Toyota Motor Corp

Toyota Motor Corp. has joined the growing ranks of automakers planning to bring advanced battery-powered vehicles to showrooms in the near future. The Japanese automaker said it planned to have a plug-in version of its popular Prius hybrid for sale in the U.S. in three years. "The target is 2012 to be coming to market with them," Irving Miller, a group vice president for Toyota's U.S. sales unit, said at a Los Angeles conference on climate change, Bloomberg News reported. Before that, "we're going to study the challenges of consumer demand," he said.

Toyota Motor Corp. said it would recall 3.8 million vehicles sold in the United States as it attempts to resolve concerns that floor mats in those cars and trucks could cause their gas pedals to become stuck, leading to uncontrollable acceleration. The recall, affecting eight Toyota and Lexus brand models, will be the largest in the Japanese carmaker's history. The models include 2007-2010 Toyota Camrys and 2004-2009 Toyota Priuses. Last month, a San Diego man and three passengers were killed in a high-speed crash.

When the next-generation Toyota Prius hits dealer showrooms in late May, it will come with a bigger engine, better fuel economy and solar-powered cabin cooling. What it won't have is the innovative "fuel bladder" that has served as the Prius' gas tank since the Japanese-built hybrid first landed on these shores almost nine years ago.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday that longtime U.S. marketing chief James Press would replace Toyota Motor North America President Hideaki Otaka today as Otaka retires after being accused of sexual harassment by a former assistant. Press, 59, will be responsible for directing the corporation's government, industry and investor relations and philanthropic efforts in North America. Press, who will be based in New York, has won plaudits for overseeing Toyota's dramatic rise in U.S.

Toyota Motor Corp. predicted Tuesday that it would earn more than any other Japanese company this fiscal year after overseas sales jumped, boosted by a weaker yen. The automaker also bought a stake in smaller Japanese rival Isuzu Motors Ltd. to gain access to diesel engine technology as it works to expand its reach in Europe. Toyota, the world's second-largest automaker, said net income would rise 13% to 1.55 trillion yen ($13 billion) in the year ending March 31.

Toyota Motor Corp. reported a surprise profit Thursday and cut its projected red ink for the year by half, adding to growing evidence that carmakers are starting to recover from the deepest industry downturn in years. Although far from a full-fledged turnaround, Toyota's results showed the healing effects of government stimulus measures to spur sales of environmentally friendly cars and other vehicles, as well as soaring demand in emerging markets like China. Rivals Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. have also issued healthier reports and outlooks recently.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Scion brand led the Japanese automaker to more segment victories than any other car company in a survey of buyer satisfaction. Honda Motor Co. was the overall winner, however, and General Motors Corp. was the top performer among U.S. automakers. The Scion xA was the highest-ranking small car, and the Scion xB was tops in the small, multifunction segment, according to the survey by Strategic Vision Inc., a San Diego-based marketing research firm and consultant to automakers.

Toyota Motor Corp. dominated Consumer Reports' annual survey of automobile reliability, accounting for 15 of 31 vehicles rated "most reliable" by the magazine's readers. A total of 29 of the cars and trucks given a top score were Japanese brands, Consumer Reports said. General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. had one entry each, while DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler had none. No European automakers made the list.

Toyota Motor Corp. is considering building some of its popular Prius gas-electric hybrid sedans in the U.S. because production in Japan has not kept up with global demand for the car, a top executive said Wednesday. Using a Toyota factory here to build the Prius as well as other Toyota and Lexus hybrids now in the pipeline "does make sense," said James Press, executive vice president of Torrance-based Toyota Motor Sales USA.

Toyota Motor Corp. announced Tuesday that it will start exporting its fuel-efficient hybrid-power Prius sedan to North America and Europe in the fall of 2000. More than 7,700 of the four-door compacts have been sold in Japan since their domestic launch in December. Jeremy Barnes, spokesman for Toyota Motor Sales USA in Torrance, said it is "a safe bet" that U.S. marketing efforts will concentrate on California and New York. The Prius sells in Japan for about $15,000.