PARK CITY, Utah – The next-generation Camry was in the bag, on-sale, and receiving positive reviews. High-fives, team. The new car was wildly improved, having adopted Toyota's new TNGA-K platform that would go on to proliferate throughout the lineup, including the all-wheel-drive RAV4 and Highlander. But the new Camry, like every predecessor since 1991, would be front-wheel drive only. That there is a 2020 Toyota Camry AWD shows that something quickly changed.

All-wheel drive had been considered during the development of the new Camry, but was nixed. One gets the impression it was a decision made in Japan. Then the car launched, and almost immediately a vocal group of North American customers and dealers started asking why all-wheel drive wasn't offered and could it be added. This coincided with a continued mass exodus from family sedans to family compact crossovers, at least in part because of the reassurance all-wheel drive provides (even if a good set of tires should functionally do the trick). Toyota of North America made the decision to quickly change course, to offer all-wheel drive on the Camry, and put its own engineers in Michigan to work.

To create the 2020 Camry AWD, those engineers needed to rework almost the entire floor pan to accommodate a prop shaft and rear axle. The only engine paired with all-wheel drive would be the 2.5-liter four-cylinder, which in this application produces 202 horsepower and 182 pound-feet of torque (205 hp and 185 lb-ft in the XSE trim). Besides it being the sole gas-only engine offered by its AWD donor, the RAV4, only 6% of Camrys sold pack the optional V6. On paper, that 2.5-liter would seem to be the same in the Camry and RAV4, but they are in fact different in tiny ways, and it's the RAV4 unit that finds itself in the Camry AWD. The minuscule output difference between the standard Camry (203 hp and 184 lb-ft in all trims but its own XSE) and the Camry AWD is actually the result of a slight restriction in the exhaust caused by the need to package extra hardware at the rear.

The engine is joined by the RAV's eight-speed automatic transmission, which possesses the required output for the prop shaft needed to power the rear wheels. That piece of hardware actually comes from the Highlander, but the rear axle and multi-link rear suspension are modified from the RAV4. To accommodate all of the above, an electronic parking brake was fitted and a new gas tank was created in a saddle design that arches over the prop shaft. To ensure there was enough room for the new tank, engineers turned to the Camry Hybrid's back seat, which is 10 mm higher to accommodate its battery pack. Trunk space remains the same.

As of this year, Toyota will have yet another small SUV in its lineup which will slot under the C-HR and will share underpinnings with the new Yaris.

The 268-horsepower Toyota GR Yaris joined the list of forbidden fruits we can't get in the United States when it made its global debut at the 2020 Tokyo Auto Salon. The online petition to bring the car here didn't change the company's mind, but product planners have another plan to satisfy motorists seeking a seriously quick hatchback.

Toyota has "an answer" for the GR Yaris (pictured) that's better tailored to the American market, according to Bob Carter, the firm's executive vice president of sales. Speaking to Car & Driver, he explained it's not going to be a federalized version of the rally-bound model sold overseas because the car it's based on isn't available on our shores. The Yaris we get is a re-badged Mazda2 that shares no major parts with the fourth-generation hatchback sold overseas, so giving it World Rally Championship-like power would be easier said than done.

The 2020 Toyota Supra finally went on sale last year as one of the most controversial new sports cars in a long time. For 2021, Toyota is adding a couple wrinkles to the Supra equation.

The biggest news for the 2021 Toyota Supra is the arrival of a turbocharged four-cylinder model called Supra 2.0. Instead of the 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six, this Supra is equipped with a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder (sourced from BMW, just like the six). The four-cylinder makes 255 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, and Toyota claims a 0-60 mph time of 5.0 seconds. This is the same 2.0-liter turbo that's in the BMW Z4 30i.

Toyota has launched a limited edition version of the Land Cruiser in Australia, named the Land Cruiser Sahara Horizon.

Toyota is thought to be readying a GR-badged performance version of the Corolla that could hit the market in 2023.

Nobody expected a 2020 Toyota Camry TRD model before Toyota announced both this sporty sedan and the Avalon TRD at the same time. And even after that, we had a hard time believing that the Camry and Avalon TRD versions would be legitimately compelling drivers. However, the Avalon TRD managed to win some of us over with its surprisingly agile driving dynamics and aggressive design. We were hoping for the same to happen in our week with the smaller and inherently sportier Camry TRD.

