Toyota opened its new North American headquarters in Texas today, three years after announcing the move.
The headquarters was built on 100 acres across Plano in the northern part of Texas. Since announcing the headquarters, Toyota has spent approximately $1 billion on the new facility and moving thousands of employees. The grand opening arrives as Toyota celebrates 60 years in the U.S. this year.
The move brings many different branches together into one building, including quality engineering, sales, marketing, financial services, and corporate functions. Toyota’s North America CEO, Jim Lentz, said, “With team members from four different companies together in one campus location, we believe this will inspire greater collaboration, innovation, and faster decision making as we turn to and lead the future of mobility, all with an eye on our customers.”
Toyota began moving employees to the Plano facility in late spring, although construction is still wrapping up. By the end of the year, 4,000 employees from near and far will have settled into the new facility. Not all of the original employees decided to make the move, but Toyota says it has filled more than 75 percent of its open positions in Plano.
Before announcing the move to Texas, Toyota was headquartered in the Los Angeles metropolitan area for 57 years. The move affected a few thousand employees from Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. in Torrance, Calif., as well as employees from Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America in Erlanger, Ky. and other areas.
The new headquarters houses seven buildings brought together by a large central courtyard. The facility received LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, as it has more than 20,000 solar panels, a rainwater harvesting system with up to 400,000 gallons to use in irrigation, and drought resistant plants.
Over the next five years, Toyota will invest $10 billion in its U.S. operations, including the Plano headquarters and other manufacturing facilities.
Dodge announced pricing information for the 2018 Durango SRT that will arrive in dealerships later this year.
If you’re in the market for a three-row SUV that boasts a quarter-mile time of 12.9 seconds and can sprint from 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds, expect to pony up at least $64,090 for starters.
The Durango SRT packs a potent 6.4-liter Hemi V-8 under its hood. It delivers 475 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque and is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission.
“This is what you get, when you take everything great about the Durango and combine it with the performance of the Charger SRT: a 12-second quarter mile, 8,700-lb.-toy hauling, three-row muscle car,” said Tim Kuniskis, head of Passenger Car Brands for FCA, in a release.
Inside, the SRT sports a performance steering wheel with paddle shifters, Torqueflite t-handled shifter, wrapped pillars, and a suede headliner.
It’s available in seven flavors, including B5 Blue, Billet Clear Coat, Bruiser Gray, Dark Black, Granite, Octane Red Pearl Coat, and White Knuckle Clear Coat.
As a nice bonus, Dodge says customers who buy a 2018 Durango SRT will receive a full-day session at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Chandler, Arizona. We imagine the coffee is gratis, but the donut sessions are probably extra.
The “three-row Charger” SUV will be built at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit and is expected to arrive at dealerships in the fourth quarter of this year.
We recently spent time in the 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD in Moline, Illinois, where we drove the truck on the surrounding highways and also witnessed the truck’s towing abilities. Moline, a city on the border with Iowa and overlooking the Mississippi River, is also home to John Deere’s world headquarters, and their construction tractors served as the equipment to test the Silverado 3500HD hauling capabilities. These are six things we learned while driving Chevy’s most powerful Silverado ever.
Torque on Demand
For 2017, the Chevy Silverado 3500HD can be powered by a new version of the 6.6-liter Duramax turbodiesel V-8 engine delivering 445 hp and 910 lb-ft of torque. Those numbers represent a 19 percent increase over the previous Duramax and make the Silverado HD the Chevy vehicle that produces the most torque. During our short drive time with the 3500HD, we noticed an instant delivery of power that got the pickup moving quickly on the highway. The diesel engine is exclusively mated to a six-speed Allison transmission, which shifts smoothly and downshifts rapidly whenever more power is necessary. The soft steering makes the truck feel light despite weighting more than 4 tons, and the suspension absorbed the bumps and cracks of Iowa’s I-80 with no problems.
Another new feature in the 2017 Silverado 3500HD is a hood scoop, which allows cool and dry air to flow into the engine. The filter in the new air intake system prevents water or snow from going into the engine, allowing only cool air to flow. Chevy says the new system also permits the Duramax to maintain more power and speed when trailering in hot climates.
Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover
Although many see this vehicle as a work truck, Chevy equipped the 3500HD with plenty of nice and confortable touches. The High Country variant, which is the top trim grade, comes with full leather seats, heated and ventilated front seats, a Bose premium audio system, dual-zone climate control, an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Chevrolet MyLink, 4G LTE connectivity with a Wi-Fi hot spot, and wood finishes inside the cabin. Outside, you’ll be able to differentiate it from other models, thanks to the High Country badges and the new grille mesh design with a two-bar chrome trim. For the 2018 model year, even the Work Truck trim (the base variant) will get a 7.0-inch screen with MyLink, and every trim will come with Chevy’s Teen Driver feature.
