Did you think that every automaker’s secrets were revealed at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit? Think again.

At least ten new models will debut at this year’s Chicago Auto Show, which kicks-off this Wednesday, February 8th. Here’s a quick round up of what to expect:

Acura

The ILX Sports Sedan will debut, and replace the TSX. The new ILX will be based on Honda’s Civic platform, and share the powertrain choices. Additionally, the ILX will show off three engines, including a Hybrid. The ILX will be targeted towards a younger crowd, and is being called a “gateway” to the luxury brand lineup.

Joining the ILX will be a new RDX. The popular SUV will be redesigned and will show off a wider track, a longer wheelbase and a new V6 engine. The RDX will be showing off some new technologies as well, including Pandora Internet Radio, and a Text-to-Speech SMS voice texting.

See the rest of our Chicago Auto Show preview below:

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The Toyota GT 86 is being hyped as a drift car extraordinaire, which seems to be a fitting title after watching the video below.

This video comes out of Japan, and shows off two GT 86s, (which will be badged as Scion FR-Ss in North America), drifting around an impromptu pylon marked track. Both the drivers are out having some fun, and showing off their skills for the crowd.

Check out the video abelow, and let us know what you think of the Toyota GT 86 in the comments section below.

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Toyota‘s display at this year’s Chicago Auto Show is going to fun. That’s because the automaker is teaming up with Hasbro to bring the Toyota Hybrid MONOPOLY Ride Experience to show visitors.

A mini road course based on the Monopoly board game will be set up, which will take up 30,000 square feet of space. Professional drivers will take auto show visitors on a ride through an eco-friendly course inspired by the Monopoly game board. And don’t worry about being stuck with the lame shoe game piece – you’ll be driven along the course in either a Prius V wagon, a Camry Hybrid or a Highlander Hybrid. Along the way, players will learn about the features of Toyota hybrid vehicles, as well as take in iconic Monopoly landmarks and meet the Mr. Monopoly character.

“By incorporating design elements from the game into the Toyota Hybrid MONOPOLY Ride Experience, we are able to present the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive experience in a fun and unexpected way,” said Keith Dahl, Toyota’s National Engagement Marketing Manager. “This exhibit really gives fans of the game an innovative way to interact with our hybrid models.”

The 2012 Chicago Auto Show takes place February 8 to 19, and if you get a chance to go, it sounds like it’ll be worth your time to drop by Toyota’s game display.

See AutoGuide’s complete Chicago Auto Show preview here.

Toyota has launched a new social media initiative with a chance for participants to win a brand new 2012 Camry for themselves and one more for a friend. The opportunity will come tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 5, during a live NBC broadcast – we’re presuming Toyota means the Super Bowl, but the oddly worded press release mentioned no such thing.

To enter, you’ll need the Shazam music identification smartphone app, and use it, when prompted, during the broadcast of Toyota’s “Connections” commercial, which encourages the nearly seven million Camry owners across the country to share stories, moments and memories they’ve had with their camera in the past 30 years. By entering the giveaway using Shazam technology, the winner of the contest could start a new “Camry Effect” by not only winning a Camry for themselves, but also to gift another Camry for a friend.

Vice president of digital marketing at Toyota says, “The Camry Effect is one of the most ambitious social media campaigns we’ve ever implemented. Partnering with Shazam allows us to increase awareness of this effort on the national stage and give one lucky winner the opportunity to positively affect a friend and start writing his or her Camry story.”

Who’s going to tune in tomorrow?

Toyota is recalling 427 2011 RAV4 models because the side-curtain airbags that might not deploy.

According to the notice, a propellant with incorrect specifications was used in the airbag inflator. In certain instances that can cause one or both of the devices to fail.

The vehicles included in the recall were made between November 24 and December 11 of last year. As recalls go, this is a pretty small one but interestingly enough, Honda issued an almost-identical recall for the same issue in their Accords and Crosstours today.

It seems the same supplier, Autoliv Americas, does business with both Honda and Toyota. Owners can expect to be contacted by mail if their vehicle is among the affected group.

There was absolutely no surprised looks around here when we heard that TRD was hard at work on tuning the all-new Toyota GT 86. It’s been a while since Toyota had such a formidable sports car platform, but we have to admit we’re a little disappointed that a method of forced induction – like a supercharger kit – still hasn’t been announced.

But we’ll give TRD the benefit of the doubt since they’ve already developed such a nice collection of modifications for the new sports car before it has even hit American soil. Our guess is that the majority of these will find their way to America’s Scion FR-S assuming that there’s little to no fitment differences on the products. We can hardly imagine what improvements TRD has made to the sports car, considering that it’s a fantastic machine to drive straight from the factory – read our review here.

Nonetheless, TRD’s full line of products for the GT 86 includes a full styling package with a new front spoiler, side skirts, rear diffuser and rear duck tail wing. For an exhaust upgrade, TRD offers a High Response Muffler Ver.R for the GT 86, sporting a quad-tipped design. For suspension and chassis upgrades, TRD has a front strut tower bar and 40-way damping adjustable suspension kit. Accessories include a radiator and oil cap, HID bulb upgrade, and Door Stabilizer Set.

