Last month, Toyota alluded to the possibility that an Avalon Hybrid was in the works, claiming that a car under development would have “more space than a BMW X5, faster than a Volkswagen TDI and higher MPG than a Fiat 500.”

And now we pretty much have confirmation that the vehicle Toyota Division Group Vice President and General Manager Bob Carter was speaking about is the upcoming Avalon that will most definitely be employing the use of a hybrid system. Toyota executives at the National Automobile Dealers Association Convention promised that the all-new Avalon will “meet or beat” the 33-mpg combined rating of the Fiat 500.

Set to make its debut at the 2012 New York International Auto Show, the new Avalon Hybrid would be a huge improvement over the current 20-mpg city, 29-mpg highway offered in this generation Avalon. Chances are, Toyota will reach for their system seen in the Camry Hybrid that has 200-hp and a 41-mpg combined rating.

Toyota also announced at the event that they intend to release 19 new models (including the Avalon) in 2012 alone.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

Recently, Toyota Division Group Vice President and General Manager, Bob Carter, gave everyone a hint of what’s to come from the Japanese automaker. In an interview with War’s Auto he commented on a car that will have “more space than a BMW X5, faster than a Volkswagen TDI and higher MPG than a Fiat 500,” but wouldn’t disclose any more details.

This future model could be a brand new car, but by process of elimination and using Carter’s clues, there’s reason to believe that it could be a variant of Toyota’s Avalon in hybrid form. To have more space than a BMW X5, it’ll have to have an interior volume greater than 102.4-cubic feet. To best the TDI’s performance, it’ll need more than 140-hp and 235 lb-ft of torque. Lastly, the Fiat 500 is rated at 30-mpg city and 38-mpg highway, so a hybrid would definitely do that.

By process of elimination, we can conclude that this mystery model isn’t the new Prius v or Prius c and it’s not based on the recently debuted NS4 Hybrid Concept. And since the Camry Hybrid was just updated, its highly unlikely Carter was referring to that. Carter did give a little more insight to the vehicle, stating that it’ll have “lavish features rarely found in near-luxury vehicles,” which doesn’t really say much other than that it may be a little more upscale than what we normally see in a Toyota.

[Source: Ward's Auto]

According to a number of Toyota dealers, who recently got a sneak peak at the next generation Avalon, the company’s full-size cruiser will reportedly be transformed into a sleek, Euro inspired car, in the mold of the Audi A7 or Jaguar XJ.

This represents an about turn for the Japanese Buick, though inside sources report that the car will continue to be front-drive and powered by a 3.5-liter V6 engine, so even though Toyota says handling will also be improved, don’t expect it to be able to keep up with an A7 or XJ in the curves.

The revamped Avalon is just one of several bread and butter Toyotas undergoing a makeover, the 2012 Yaris and Corolla having received quite significant styling tweaks, designed to give them a bit more flair.

[Source: AutomotiveNews]

The All-American Impala: Made in Canada

During President Obama’s press conference last week when he announced that Chrylser would file for Chapter 11, he asked Americans that if they were looking to buy a car, to look at American cars. The “buy American” philosophy drew harsh criticism from the American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA), which pointed out that buying American doesn’t necessarily mean buying a car from an American brand.

“AIADA objects to President Obama’s ‘buy American’ solution for the auto sector,” AIADA President Cody Lusk said in a statement. “In today’s globalized economy ‘buying American’ can mean anything from buying a Chevy Avalanche built by Mexican workers in Silao, Mexico to buying a Toyota Camry built by Americans in Georgetown, Kentucky.”

On that note, there is one way to tell exactly which country a car is manufactured in – the VIN number. That’s right, that odd 17-digit sequence of numbers and letters found on the dash under the windshield (and in numerous other places on a vehicle) holds the key to a vehicle’s country of origin.

Many VIN numbers, actually start with a letter. Those that start with a “J” are built in Japan and those with a “K” are from Korea. Most of the rest, however, aren’t so intuitive. VINs that start with a “W” are from Germany, while an “S” signifies England. Swedish cars get a “Y.”

The United States, Canada and Mexico all use a number system, with American-made cars using a VIN that starts with the number 1, while Canadian-made cars use a 2 and Mexican made cars use a 3.

The number of American vehicles made outside the U.S. is actually quite significant, while many “foreign” cars are built in American. In fact, one of America’s best-selling vehicles (and one that is also typically American) is actually built in Canada – the Chevy Impala.

Other made-in-Canada cars include the Buick Lacrosse, Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger, Ford Flex, Lincoln MKX, Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis and the new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro.

Made-in Mexico cars include the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Chevrolet HHR. And as for the the Chevy Aveo sub-compact, it comes from Korea.

On the flip-side, there are plenty of Japanese (and even some German) vehicles built in the U.S. of A. Some of the most significant include the high volume Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, while the Honda Element and Toyota Avalon are also U.S. products. Nissan builds several models in the United States while BMW manufactures the Z4 as well as the X5 and X6 in South Carolina.

… The more you know…

[Source: La Times]