but was dethroned by Toyota in 2008.

Toyota calls the lemon-lime-colored hybrid vehicle a concept, but shoppers can expect to see a version of this compact car -- kind of a svelte version of the Toyota Matrix -- in showrooms in several years. This is Toyota channeling Apple Inc. Just as Apple has built a family of products around its original iPod -- from the tiny Shuffle to the Wi-Fi-enabled iPod Touch -- Toyota plans to build its Prius into a sub-brand. The concept it unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit is labeled the FT-CH dedicated hybrid concept, but Toyota executives acknowledge that it will become the Prius compact car offering.

Toyota sent a message to its beleaguered dealers Friday night saying they would be getting details of a plan this week to deal with brake-system problems on the 2010 Prius. But there was no word on what that plan might be, or whether there would be a recall. "We have communicated to our dealers that sometime next week we will provide more clarity on what our plans are for the Prius," said Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons. "We have several options available, and recall is one of them," he said.

Two key Toyota models, the flagship Camry sedan and the Prius v wagon, failed an important new crash test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an insurance industry group. Honda's newly redesigned Accord tied for the top safety rating with the Suzuki Kizashi, a car that will soon no longer be sold in the United States. The redesigned Ford Fusion also scored well. The results raise concerns that the Toyota models can't provide protection from serious injuries in common accidents.

If you have family coming for the holidays or just want a different ride, Simply Hybrid has a December deal that takes 30% off rentals of its hybrids and energy-efficient cars. The company will even deliver the cars to airports, hotels or other locations for free. The deal: Toyota Prius, Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf and even a plug-in Prius are some of the selections in the compact category. The website provides the models available but doesn't list prices or take reservations; you have to call to get a quote and make a booking.