For wheels and brakes, TRD offers a nicely designed 18-inch SF2 wheel, which is a one-piece forged aluminum wheel. The Big Brake Kit comes with 6-piston front calipers and 4-piston rear calipers with massive 14-inch rotors in the front and the rears are just slightly smaller at 13.6-inch. The BBK comes with new brake pads and stainless steel braided lines of course.

Lastly, the interior also has plenty of TRD goods available including a set of new seats in a black and red theme, TRD shift knob and push start button, and a series of gauges.

For now it’ll calm us down a bit, but seriously TRD… where’s our supercharger at?

GALLERY: TRD Toyota GT 86

[Source: Jon Sibal]

Toyota GT 86 chief engineer Tetsuya Tada is turning to the virtual world in hopes of making cars fun for the younger generation.

It might come as a surprise to our readers, but there are actually people out there who couldn’t care less about cars or driving them. In fact, the man behind one of the cars we’re most excited about, the Toyota GT 86, or Scion FR-S as it will be called here, has two sons who fit that description.

Tada’s plan is to allow people driving the FR-S to sync up driving data via the controller area network bus in their car with their home gaming console or computer. We’re not exactly sure how it will work yet, but that data will translate into people being able to “drive in the real world against a virtual F1 driver. They can have fun with the data,” he said.

“Manufacturers like to blame young people for having no interest in cars. Maybe we should blame ourselves,” he said. “Manufacturers provided boring cars and focused on older people, because this is where the money is. We have abandoned young people.”

We’re not sure what he’s worried about, considering the FR-S is going to be a budget-conscious rear-wheel drive sports car, but it will be hard to argue with anything that lets us take our rides to task both in and out of the real world.

GALLERY: 2013 Scion FR-S

[Source: The Truth About Cars]

The Toyota Corolla has long been the best-selling car of all time, but now it holds an even more impressive title: the world’s best selling vehicle.

That may sound the same at first, but the “vehicle” list includes trucks, of which Ford has been selling plenty since it first introduced the F-Series line of trucks in 1948. Back in 2007 the Corolla surpassed the VW Beetle to become the world’s best selling car, and has since quietly moved ahead of the Ford truck line, with sales figures totaling 37.5 million. That’s 2.5 million ahead of the F-Series, an indication that the little Toyota has been in the lead for quite some time.

As for the Beetle, it’s slipped to fourth at 23.5 million units, being surpassed by its sibling, the Golf with 27.5 million units sold. In fifth place is the out-of-production Ford Escort, with 20 million units sold.

[Source: 247Wallst]

See below for a full list of the world’s best selling vehicles:

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In a January 2012 sales conference call, Toyota division group vice president and general manager Bob Carter reported some surprising results.

Recovering from its mid-2011 slump, Toyota sold 124,540 units from its Toyota, Lexus and Scion divisions. Those sales translate to a 7.5 percent increase over last January. Toyota enjoyed a 9 percent increase in sales for January, thanks in tremendous part to a 56 percent jump in sales for the all-new Camry.

Surprisingly, the Camry garnering the highest customer demand is the sport trim Camry SE. Moreover, the Camry SE even helped Toyota bring in an unprecedented number of new and young buyers. Responding to the new trend, Carter said “demand for the SE model continues to top the Camry lineup and we could have sold more in January if we had them. So we’re adjusting our SE production mix in order to better meet customer demand in the months ahead, going from about 8 percent for the previous generation Camry, to more than 40 percent for the current production mix.”

As for Toyota hybrids, the Camry Hybrid’s modest 2,100-unit January sales represent a 146 percent increase from last year. Carter expects sales to increase as availability improves, announcing an annual sales target of 50,000 Camry Hybrids for 2012.

Toyota intends to continue its marketing focus on Camry, especially by dedicating airtime during the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500, where the Camry will also serve as the official pace car. Toyota’s notoriously bland midsize family sedan just got interesting.

GALLERY: 2012 Toyota Camry

Toyota racing announced today that the TS030 hybrid powered race car will compete in the World Endurance Championship races.

Originally Toyota racing had planned on entering selected races on the World Endurance Championship circuit, but citing unexpected changes faced by the championship has now announced they will be a full-time entrant. This means that the debut of the TS030 will be on May 5th at the Six Hours of Spa Francorchamps.

For the 24 hours of Le Mans race, the regular driver line-up of Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazui Nakajima has been confirmed, but the second set of drivers has yet to be determined.

“The circumstances for the championship changed suddenly in recent weeks and Toyota Racing considers it important to work together with the FIA and ACO to establish a successful future for endurance racing. We have done everything we can to show our support and we look forward to an exciting season, including the opportunity to race two cars at Le Mans,” said Toyota racing team president Yoshiaki Kinoshita.

See video of the Toyota Hybrid race car below:

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