The Towing Test
Because I lack a commercial driver’s license, I had to sit in the front passenger’s seat while Eric Stanczak, chief engineer of the truck, towed 22,000 pounds. (Note that the max towing is 22,700 pounds for four-wheel-drive trucks.) I was riding in the LTZ trim with a dual rear wheel, four-wheel drive, and the 6.6-liter diesel engine. A 7,300-pound Big Tex gooseneck trailer was used to tow a 14,700-pound John Deere backhoe loader, and the Silverado did its job effortlessly. For this part of the program, the Tow/Haul mode was activated, and I noted that the transmission wasn’t downshifting the entire time. There’s also a diesel exhaust brake that can be activated with the push of a button in the center console, and it reduces the amount of braking when driving a trailer. The feature uses the turbo to create engine braking. And speaking of braking, the Integrated Trailer Brake Control allows the trailer brakes to work in conjunction with the truck’s brakes, letting the driver have better control of the 3500HD when towing. Inside the cabin I experienced more engine noise than usual, but that is something normal when you tow almost three times the weight of the truck.
Packages for Your Needs
Depending on what you’ll use the truck for, you’ll be glad to know there are a few packages for your needs. The Snow Plow Prep package, for instance, comes with a roof emergency light, a forward lamp wiring harness, a 22-amp alternator, underbody shields, and heavy-duty front springs so you won’t get stuck in the snow. If you need a little more than that, the Alaskan Edition adds all of the above plus 18-inch black wheels with all-terrain tires, roof marker lights, a spray-in bedliner, and cool graphics on the body. That package is only available on singe-rear-wheel models. Of course, the Z71 package is available in the 3500HD, and it includes 33.6mm twin tube gas-charged shocks, an underbody transfer case shield, Z71 badges, a unique fascia, and hill-descent control.
Safety First
For $450, drivers can get safety technologies designed to prevent a collision, including lane departure warning, forward collision alert, and front and rear park assist. These features alert the driver through a vibration on the seat and sounds in the cabin, and they are standard on High Country models.
Price
The 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD starts at $36,005 but can quickly escalate to higher numbers depending on the trim level and body configurations. A High Country variant equipped with the Duramax diesel engine, a gooseneck ball and chain tie-down kit, and a Hitch package can go for upward of $70,000—a clear sign of how expensive the truck market has become.
The 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD continues to be built in Flint, Michigan, and is available now in Chevy dealers.
Continuing its slow tease of the next-generation Leaf, Nissan previewed the car’s self-parking feature in a video released today.
The feature, called ProPilot Park, automatically guides the Leaf into a parking spot with the help of sonars and cameras. Once activated, the feature controls accelerator, braking, and steering inputs to bring the car into a desired space, whether it’s a parallel, angled, front, or straight back-in spot.
“You get total confidence that even parking in the tightest space is completely automated and stress free,” Nissan says in the video. The global Leaf will be the first vehicle in Nissan’s lineup to receive the advanced parking technology.
The new Leaf will also receive ProPilot Assist, which keeps the car positioned in its lane on the highway. Over time, Nissan will add more capabilities to the feature, including autonomous lane changing. Eventually, the ProPilot system will be able to manage city intersections.
The Nissan Leaf will debut on September 6 and go on sale before the end of the year. In terms of design, the model will take after the Nissan IDS concept that debuted at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show. In two separate teasers, Nissan revealed the Leaf’s unusual headlights and grille design.
Want a 545-hp truck that looks like it’s ready to fly? Here’s one that is poised for takeoff. Ford Performance has modified a 2017 Raptor F-150 for the Experimental Aircraft Association to support its youth aviation programs.
A one-of-a-kind “F-22 Raptor” F-150 Raptor will be auctioned off during the EAA “Gathering of Eagles” convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on July 27.
“Ford’s support of EAA and AirVenture has allowed thousands of young people to discover, enjoy, and pursue aviation,” said Dave Chaimson, EAA’s VP of marketing and business development, in a statement. “The unique F-22 version of the tremendously popular Ford F-150 Raptor truck will be an enormously popular highlight of the Gathering of Eagles auction, and we’re very grateful for Ford’s support for our initiatives.”
Ford design manager Melvin Betancourt and the Ford Performance Team crafted the special truck to pay tribute to the Lockheed F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft.
Under the custom wrapped hood, there’s a twin-turbo, Whipple intercooled 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 engine that brings power up an extra 95 horses to 545 hp.
It also sports a special F-22-inspired grille and tailgate with suspension and brake upgrades, plus extra wheels and special roof-mounted lighting.
“This F-150 Raptor is a new look at Ford’s tradition of building unique vehicles in support of EAA’s youth aviation programs,” Betancourt said in a release. “We know this truck will create an unmatched buzz around this year’s Gathering of Eagles auction.”
The auction will be held at the EAA Aviation Museum later this month. Attendees are eligible to bid on the F-22 Raptor as are prequalified bidders by phone.