The formula for the Camry is similar to the Avalon. Add suspension, sound and styling; keep the powertrain. Toyota calls the Camry TRD's chassis "track tuned." New, stiffer coil springs lower the ride height by 0.6 inch. Combined with more aggressive sway bars and TRD-specific shocks, Toyota says the roll stiffness is increased by 44 percent in front and 67 percent in the rear. Our tester didn't have the Bridgestone Potenza summer tires that come as standard equipment, due to it being cold and snowy in Michigan right now, but the all-season Michelins it did have were mounted to the special 19-inch matte black TRD wheels. Toyota also mounts larger front brakes on the TRD, moving from 12-inch front rotors to 12.9-inch discs, and two-piston calipers as opposed to single-piston clampers. As we foreshadowed before, the Camry keeps its 3.5-liter V6 that makes 301 horsepower and 267 pound-feet of torque. Even the eight-speed automatic's transmission tuning carries over to the TRD.

The Toyota 4Runner, Tacoma, and Tundra already are offered in a myriad of off-road-themed trim levels, including TRD Off-Road, TRD Off-Road Premium, and TRD Pro. Now, Toyota is adding 4Runner, Tacoma, and Tundra Trail Editions, because in the great outdoors, there's always room for one more.

In all three cases, the Trail Edition is based on the SR5 trim level, which means it should be more affordable than the TRD variants. Equipment differs slightly depending on the truck, but all are offered in 2WD or 4WD guise. Common elements include the exterior color choices: Army Green, Cement (gray), Midnight Black, and Super White, all with black badging. Black interiors feature tan contrast stitching and floor liners.

Here in the States, the only engine available in the reborn Toyota Supra is an inline-six that produces 335 horsepower and 365 pound-feet of torque. In other markets, however, Toyota's swoopy sportscar is offered with a couple of four-cylinder options. According to a report from Motor Trend, an announcement for a 2.0-liter turbocharged four for the U.S. could be imminent. Motor Trend asked Ed Laukes, Toyota's group vice president of marketing, directly about the possibility of a downsized engine in the U.S. Supra, and he responded that they should "stay tuned for next week." Taking that a little further, MT postulates that an announcement could be made at the Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 16. BMW offers a 2.0-liter four-cylinder in the mechanically similar Z4 with 255 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. It's not clear what power level Toyota would target for a base-level Supra, but a 225-hp version is offered in Japan. What's more, a four-cylinder Supra has already been certified for sale by the California Air Resources Board, which means at least some hurdles have already been passed. So, will it come? Perhaps we'll find out in a week.

