Toyota Times News is presenting a two-week special on hydrogen. Last week was all about the possibilities of hydrogen and music. This week, we feature some vehicle-related stories befitting a carmaker.

In 2024, Thailand, Fukushima, and Tokyo began FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle) heavy-duty truck trials, and now Toyota City in Aichi has joined them.

In response to a request from Asahi Group Japan, Hino and Toyota co-developed the trucks, and now there are five undergoing trials in Japan.

One feature is the twin hydrogen fueling opening. Only a few stations currently offer twin hydrogen fueling nozzles, but theoretically, this should allow hydrogen fueling at double the speed. Reducing downtime is very important for commercial vehicles.

Other issues remain, such as the limited cargo space due to hydrogen tanks and the price of hydrogen itself. Even so, the quiet and smooth-running FC heavy-duty trucks are gentle both on the environment and their long-distance drivers.

Shimoyama Plant in Miyoshi City, Aichi Prefecture, manufactures the tanks for these FC heavy-duty trucks.

At the plant, resin left over from manufacturing the tanks is compressed and turned into marble-esque items like flower vases. Hydrogen that is discarded when fueling up the tanks is used to power the plant and cooking devices.

Waste products that would have been discarded are providing new value through re-use and upcycling. Take a look at other Toyota Times News videos that show other food dishes that have been made using a hydrogen grill.

We took an up-close look at the many ways hydrogen is being used in the quest for carbon neutrality.

The 2025 Dakar Rally brought not only victory for Toyota, but also a second place overall for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings #211. The works GR Hilux EVO crew led the race overall for 9 stages, but eventually lost out to Yazeed Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk in their Toyota Hilux by just 3min 57sec after two weeks of racing across the Saudi Arabian landscape.

For Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi, it was a dream come true to win the Dakar Rally on home soil, and the man from Riyadh now also leads the 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) standings, as the Dakar Rally is Round 1 of this championship. With the Dakar Rally done and dusted, Al Rajhi is on 70 points in the W2RC, with his nearest rival, Henk Lategan, on 55 points. Toyota leads the W2RC manufacturer standings after the opening round, with 34 points buffer to the team in second place.

Lategan/Cummings made no secret of their title aspirations when they won the Prologue for the Dakar Rally back in Bisha, before taking the overall lead of the event on Stage 2. They held onto the lead for eight straight stages, before briefly relinquishing it to Al Rajhi for one stage. The South African duo regained the lead on the next stage, but this put them at a disadvantage in terms of road position for the penultimate and deciding stage. In the end, they settled for second place, giving Toyota a coveted 1-2 finish at the world’s toughest rally-raid event.

Californian Seth Quintero and his German co-driver Dennis Zenz (#204) were the next-fastest TGR crew on today’s stage. The pair drove a steady race and overcame various challenges to bring their GR Hilux EVO home in 9th place, just 2h 20min 4sec behind the winners. Were it not for a tyre disaster in Stage 4, the young American may well have finished much higher up the order. Still, he leaves the Dakar Rally with a Top 10 finish, two stage wins, as well as 28 points towards the W2RC.

Lucas Moraes and co-driver Armand Monleon (#203) started their Dakar 2025 campaign in fine form, pushing for the lead in the early stages of the rally. However, a technical problem with one of the dampers on their car cost the pair significant time during Stage 6 and they were on the back foot from that point forward. A time penalty dropped them down the order and out of contention, but the Brazilian driver and his Spanish co-driver continued to fight for stage wins.

Their tenacity was rewarded when they not only bounced back to win Stage 7 of the rally, but repeated the feat on the closing stage of the event. With two stage wins to their credit, they are on 18 points in the W2RC standings, and recorded a 15th place overall at the Dakar Rally.

The final finisher for TGR was young South African, Saood Variawa, and his French co-driver Francois Cazalet. Variawa became the youngest stage winner in the Ultimate Class when he won Stage 3 of the event, but a collision in Stage 2, as well as a technical issue later in the event, cost him dearly. He was classified in 29th place, 9h 29min 56sec behind the leaders. Even so, he garnered 13 points towards his W2RC campaign, and will be looking to improve on this at Round 2 of the championship.

Two TGR crews were unable to complete the 2025 Dakar Rally. The first to retire was the veteran duo of Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz, who had to stop racing after Stage 6, when Von Zitzewitz developed extreme neck pain min-stage. He was medically examined after the stage, and deemed unfit to continue, bringing a first Dakar retirement for De Villiers in a career that spanned 22 starts.

The second retirement was that of Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy, who had driven steady race up until Stage 9. They had lost several hours earlier in the race due to a damper problem, but suffered a crash in Stage 9 which put an end to their rally.

