August 30, 2013

Toyota fast-tracking safety upgrades to improve crash performance: report



Toyota is working to improve the strength of its vehicles in front-end impacts following a number of poor results in a new crash test.

The Toyota Camry, Prius V and RAV4 were all rated ‘poor’ – the lowest possible rating – in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) recently introduced small overlap frontal impact crash test, leaving the trio trailing behind most of their competitors.

Speaking with industry journal Automotive News, Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America CEO Osamu Nagata confirmed engineers at the Toyota Technical Centre have been revising vehicle designs since last year in the pursuit of improved crash performance.