Small cars are the perfect one for crowded cities. Expecially when you work for local authorities or police forces. Toyota UK will supply a number of 45 iQ for the Traffic Enforcement Systems that are responsible for traffic regulation and community safety.
Even if just a demonstrator car, the iQ will be equipped with a range of mobile CCTV and GPS systems, thermal-imaging cameras and numberplate-readers.
The iQ surveillance cars will be powered by a 1.0-litre engine coupled with the automatic transmission.
The fuel efficient Japanese automaker Toyota has unveiled two customized iQ models: the iQ for Sports and the iQ Collection at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Both models come straight from the Tokyo based design studio with unique treatments to both the interior and exterior of the gas sipping compact city cars like custom paint, bespoke interior trim and rather unique sets of rims.
The first of the compact concepts is the iQ Collection with its oversized transparent acrylic roof. The iQ Collection is aimed at providing drivers with a more upscale driving experience and the larger than life sunroof provides the perfect window into which you can admire the vehicle’s upgraded interior appointments and fine touches like white pearl detailing on the center console, instrument binnacle and door panels while the seats are wrapped in supple leather finished with clean white piping.
On the other hand, the iQ for Sports focuses on beefing up the compacts car’s body in order to create one very wild winged hot hatch. Housed inside of the aggressively blistered fenders are a set of custom five spoke rims measuring 18 inches in diameter and hiding a set of massive brakes from the more youth oriented Scion brand of vehicles. The bold body kit is finished off with a set of LED driving lights integrated into the front bumper and a large trapezoid exhaust tip smack dab in the middle of the back bumper. These two unique iterations of the Toyota iQ are as different as any two concepts can be, but they both are excellent examples of the vehicle’s versatility and ability to take the shape of whatever their owner desires.
After reporting that the Japanese automaker Toyota is planning to build a hybrid version of the Yaris compact city car yesterday, today it is time to move our attention to something even more environmentally conscious, the even smaller Toyota iQ. That is because Toyota plans to produce their first production EV when the BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) variant of the iQ for 2010.
According to iQ’s chief engineer, Hiroki Nakajima, the all-electric iQ will feature in-wheel motors: "In every wheel we had to be able to fit an electric motor." It will also be the first Toyota mass-production model to use lithium ion batteries and will take about 8 hours to fully charge. “Our target is for customers to be able to charge it completely during the night,” and will have a range of 93 miles, more than enough for commuting or around town driving.
In an attempt to dispel the new car buying public’s belief that small means low cost, Nakajima said: “We wanted to position the iQ as premium,” so the BEV version will receive distinct bodywork from the standard iQ and "will get a much better interior” according to the chief engineer. Toyota is a company known for building a well built reliable product so perhaps they can convert a few electric skeptics as well.
The current economic crisis has resulted in the partnership of a number of unlikely car manufacturers. First there was Fiat and Chrysler. Then it was Saab and Koenigsegg
And now we have Toyota and Aston Martin.
While Toyota and Aston Martin’s alliance is not on the level of the other two, the Japanese auto giant is in the process of producing its iQ model for its more upscale colleague in the United Kingdom.
The partnership of the two manufacturers comes at a time when both are in desperate need for bold and revolutionary moves that can jumpstart a floundering industry that’s in dire need of some fresh blood.
As part of the agreement, Toyota will supply iQ cars, which, as a matter of fact, are built in Japan, to Aston Martin, which, in turn, will sell these vehicles under the brand under a pseudonym: the Cygnet.
Times are changing, gone are the ways of the oversized thirsty automobile in favor of leaner more efficient machines. Compact cars with sports inspired attitudes are where the future of fun to drive vehicles is going. The Japanese automaker well known for making fuel-efficient compacts, Toyota, is continuing the trend with their upcoming compact sports car, based on the small city-car, the iQ. The next generation sport compact is expected to make its auto show debut sometime next year.
According to the automaker, the new model will be a "fun to drive" car, created for younger new car buyers. The vehicle will combine a six speed manual transmission with Toyota’s new 1.3 Liter engine, the combination should be good for a very Prius-like 55 MPG. When it goes on sale, the vehicle should retail for around 200 Million yen, or around $20,000 if it ever comes to the U.S.
By now you have most likely heard about the world’s smallest 4 passenger car that comes with a 1.0 liter engine that gets 54 miles per gallon. The iQ is what Toyota likes to call a premium minicar, that is because even though the car is diminutive in size, weighing about 2,200 pounds, it is still priced around 1.5 million Yen (about $15,000). What you may not know is that Toyota has been planning on producing an open air version of the iQ for quite some time.
The Japanese publication, Motor Magazine, released this rendering of the funky roadster that sources at Toyota claim is scheduled to make its world debut at the Tokyo Auto Salon that will be held from October 23 through November 8, 2009.
After announcing that the small iQ might be offered on the US market, Toyota also announced that a roadster version of the iQ will be revealed at the Tokyo Motor Show (23 October to November 8). The car will come as a study, but will keep the same design line as the coupe version.
The spider version will be offered with a choice of 1.0 - and a 1.3-liter gasoline and diesel engine; while the safety features will include: numerous airbags, ABS and ESP.
Toyota revealed today the first commercial of the iQ minicar that has just been launched on the Japanese market. Toyota expects to sell 100,000 units of the iQ in its first year of production globally.
If Toyota decides to bring the iQ to the U.S., it may have to educate the American public on the benefits of a premium mini car. The 1.0-liter engine should be good for 54 mpg, but the little car may come at a relatively premium price. The Japanese version retails for between 1.4 million yen and 1.6 million yen ($13,860-$15,840). That kind of cash could buy a new Ford Focus or a slightly used Honda Civic (Toyota’s own Yaris starts out at $12,205.)
The only other premium microcar out there is the Smart ForTwo, a which is 12 inches shorter than the iQ and gets 44 mpg. But the ForTwo pricing also starts at about $11,000.
Toyota is targeting sales of 102,000 units a year. Sales of the iQ should begin in Japan on November 20, and in Europe by 2009. The iQ should find good homes in both of these places, because they are traditionally friendlier than the U.S. to the small car.
For the iQ to come to the U.S., Toyota must develop different airbags and improve bumper strength for the iQ to pass safety standards. Toyota may also change the iQ for comfort items, including upgrading the engine to 1.5-liters.
Hummer who? From two importers who have been following the "bigger is better" model for the last few years comes a little redemption. Both Toyota and Audi are considering bringing their smallest models in the line-up to the U.S. market. Even if both iQ and A1 were developed with only the European market in mind, company executives are thinking that these two models might be successful in the U.S.
The A1 (see the latest A1 Sportback Concept unveiled at the Paris Auto Show) is about 10 inches shorter than Audi’s A3. Peter Schwarzenbauer, Audi’s worldwide sales and marketing boss said, "A year ago, I would have said no... I think (the market) has changed. Therefore, we definitely have to reconsider the A1."
The A1 concept is a hybrid that combines a turbocharged, 148-hp, 1.4-liter inline four-cylinder engine with an electric motor that boosts torque. While this setup may make production, it is likely that the first production A1s will use a conventional gas-only setup if it appears in the U.S.
Foreign automakers may still be a little weary about sales of small cars in the U.S. Although Americans are becoming more conscious about fuel efficiency, it is a big risk to spend the money to send low-profit small cars to a country where they have historically sold poorly. Both Audi and Toyota have not made any final decisions about their small cars future.
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