All Toyotas to Come With Collision Avoidance by 2017

Toyota plans to make collision avoidance technology available on all its models and might even add it to the standard equipment list on each of its vehicles.

Plans to implement the technology start with the 2015 model year according to ta report by the Detroit Free Press. Following the initial move, Toyota general manager Bill Fay said the company is considering making the pre-collision systems a part of its standard equipment list across the Toyota lineup. Those systems are, for the most part, already at Toyota’s disposal because of their implementation in Lexus vehicles, yet there are currently no Toyota products fully equipped with pre-collision systems.

Currently, Toyota vehicles are sold with pre-collision warning systems that will flash a light on the windshield and beep, but they don’t interfere with the actual crash. Lexus products come with more advanced safety systems that are actually able to autonomously stop the car at relatively low speeds to avoid an accident even if the driver is distracted or unresponsive.

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Justifying equipment costs is one of the greatest challenges Toyota will face in carrying out that plan. In order to deal with that, the company is looking for a way to make the safety systems easier to share between models so that they are scalable to lower cost vehicles with thinner profit margins.

Safety ratings are becoming an even greater marketing opportunity for manufacturers because the most recent wave of IIHS crash test ratings includes a “Top Safety Pick +” designation that includes collision avoidance systems. In order to qualify, vehicles much have at least a basic collision warning system that is recognized by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.