Car Corner

Lexus is a luxury car of lasting performance and style. Buying a used Lexus holds no stigma for they will still be cars of quality. However, there will come a point when that used Lexus is as dead as a do-do and then what happens to it? How many of them do you see parked in a layby, up on bricks? How many do you see used for banger racing? That’s right – very few.

That’s because Toyota, the parent company of Lexus, have introduced initiatives just as BMW have undertaken to reduce their impact on the environment when a used car needs to be disposed of. The extent of re-using and recycling often depends on how strict Government regulations are in within any given country. America has less stringent rules and therefore have no major recycling plants for a used Lexus whereas Europe and Japan take their responsibilities a little more seriously.

Part of Government initiatives to reduce environmental damage include encouraging car manufacturers to implement ways for their customers to dispose of used cars with thought and consideration for the world’s delicate eco system. With an estimated 125 million cars on the road, that’s a lot of scrap materials that will need to be dealt with at some point or another.

For their part, Toyota and Lexus have come up with The Lexus Environmental Assistance Network which supplies all dealers with websites containing up to date information on waste management. This means that no used Lexus dealer has any excuse not to inform its customers about how they can do their bit to reduce their carbon footprint and numerous components can be returned for precision factory remanufacture and re-sale.

Add to this the Automobile Shredder Residue Recycling plants that Toyota and Lexus have built up and there is no doubt that they are taking a pro-active stance in dealing with a dead Lexus considerately.

Toyota Motor Company opened the world’s first mass production recycling plant in 1998, setting a precedent for other car manufacturers to follow. By 2005, they had the capabilities to process 560,000 tons of vehicle waste per year. Any parts that can be re-conditioned and re-used will be removed and processed to make them as good as new. This leaves urethane foam, fibre, copper, glass and plastics that can be re-used and reformed into something else that will work just as well.

All the recyclable materials on a used Lexus now amount to 85% of the vehicle, leaving only 15% for landfill sites and that’s a pretty impressive figure. The aim for the future is to make 95% of vehicle parts and materials re-usable or recyclable. Of course, this all depends on how eco-friendly the vehicle is in original manufacture and Lexus aim to make their vehicles lighter whilst being just as strong with better fuel consumption and less emissions. If these things are taken into consideration, you can then start to look at how materials can be re-used alter on in the used Lexus life.

What concerns me is that the technology already exists to separate all types of plastics involved in car building to a purity of 99% but companies have decided that is is so far uneconomical. How can you put a price on saving the very environment we live in?

Toyota has 2 massive things in store for the Camry when the 2007 model year version of the auto rolls out this coming summer : a complete redesign and the availability of a hybrid engine. Already the fastest selling auto in America, the Camry is certain to be overhauled and re-engineered. Let’s have a look at some of the changes booked for Toyota’s venerable model.

New Styling Cues – Nobody has ever said that the Camry is a knock out when it comes to style. Regardless of its pedestrian look, the Camry has managed to take advantage of Toyota quality, price, and engineering to present a vehicle that is obviously a best seller. Still, critics have routinely yawned at the Camry’s looks, but that will soon all change and dramtically at that. Borrowing some styling cues from Toyota’s Lexus line up of high end cars, the 2007 Camry is predicted to please motorists and critics alike. Witness the lately made over Toyota Avalon : what was a tasteless, a bland, full sized car has been changed into a graceful, luxurious sedan.

Time For A Hybrid – Toyota is riding the hybrid crest and it will, therefore, introduce hybrid technology into the Camry line up. Like all of the Camry models, the hybrid version will be built in the first Toyota hybrid to be built outside of Japan. However, the battery and inverter will be sourced from Japan while the engine will be Kentucky built. The Camry will join the Prius and the Highlander as the third Toyota model to supply hybrid technology.

More Power – Expected to be in the same size range as the present model, the Camry will keep its current 4 and six cylinder engines, but both will be redone enough to crank out extra hp without compromising on fuel economy.

The Camry’s chief rival over the last ten years has been the Honda deal. With a hybrid offering available and an improved appearance in effect the Camry is likely to brace its hold on the “top seller” class when the new model is released.

No one knows for sure if the “hybrid phase” is just a fad or something that will eventually catch on. With regime credits still free and high gas costs at the pump, Americans continue to look at hybrids as a workable alternative to parched internal combustion engines. Toyota, for its part, continues to take advantage of this trend and the Camry is the most recent auto in Toyota’s expanding arms depot to successfully incorporate hybrid technology.

Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) members pick Camry LE, Camry Hybrid and RAV4 as category winners for the 2007 Canadian Car of the Year. Toyota Trio were given the top honors. Toyota Camry LE won in the Best New Family Car, Toyota Camry Hybrid, in the Best New Family Car, and Toyota RAV4 V6 Sport in the Best New SUV/CUV category.

“Toyota is very happy to accept these awards and on behalf of everyone at Toyota in Canada, I’d like to thank AJAC’s members for these honors,” said Stephen Beatty, Managing Director at Toyota Canada Inc. “The Toyota Camry is North America’s most popular passenger car. The Toyota Camry Hybrid represents an important evolution of gasoline-electric hybrid technology in the second most popular market segment in Canada. And the redesigned Toyota RAV4 will be manufactured in Woodstock, Ontario when our new assembly plant, currently under construction, begins production in 2008.”

Toyota Camry, a midsize car built in Georgetown, Kentucky plant, is the best-selling car in the United States for 8 of the last 9 years starting in 1997. Now in its sixth generation, auto parts for Toyota Camry have been notably redesigned though the length of the car remained unchanged. Kentucky plant produces approximately 45,000 Camrys annually.

Toyota Camry OEM parts boast functionality and style. The new Camry is also being manufactured by Toyota Motor Corporation Australia. The new generation Camry in Australia went on sale last August. Its model range is composed of the Altise, Ateva, Sportivo and Grande.

This year, Toyota created a hybrid version of Camry. It was introduced alongside with the redesigned Camry. The car employs Hybrid Synergy Drive setup, which is identical to that of Prius, Highlander Hybrid and Lexus RX 400h. Camry Hybrid uses a 4-cylinder gasoline engine that is capable of producing 192 horsepower. Standard features of the Camry Hybrid include knee airbags, side torso airbags and side-curtain airbags, remote entry and start.

Toyota RAV4, on the other hand, is a compact crossover SUV which was significantly redesigned for the 2006 model year. For now, Toyota RAV4 auto parts are assembled in the automaker’s Tahara, Aichi, Japan assembly plant. However, the assembly is expected to be transferred in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada assembly plant when the latter comes online.

“These three vehicles are extremely important to Toyota’s vision of the future of personal transportation in Canada,” Mr. Beatty continued. “Therefore, we’re pleased that they have been selected by AJAC’s members as the best in their respective categories.”

AJAC is an association composed of professional journalists, writers and photographers who are responsible for the coverage in Canada’s auto industry.