Of course all the luggage in my garage fits inside the 2020 Toyota 4Runner. I mean, duh, it's a midsize SUV and a boxy one at that. Thankfully, then, there's a lot more to talk about here than answering "will it fit?"  There's the matter of just how much stuff you can bring along on a rugged 4Running adventure (holy cow it's a lot!). There's the optional sliding cargo floor, the TRD Pro's jumbo roof rack and the new-for-2020 proximity entry that lets you open the tailgate by keeping the key in your pocket. And oh yes, as always, there's the power-lowering rear window.  Now, if you're looking for something a lot meatier to bite into with the 4Runner, read Dan Edmunds' Suspension Deep Dive. But, if you're still hungry, let's commence the luggage test.  Here's the cargo hold, which comes with a whopping 47.2 cubic feet of space behind its back seat. For some perspective, I'd consider the Honda Passport to have a ton of space back there, especially when compared to other two-row midsize crossovers, yet it only has 41.2 cubic feet.  Now, that 47.2 number is without the sliding cargo floor that you can see up there. To see how much you lose, here's the cargo area without it. It's not insignificant. Here is a better look at the sliding cargo tray. Here is the mechanism that deploys it as well as the little pop-up ledge near the back seats that comes with it.  Now, to the luggage. To start, I kept the cargo cover in place and kept the back seat at its fully upright and locked position.  As always, I use two mid-size roller suitcases that would need to be checked in at the airport (26 inches long, 16 wide, 11 deep), two roll-aboard suitcases that just barely fit in the overhead (24L x 15W x 10D), and one smaller roll-aboard that fits easily (23L x 15W x 10D). I also include my wife's fancy overnight bag just to spruce things up a bit (21L x 12W x 12D). Snooze. I almost could've stood there from 10 feet away and chucked them inside. OK, but what if I tried to load them all using the slide-out tray. A little harder, but still do-able. Honestly, at this point I started to question how useful the tray was. Perhaps a shorter owner would find it helpful, but even if there's still a ton of space left over, you still lose some, and you also have to make sure to load everything just-so onto the platform to make sure it doesn't topple off and stop the tray in its tracks. Verdict: I'd skip it. But the luggage testing doesn't stop there. Now, let's remove the cargo cover, which is a typical reel unit that easily pops out.  Now you can see just how much space is left over, or ... ... How much you can still carry when you fully recline the back seat. And I do mean FULLY recline, because the 4Runner is quite indulgent back there, as your author can attest in the photographs below.  As you can see, though, I've hardly been putting the max Tetris effort into this. Let's put the seats back fully forward (still perfectly comfortable), keep the cargo cover removed and see just how much stuff you can fit back there. Boom! That would be all the luggage described above plus a 38-quart cooler, a giant two-person inflatable river raft, a small Harry Potter Ravenclaw backpack and a Graco Pack 'N Play portable play pen. I'd say that's pretty representative of a family weekend 4Running adventure. And if you still have more stuff ... The TRD Pro includes a serious roof rack with four movable cross bars. I'm not really sure what would've been left in my garage to throw up there (plus the weather was garbage, hence the lack of an Army Green photo), so you'll just have to use your imagination.  Now, if this reminds you of the FJ Cruiser's rack, that's probably the point. The dearly departed FJ also donated the TRD Pro's Army Green paint for 2020 and the Voodoo Blue paint (pictured) for 2019. Dear Toyota, why can't we have them both every year?  And to use the Voodoo Blue truck one more time, here's the always-awesome power-lowering rear window. It is fantastic.  Note the spot next to the R in 4Runner. It's a key hole on the 2019 TRD Pro, but for 2020 ... It has buttons that do what they say they do since proximity entry has been added to all trims but the SR5 and TRD Off-Road for 2020.  So there you have it. Not only is the 2020 Toyota 4Runner extremely awesome, it's extremely practical too. 

Last year, Swedish publication Teknikens Värld gave the Toyota RAV4 a failing grade after it showed video of it performing poorly on the so-called moose test. That's a test that puts a vehicle under maximum load through an abrupt S-shaped course correction to simulate how it would react if a moose or some other object suddenly appeared on the road before it, forcing the driver to take evasive action. Video of the magazine's test of two identically equipped, all-wheel drive RAV4s, including the one pictured below, showed the crossovers bouncing and skidding, the rear ends fishtailing badly and inner wheels briefly lifting off the pavement.

Now the publication is back with a followup test after having communicated with Toyota, and the results are much improved.

The magazine says Toyota arranged for a new test with its editors at a race track near Seville, Spain, along with a RAV4 it custom-prepped for the test. Instead of using actual passengers in the rear seats, as Teknikens Värld usually does, Toyota secured weights into the rear seats and attached a pair of lightweight aluminum outriggers to the rear doors to ensure the car wouldn't roll over.

Those changes make the test a little easier, the magazine says, but it still gave the fifth-generation RAV4 passing marks after Toyota engineers said they simply tuned the software controlling the Vehicle Stability Control system to make the electronic stability control stronger and more assertive. The RAV4 passed the Moose Test at 65 kilometers per hour (40 mph), 68 km/h (42 mph), 70 km/h (43.5 mph) and 72 km/h (45 mph). In the previous test, the RAV4 could handle no better than 68 km/h.

But there's a hitch: According to the magazine, the fix Toyota made to the RAV4 isn't yet included in production versions of the crossover unless European customers specifically request it from dealers. Toyota told it the modifications would be made available during the second quarter of 2020 for Europe-bound models.

