AMG
25-01-2004, 06:00 AM
اليكم الموضوع كاملا...........منو من الشباب بيتبرع ويترجمه :help:
Bucking a trend that has seen Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. revive its legendary Z car and Mazda Motor Corp. wow the market with an incarnation of its rotary-powered RX, Toyota Motor Corp. says it has no plans to resuscitate its Supra heritage.
The reason, says James E. Press, executive vice president and chief operating officer-Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., is that the sports coupe segment is highly fickle – despite the success of the Nissan 350Z and buzz surrounding the recent release of the Mazda RX-8.
Press points instead to the Camry Solara, MR2 Spyder roadster and Celica, along with sport-tuned versions of some Toyota trucks, as filling the performance void. Also coming is the Corolla RS, a new trim level of Toyota’s popular compact sedan powered by the GTS Celica’s engine.
The Matrix, another Corolla derivative, was supposed to attract a younger demographic, bringing them to the Toyota brand and bridging the gap between the parent company and its newly created youth division, Scion.
However, insiders say Matrix has not been able to fill that role.
Instead of reviving the Supra, Press tells Ward's a vehicle such as the FJ Cruiser concept, shown a year ago at the North American International Auto Show, would be more appropriate.
The auto maker hasn’t formally announced it will build a production version of the FJ Cruiser, but officials have all but confirmed that it’s in Toyota’s production plans.
“I don’t think we’ve finalized the timing,” Press says. “But I can tell you this: If and when we build it, you won’t be able to tell the difference between the model in Detroit and the production vehicle. If it doesn’t look like it, we won’t build it.”
Press is vague on details but says the FJ, a small SUV resembling the original FJ Land Cruiser derivatives that were sold from 1960 to the mid-1980s, would be on a body-on-frame, truck-based platform and built in Japan.
Early speculation had seen the small SUV built at New United Motor Mfg. Inc. in Fremont, CA, on the Toyota Tacoma platform. Capacity at NUMMI is slated to free up in 2006, when Toyota shifts some Tacoma production to a facility currently under construction in Baja California, Mexico, just outside Tijuana.
Bucking a trend that has seen Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. revive its legendary Z car and Mazda Motor Corp. wow the market with an incarnation of its rotary-powered RX, Toyota Motor Corp. says it has no plans to resuscitate its Supra heritage.
The reason, says James E. Press, executive vice president and chief operating officer-Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., is that the sports coupe segment is highly fickle – despite the success of the Nissan 350Z and buzz surrounding the recent release of the Mazda RX-8.
Press points instead to the Camry Solara, MR2 Spyder roadster and Celica, along with sport-tuned versions of some Toyota trucks, as filling the performance void. Also coming is the Corolla RS, a new trim level of Toyota’s popular compact sedan powered by the GTS Celica’s engine.
The Matrix, another Corolla derivative, was supposed to attract a younger demographic, bringing them to the Toyota brand and bridging the gap between the parent company and its newly created youth division, Scion.
However, insiders say Matrix has not been able to fill that role.
Instead of reviving the Supra, Press tells Ward's a vehicle such as the FJ Cruiser concept, shown a year ago at the North American International Auto Show, would be more appropriate.
The auto maker hasn’t formally announced it will build a production version of the FJ Cruiser, but officials have all but confirmed that it’s in Toyota’s production plans.
“I don’t think we’ve finalized the timing,” Press says. “But I can tell you this: If and when we build it, you won’t be able to tell the difference between the model in Detroit and the production vehicle. If it doesn’t look like it, we won’t build it.”
Press is vague on details but says the FJ, a small SUV resembling the original FJ Land Cruiser derivatives that were sold from 1960 to the mid-1980s, would be on a body-on-frame, truck-based platform and built in Japan.
Early speculation had seen the small SUV built at New United Motor Mfg. Inc. in Fremont, CA, on the Toyota Tacoma platform. Capacity at NUMMI is slated to free up in 2006, when Toyota shifts some Tacoma production to a facility currently under construction in Baja California, Mexico, just outside Tijuana.