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  • William Maley
    William Maley

    By William Maley •

    Toyota is "Taking a Hard Look" At Their U.S. Lineup, May Cut Some Models

      But don't expect a dramatic cut in their passenger lineup

    Toyota isn't immune to the falling sales of passenger vehicles as more buyers trend towards trucks and SUVs. In the first ten months of this year, cars are down 11.1 percent. Meanwhile, trucks are up 7.7 percent. This has the Japanese automaker considering dropping some models.

    "We are taking a hard look at all of the segments that we compete in to make sure we are competing in profitable segments and that products we sell have strategic value," said Jim Lentz, Toyota's North America CEO after the automaker reported an increase in quarterly profits.

    Unlike Ford which is revamping its lineup to changing consumer tastes, Toyota isn't planning to "abandon passenger cars," instead "scrutinizing offerings in some areas, such as convertibles or coupes." No mention was made of the models on the chopping block, but we have a possible few candidates.

    • Yaris: Sales have dropped 38 percent this year
    • Prius C : Not big a seller and hasn't really been updated aside from the 2018 model Pruis C we reviewed last month.
    • Lexus RC: Sales down 52 percent so far in 2018
    • Lexus GS: Been long rumored to be heading to the gallows
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    smk4565

    Lexus GS can die off, the German sedans crush it, and Lexus has the ES which is a midsized car for less money than a GS and their buyers are fine with it.  RC is a coupe of an existing model, so I don't know if that is so much it's own model, they could call it IS coupe if they wanted.

    The Avalon they can do without because the top trim Camry is about as nice as an Avalon, and if you want a car a little bit nicer than a Camry they have the Lexus ES which shares a platform and drivetrain with the Avalon.

    They need something below the Corolla I think, and if the Yaris is built by Mazda or shared however they do it, that may not really be costing Toyota much.  

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    A Horse With No Name
    2 hours ago, balthazar said:

    They could do the USDM a huge favor, and pull out entirely. ;)

    I would rather loose Ford than Toyota.

    2 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

    No reason to leave.  The US is one of their biggest markets and they have many employees here.  

    Turning a profit and have a decent reputation...no reason for them to leave.

    • Confused 1
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    G. David Felt

    I think Toyota could cut half their car models and still do very well here.

    Today, at the tail end of dusk when it is almost solid black, I saw so many toyota cars, cuvs and trucks with no lights on. I honestly do not understand how someone can drive with no lights on when it is almost pitch black. Toyota drivers are the 2nd worst right behind BMW drivers. MB drivers are a solid 3rd.

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    KevinW
    On 11/8/2018 at 11:16 PM, dfelt said:

    Today, at the tail end of dusk when it is almost solid black, I saw so many toyota cars, cuvs and trucks with no lights on. I honestly do not understand how someone can drive with no lights on when it is almost pitch black. Toyota drivers are the 2nd worst right behind BMW drivers. MB drivers are a solid 3rd.


    It's the same around here.   They're driving around with only the DRLs providing minimal forward lighting, and from the sides and rear, only the required reflectors provide any visual indication of their presence.  Some manufacturers activate *only* the instrument panel lighting when it's dark, tricking many drivers into thinking their external lights are on.  This is an extremely poor design decision, but I haven't come across any legal action yet.

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    balthazar

    Saw a few year old Acura SUV driving on a tree-lined residential street last week, completely dark front & rear at 9PM. Even if the dash lights come on, all these cars have automatic lights, don't they? I'm continually turning my headlights off (NOT the DRLs) when they come on during the day, just because I'm not in direct sunlight or the like. They go on TOO often, and my truck is 15 years old.

    Edited by balthazar
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    Robert Hall
    1 hour ago, balthazar said:

    Saw a few year old Acura SUV driving on a tree-lined residential street last week, completely dark front & rear at 9PM. Even if the dash lights come on, all these cars have automatic lights, don't they? I'm continually turning my headlights off (NOT the DRLs) when they come on during the day, just because I'm not in direct sunlight or the like. They go on TOO often, and my truck is 15 years old.

