Speaking at the Automotive News World Congress today, Toyota announced that it is seriously considering bringing the iQ minicar to the United States. The Toyota iQ made it debut at the 2008 Paris Motor Show last year and recently went on sale in Japan.
“We think there is an urban market,” Toyota executive Esmond said. “We are looking real hard at how it would fit in….because if you look at urban markets, they are growing.”
Esmond said that Toyota has been studying the sales of the Smart ForTwo very closely and said that Toyota would likely import the car to the United States in the near future. He declined to give a firm schedule or whether the car will be sold under the Toyota or Scion badge.
The Toyota iQ is offered in two trim levels (IQ and IQ2), and with two different engines. A 1.0-liter gasoline 3 cylinders that generates 50 kW (67 hp) @ 6,000 rpm and maximum torque of 91 Nm (67 lb-ft) @ 4,800 rpm, which is decent for such a small and light car. Fuel economy is 4.3 L/100km (55 mpg US) and 99 grams of CO2/km.
The 1.4-liter turbodiesel engine generates 66 kW (89 hp) of power @ 3,400 rpm and 190 Nm (140 lb-ft of torque @ 2,000 rpm. Fuel econony is 4.1 L/100km (57 mpg US) with CO2 emissions of 103 g/km (a tad better on fuel efficiency, a tad worse on CO2 emissions).
New Engine and Stop-Start Coming in 2009
There is a third versions coming for 2009: A new 1.33-liter dual VVT-i gasoline engine (read earlier post) with stop-and-start technology (the engine stops instead of idling at red lights and such, restarting instantaneously when you take your foot off the brake pedal).
“We think there is an urban market,” Toyota executive Esmond said. “We are looking real hard at how it would fit in….because if you look at urban markets, they are growing.”
Esmond said that Toyota has been studying the sales of the Smart ForTwo very closely and said that Toyota would likely import the car to the United States in the near future. He declined to give a firm schedule or whether the car will be sold under the Toyota or Scion badge.
The Toyota iQ is offered in two trim levels (IQ and IQ2), and with two different engines. A 1.0-liter gasoline 3 cylinders that generates 50 kW (67 hp) @ 6,000 rpm and maximum torque of 91 Nm (67 lb-ft) @ 4,800 rpm, which is decent for such a small and light car. Fuel economy is 4.3 L/100km (55 mpg US) and 99 grams of CO2/km.
The 1.4-liter turbodiesel engine generates 66 kW (89 hp) of power @ 3,400 rpm and 190 Nm (140 lb-ft of torque @ 2,000 rpm. Fuel econony is 4.1 L/100km (57 mpg US) with CO2 emissions of 103 g/km (a tad better on fuel efficiency, a tad worse on CO2 emissions).
New Engine and Stop-Start Coming in 2009
There is a third versions coming for 2009: A new 1.33-liter dual VVT-i gasoline engine (read earlier post) with stop-and-start technology (the engine stops instead of idling at red lights and such, restarting instantaneously when you take your foot off the brake pedal).
Sources: eGMCarTech, TreeHugger
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