Toyota's Y2K Trio

Automotive Industries,  Sept, 1999  by Gerry Kobe

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

Japan's biggest automaker greets the millenium with three new offerings for the U.S., plus a preview of its upcoming hybrid.

In drag racing there is no substitute for cubic inches and in marketing there is no substitute for new product So for Toyota, that means its 2000 lineup should leave competitors "at the lights" in terms of showroom traffic. With the launch of its subcompact Echo, full-size Avalon and specialty Celica, three distinct buying groups will be lured into dealerships and treated to all-new or substantially redesigned products.

Entry-Level Echo

The most noteworthy vehicle in Toyota's 2000 lineup is the U.S. version of the car that took Japan and Europe by storm last January. Dubbed Echo in coupe/sedan form for the States, the three- and five-door hatchback version of the car is known as Vitz in its home market and Yaris in Europe. There are no plans to export hatchbacks here, even though chief engineer Yasuhiko Ichihashi says it would be simple to do so if American tastes warrant it.

Echo is the first car to be influenced by Toyota's genesis division, which is an eight-member, California-based team that's focused on bringing younger American buyers into the Toyota fold. (Toyota has registered the car's name in all capital letters, as ECHO, and will use it that way in marketing. Genesis will appear all lower case.)

"Toyota has built its large customer base by evolving with the needs, wants and lifestyles of baby boomers," says genesis manager Mark Del Rosso. "As that generation ages, it is important to bring post-baby-boom consumers into the Toyota family." Notably, these Generation X and Y consumers total 51% of the U.S. population. They're arguably the future of every automaker's success.

In trying to attract new buyers, Echo seems to break all the rules and conventions of the small car market. Its laudable package efficiency bumps it into the compact car segment in interior volume, even though the car is a B-class subcompact. It also boasts a sophisticated 1.5L 108-hp engine with variable valve timing -- costly technology that's never appeared on a vehicle in this segment. Even more amazing, Toyota is shooting for abase price in the $10,000 range, which will significantly undercut competitors like Neon and Civic. A well-equipped Echo will sticker at $12,500 and include such items as air conditioning, power steering and six-speaker CD stereo.

Ichihashi says the challenge to do such a low cost, technologically advanced car put incredible pressure on his team. "We had a goal of cutting manufactured cost of this car by 30%," he says. "It was an impossible goal for us, but we wanted to challenge ourselves to have to do the unconventional. We came close. It forced us to rethink everything."

The unconventional approach included abandoning some traditional Toyota manufacturing wisdoms. For example, even though the company tries to utilize identical components across all its vehicle lines to get economies of scale, Ichihashi says his team looked at every component and often reinvented it.

"Usually components are designed for more expensive cars first and then introduced into lower price models," he offers. "That often drives a more expensive design. We engineered components to be low cost and will backfit them into our other products, giving us cost advantages across the board."

From a performance standpoint, Echo's simple MacPherson front/torsion beam rear suspension gives this 2,020-pound vehicle remarkably taut handling, despite its tall, top-heavy appearance. Disc/drum braking is exemplary and the car's 1:18.7 horsepower-to-weight ratio makes it a match for most anything in its class. (By comparison, a base Neons power-to-weight ratio is 1:19.4.)

Toyota predicts 75% of Echo sales will be 4-door models, and it projects sales volumes of 50,000 to 60,000 units in the first year.

Celica Finds Itself

Following a dismal sales year of just over 4,000 units in the U.S., Toyota's Celica is now aimed squarely at the youth segments. Built off the Japanese-market Camry platform, the new car has a longer wheelbase with a shorter overall length. Subsequently, ride quality and maneuverability are both improved, as are NVH characteristics.

Most noteworthy on the new car is the demise of last year's anemic 130-hp, 2.2L engine. In its place are two iterations of an all-aluminum 1.8L powerplant, the base version of which churns out 140 hp, and a Yamaha-developed 180-hp version that shaves a claimed two seconds off the car's quarter mile time, versus the 1999 model.

Both engines feature variable valve timing which is rapidly becoming a signature technology across the Toyota line. The 180-hp unit also features variable lift valves, made possible by the addition of two-stage lift and duration profiles for both cams. Above 6,000 rpm, the cam shifts to a high-lift, long-duration lobe that enhances intake efficiency.

The engine also utilizes metal-matrix composite (MMC), reinforced aluminum cylinder lines, which replace cast iron liners. The MMC components are stiffer, lighter and have a longer life projection.