What this means, if anything, for U.S. versions of the wildly popular crossover is unclear; Toyota hadn't respond to Autoblog's request for comment, but we'll update this post if we hear back. Toyota had previously said the RAV4, which was redesigned for 2019 as a slightly higher-riding vehicle with a lower center of gravity, had previously passed the moose test under its own supervision. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gives the 2020 model four out of five stars for rollover crash risk and an overall five-star rating.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks to medical workers in a hospital where coronavirus patients are being treated in Wuhan, China. / Reuters   BEIJING/SHANGHAI — Toyota Motor Corp's production plants in China will stay closed through Feb. 9, the Japanese automaker said on Wednesday, in response to the spread of a new coronavirus that now includes a sharp rise in fatalities. Toyota, which runs plants in regions such as the northern city of Tianjin and the southern province of Guangdong, said the closures after the Lunar New Year holidays were in line with transport lockdowns in some places, and as it assesses its parts supply situation. The United States and Japan evacuated their nationals from the quarantined city of Wuhan, while British Airways suspended flights to mainland China.  Deaths have leapt to 132, and a Chinese government economist predicted a huge hit to the economy. Beijing's pledge to slay the "devil" coronavirus has won the trust of the World Health Organization (WHO) but confirmation of another 1,459 cases — taking the total to 5,974 in China — only fueled public alarm worldwide. Travelers with the illness were identified around the world, including in the United States, but almost all of the cases of the illness have been in the central province of Hubei, the capital of which is Wuhan, where the virus emerged last month in a live wild animal market. The situation remained "grim and complex," Chinese President Xi Jinping acknowledged. In many Chinese cities, streets were largely deserted, with the few who ventured out wearing masks. Starbucks stores in Beijing required people to have temperatures taken and posted notices saying it was a state requirement to wear masks inside. "It's my first time here in Asia, I feel very unlucky," said Brazilian tourist Amanda Lee, 23, reluctantly cutting short a trip. "I couldn't even see the places I wanted, like the Great Wall." There was relief, however, among those evacuated from Hubei province, home to about 60 million people and under virtual lockdown. "I was extremely worried that I was stuck there," said Takeo Aoyama, who arrived in Tokyo on a chartered plane carrying 206 Japanese out of Wuhan, with more flights planned. Two of the Japanese evacuated had symptoms of pneumonia, but coronavirus had not been confirmed, medics said. The virus is weighing heavily on the world's second-biggest economy. Companies are curbing travel to China, and airlines are cutting flights, with British Airways one of the biggest names in aviation to do so. But in what could be a major step towards taming the disease, scientists in Australia said they had developed a lab-grown version of the coronavirus, the first to be recreated outside China. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said about 210 Americans had been flown out of Wuhan. Those on board the aircraft would be screened several times and evaluated on arrival in California, it said in a statement released via the U.S. embassy in Beijing. A U.S. government official told Reuters 50 diplomats and contractors were among the passengers. U.S. officials said the White House was weighing whether to suspend flights to China. It was holding daily meetings on the outbreak and monitoring China-U.S. flights as a likely source of infection, sources briefed on the matter said, though it had decided against suspending air traffic for the time being. The number of cases in China now exceeds its tally of 5,327 infected with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronavirus that killed about 800 people globally in 2002 and 2003. While some experts believe the new strain, known as "2019-nCoV", is not as deadly as SARS, alarm has grown over its rapid spread and many unknown attributes, such as how lethal it is. Like other respiratory infections, it is spread by droplets from coughs and sneezes, with an incubation time between one and 14 days. There are signs it may spread before symptoms show. About 60 cases, but no deaths, have been reported in 15 other countries, including the United States, France and Singapore.  

For years, people have been calling on Toyota to launch a more powerful version of the 86 complete with a turbocharged engine. A faster 86 isn't expected to arrive until the car's next generation so German enthusiast Philip Schuster has decided to build an amped-up (pun intended…) version of the 86 for himself. It's all-electric and unlike anything Toyota itself would ever dream of doing.

Toyota has just released a teaser image for the Chicago Auto Show, and it should get the attention of off-roaders. It shows a tan Toyota Tacoma cruising through a dirt road, indicating that the company has off-road variants coming. While the image suggests a Tacoma, it won't just be the midsize pickup getting special or updated models. The company released a statement alongside the image: "The forecast for the Windy City looks sporty and outdoorsy,  with a touch of nocturnal mischief as Toyota debuts new variants to the portfolio." We're rather curious about the "nocturnal" part. There may be some new lighting features on some of the off-road models. Toyota introducing rugged or special-edition trucks and SUVs at the Chicago Auto Show is becoming something of a tradition. Last year it brought the RAV4 TRD Off-Road, Land Cruiser Heritage Edition, Sequoia TRD Pro and updated Tacoma. The year before that featured a bunch of TRD Pro updates.