For 2013 Toyota Avalon goes fastback

NEW YORK -- Toyota unveiled a redesigned 2013 Avalon today that departs dramatically from the full-size sedan's previous styling.
With fastback lines penned by Toyota's Calty design studio in Southern California, and engineered at the automaker's technical center in Ann Arbor, Mich., the Avalon is the first Toyota vehicle developed entirely in North America, said Bob Carter, Toyota Division general manager.
The new Avalon "will lead an exciting new era of design and driving excitement for Toyota," Carter said.
The full-sized sedan market continues to shrink but automakers such as Hyundai and Chevrolet are targeting the segment with new or redesigned models.
The large-sedan segment is forecast to shrink further as a percentage of the overall U.S. market, to 2.9 percent in 2017 from 3.6 percent in 2011, AutoPacific Inc. says.
U.S. sales of the Avalon rose 2 percent last year to 28,925 units.
Among the revamped Avalon's features are 10 standard airbags, blind-spot warning system, preclusion warnings, a hand-stitched instrument panel and a sport-driving mode with quicker throttle response and more dynamic steering inputs.
The 2013 Avalon will carry a price similar to its current $33,955 sticker, including shipping, when it goes on sale this fall, Carter said.
The Avalon will ride on a 111-inch wheelbase, the same as the current model, but will have a 2.3-inch shorter overall length because of shorter front and rear overhangs. Although slightly narrower and shorter in height, rear-seat legroom is still spacious.
Toyota said the redesigned Avalon will be powered by a V-6 engine, but did not give performance specifics.
Toyota estimates it reduced the weight of the Avalon by 120 pounds over the current model.Automobile News

At N.Y. auto show Toyota to unveil 'all-new' sedan

LOS ANGELES -- Toyota Motor Corp. will unveil an "all-new" sedan next week likely at the New York auto show that will be a replacement for the full-sized Avalon.
Dealers who had watched the preview of the car last year said Toyota called it the Avalon successor that is due this fall.
According to a dealer the sedan represents a dramatic styling change for the brand.
Toyota has previously declined to comment on future plans and spokesmen weren't immediately available for comment today.
A teaser sketch of the vehicle released today shows fastback styling similar to the coupe-sedan lines of the Volkswagen CC, Audi A7 and Mercedes-Benz CLS.
In a statement, Toyota called the sedan's styling "elegant yet athletic."
The sedan is one of 19 new or redesigned U.S. models coming from the Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands this year. The automaker is trying to rebound from two years of declining sales due to the unintended-acceleration recall crisis in 2010 and the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
The Avalon has been Toyota's mainstay full-sized sedan since 1995, when it replaced the Cressida as the brand's top-line vehicle. Sales of the car, now in its third generation, have tapered off as the segment has slumped.
Last year, the Avalon accounted for 28,935 U.S. sales -- less than a third of the peak of 104,078 reached in 2000. This year's demand is up 76 percent through February.
The debut will take place at 10:30 a.m. EDT on April 5, Toyota said.Automobile News

In price-fixing case Denso exec agrees to plead guilty

DETROIT -- An executive with supplier Denso Corp. has agreed to serve just over a year in prison and pay a $20,000 fine as part of a plea agreement for his role in rigging bids for heater control panels, the U.S. Department of Justice said today.
Norihiro Imai, a Japanese national, will plead guilty to one felony count of price fixing in U.S. District Court in Detroit and be sentenced to serve one year and one day in a U.S. prison. Along with the fine, Imai has agreed to cooperate in the Justice Department's ongoing price-fixing investigations, the department said.
Investigators say Imai engaged in a conspiracy with unidentified co-conspirators to rig bids and to fix, stabilize and maintain the prices of heater control panels sold in the United States and elsewhere. The alleged conspiracy began as early as August 2006 and lasted until at least June 2009, the department said.
Denso produces a variety of electrical parts, including thermal, powertrain control, electronic and electric systems, small motors and telecommunications. The company, of Kariya, Aichi, Japan, ranks No. 2 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers with estimated worldwide parts sales to automakers of $32.9 billion in fiscal 2010.
Julie Kerr, a U.S. spokeswoman for Denso, said the supplier "takes this matter very seriously" and that the company is "taking various measures to further ensure that our employees comply with all antitrust laws." She declined to say whether Imai was based in the United States or elsewhere and would not comment further.
Including Imai, eight people and three companies have been charged in the government's ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. Denso itself pleaded guilty on March 5 and was sentenced to pay a $78 million criminal fine.
Yazaki Corp., another Japanese automotive electrical component supplier, pleaded guilty on March 1, and was sentenced to pay a $470 million criminal fine, while four Yazaki executives were charged on Jan. 30 and have agreed to plead guilty.
On Nov. 14, Furukawa Electric Co. pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $200 million fine. Also pleaded guilty were the three of Furukawa's executives and were sentenced to serve in the United States prison sentences ranging from a year and a day to 18 months.Automobile News