    Automatic lights are a setting, though.  My Jeep has automatic lights, but if I have the light switch in the off position then they work like old school lights and you have to turn them on and off.   (automatic is a separate position from off).

    Edited by Robert Hall
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    balthazar

    Well, not on everything. My lights are either on 'automatic' or 'parking lights' or 'headlights'. IOW; if they weren't on auto, they'd just stay on & bing at me frantically when the door opens.
    With all the nanny-device lovers out there, I'm surprised anyone would willingly ever turn their lights to 'off'.

    Edited by balthazar
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    Robert Hall

    Interesting..odd to hear of automatic without normal off also.  I think my sister's STS and Trax have automatic w/ regular off also. My old Jeep had automatic and off settings also, I quit using the automatic setting after they started coming on randomly when parked.    I've been using the automatic setting on my newer Jeep, and have the DRLs enabled as well.  Get enough cloudy weather I like having them on. 

    Edited by Robert Hall
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    G. David Felt

    GM who I believe invented and clearly one of the first to use day time running lights has made it standard that you have an off, but the switch moves back to marker. So if you wanted, you can switch the headlights to off but not the marker lights and then turn it one more place to auto. 

    I agree with @balthazar I see no reason for anyone to take them out of auto mode.

    I suspect as I have learned this weekend that many english as a second language drivers here do not understand that the lights auto turn off after a set time. 

    Driving is a privilege earned and so many around me think it is a right and folks that cannot speak English get a license and a car and never read the owners manual as they do not understand how to read and as such they get in a habit of turning everything off even auto lights.

    Helped my wife with some Koreans who were shocked to learn you do leave the light switch in the auto mode on. She translated and they were happy to finally understand. After this, I now feel strongly that all those dark auto's truly are people that are ignorant of how the lights work.

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    Robert Hall

    Speaking of 'off' settings on switches, one thing annoying w/ my Jeep is the radio has no on/off button.  You can turn the volume all the way down to effectively mute it, but there is no off.

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    balthazar

    My radio off button is now inoperative, so I have the same parameters in play. At least it stopped working with the radio on.

    My truck is really getting elderly. A lot of little things are on the fritz.

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    Robert Hall
    6 minutes ago, balthazar said:

    My radio off button is now inoperative, so I have the same parameters in play. At least it stopped working with the radio on.

    My truck is really getting elderly. A lot of little things are on the fritz.

    How many miles you have now?   My old Jeep started really feeling it's age above 150k miles.   The power windows and locks would randomly work, the airbag light would come on when I turned left,  power mirrors quit.. 

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    balthazar

    186K. Powertrain/running gear is like a rock, I never doubt it. Body is still excellent. But a bunch of little bits in the last year or so are giving up. only 1 speaker left, driver power mirror doesn't work (tho obviously I can adjust from seat), fan only currently working on 5 (hope is lasts thru winter), dome light stopped working when door opens (but still does manually), parking brake cable snapped (its on my list to attend to, about 2 yrs without by now). ABS light is also on, but I think it's just unplugged at one wheel.
    It's been a great truck- I got it with 46K on it and it's really overbuilt, but hope to replace it within the next 12 months. 

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    A Horse With No Name
    10 hours ago, balthazar said:

    186K. Powertrain/running gear is like a rock, I never doubt it. Body is still excellent. But a bunch of little bits in the last year or so are giving up. only 1 speaker left, driver power mirror doesn't work (tho obviously I can adjust from seat), fan only currently working on 5 (hope is lasts thru winter), dome light stopped working when door opens (but still does manually), parking brake cable snapped (its on my list to attend to, about 2 yrs without by now). ABS light is also on, but I think it's just unplugged at one wheel.
    It's been a great truck- I got it with 46K on it and it's really overbuilt, but hope to replace it within the next 12 months. 

    Good luck with your next choice. 

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