Toyota Fun-Vii concept 2011

Toyota City, Japan, November 28, 2011—Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) will show at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show 2011 the "Toyota Fun-Vii"1, a concept vehicle that heralds a not-too-distant future where people, cars and society are linked.  The theme of the show—to take place2 from November 30 through December 11 at Tokyo Big Sight in Koto Ward, Tokyo—is "Mobility can change the world."



The ultimate in personalization functions offer the ability to alter the content displayed on the interior and exterior of the Fun-Vii with the same ease as downloading an application.  For instance, the whole vehicle body can be used as a display space, with the body color and display content changeable at will.  This allows the entire vehicle to function as a terminal for displaying messages or other information.



The whole of the vehicle interior also can function as a display space, with the interior freely adjustable to match the mood of the moment.  Content such as navigation information is blended seamlessly into the interior through the use of augmented reality.  Furthermore, the vehicle's "navigation concierge" can provide the passengers with driving information and guidance through a vocal interface.



A network update function makes sure the software versions for the vehicle's drive, control and multimedia system are always up-to-date.

The Fun-Vii is able to link with surrounding vehicles and infrastructure, allowing it to detect other potentially hazardous vehicles—such as vehicles in blind spots—in advance, or to connect with friends who are driving nearby. Operation of the Fun-Vii is not limited to inside the vehicle itself, with a portion of the vehicle's functions access able remotely via a smartphone or other mobile communication device.



Scion Unveils All-New t2B Concept Vehicle

Jin Won Kim is a design team leader at Calty Design Research (Newport Beach, CA). Kim designs cars. And trucks. Kim has been at Toyota’s West Coast studio for some five-and-a-half years since his graduation from Art Center in Pasadena in 2001.

For some designers, after five-and-a-half years having a production car they’ve designed is something yet to be attained. For Kim, that’s not the case. The exterior design of the Toyota FJ Cruiser: That’s his. While the FJ is no Camry or Tundra in terms of volume, it is an iconic vehicle in the Toyota lineup.



What is truly notable about the recent undertakings of Jin Kim—especially for what Mark Templin, vp of Scion, described as “nearly a half-a-million passionate owners,” a number that is all the more significant when you take into account that Scion launched in California in June 2003 and didn’t complete its national rollout for another year—is that he is the man who designed the exterior of the second-generation Scion xB. Although the xB was outsold by the tC in 2006 (61,306 units versus 79,125), the xB—the boxy one—is clearly the quintessential Scion.

Kim said the ’08 xB is predicated on the design of the concept t2B, which was introduced at the 2005 New York International Auto Show. Kim explained that the question he considered when undertaking the design for that vehicle was: “There is a pure box”—meaning the original, first-gen ’04 xB—“where do you go from there?” The answer to that question wasn’t found in some isolated, sterile think tank.










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