Overall, Toyota won all but four stages of the 12-stage event, as well as the Prologue in Bisha. Toyota also occupied four spots in the overall Top 10 at the finish, including first and second place. This was a power performance by the brand, underscoring the quality, durability and reliability for which the Toyota Hilux is famous. The team will continue to improve on the car, however, as part of Toyota’s ethos of creating ever-better cars not only for motorsport, but also for its customers.

News source:  https://toyotagazooracing.com/dakar/release/2025/0120-01/

This time, Toyota Times News features a special class for high school students by Chairman Akio Toyoda.

The stage for his class was FC Imabari High School, which opened in April 2024 in Ehime Prefecture. The school is known for its school principal, Takeshi “Oka-chan” Okada, former Japanese national men’s soccer team coach.

The school aims to nurture a new generation of leaders and has a varied curriculum, which includes guest lectures from many different industry professionals.

A certain YouTube video led to “Aki-chan’s” guest lecture. Mr. Okada’s approach to education resonated deeply with the chairman who even said, “Toyota will take all your graduates.”

That encounter was the start of the special class featured in today’s video.

“What do you wish you had done during high school?”
“How do you deal with a crisis when faced with one?”
“Tell me about people who inspired you to change.”

Teacher Aki-chan answers the barrage of questions with sincerity.

After the lecture, the class went out into the schoolyard where the students had a chance to ride in a rally car. In response to student requests, teacher Aki-chan offered a special opportunity to sit in the Century he rode to the school. All the teenagers smiled in excitement at this up-close experience of enjoying cars!

Aki-chan reflected on his time interacting with the bright-eyed students, saying with a smile, “It was a very short time, but they really energized me.”

Whenever he talks about the future, Chairman Toyoda never fails to mention the children who will build that future.

Vehicles, Parts, and More on Display Under Main Theme of “Car-making at Nürburgring”

Toyota Motor Corporation
GAZOO Racing Company

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR) announced today that it is exhibiting at the three-day Tokyo Auto Salon 2025^*1 being held at Makuhari Messe (in Chiba, Japan) from January 10 (today) to 12, 2025, mainly displaying vehicles and vehicle parts under the main theme of “Car-making at Nürburgring”, which is the starting point of TGR and Chairman Akio Toyoda, aka Master Driver Morizo.

This year, along with Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd., TGR is exhibiting at Makuhari Messe’s North Hall. TGR’s booth will include the “LAND CRUISER BASE” display for promoting the fun of customizing the Toyota Land Cruiser, hitherto put on by Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd. This coming together by members of the Toyota Group aims to boost excitement at Tokyo Auto Salon 2025.

During the event’s three days, TGR plans to hold talk sessions featuring drivers, engineers, and others, as well as outdoor vehicle demo runs. Detailed information on the talk sessions, the demo runs, exhibited vehicles, and others can be found on the following special website.
URL: https://toyotagazooracing.com/eventexhibition/tokyoautosalon/

Main vehicles and other exhibited items at Tokyo Auto Salon 2025

Underlined items indicate items detailed in this press release.

Tokyo Auto Salon 2025 vehicles and other exhibited items

1. GR YARIS (NÜR 24h)

From 2025, TGR and ROOKIE Racing intend to compete in the Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie (NLS) and the Super Taikyu Series as a united “TOYOTA GAZOO ROOKIE Racing (TGRR)”. The new team plans to mark Toyota’s return to the Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race after a six-year hiatus, entering with the evolved GR Yaris, which made its world debut at Tokyo Auto Salon 2024 and is equipped with the newly developed GAZOO Racing Direct Automatic Transmission. In 2024, numerous drivers, including Morizo and professional drivers, worked to prepare their Nürburgring entry vehicle by test-driving the GR Yaris on various roads both in Japan and abroad, including those of the Nürburgring circuit. The team seeks to hone its people and cars at the Nürburgring, the starting place of Morizo and TGR.

2. GR YARIS M Concept

To further explore the potential of the GR Yaris, TGRR plans to compete in the Super Taikyu Series in the GR YARIS M Concept, which features an underdevelopment, midship-mounted, 2.0-liter, inline 4-cylinder, turbocharged engine. The team aims to implement “driver-first” carmaking, in which cars are repeatedly driven to failure and then repaired in the extreme conditions of racing and in which feedback from Morizo, professional drivers, and gentleman drivers is thoroughly incorporated.

3. GR YARIS Aero Package (prototype)

The GR YARIS Aero Package is a concept vehicle equipped with performance aerodynamic parts that havebeen developed together with professional drivers through an uncompromising approach to achieving targeted performance by addressing every single issue encountered during racing and circuit evaluations. The vehicle features six such parts, including a variable rear wing with a situation-responsive adjustable angle, and not only pursues enhanced aerodynamic performance and handling stability but also exerts an eye-catching presence in terms of styling. It also has a vertical handbrake, which is available as a popular factory-installed option for the RC trim level of the evolved GR Yaris released last year.

GR86 software upgrades

Since its launch in 2021, the GR86 has been well-received by many customers as a car with the unique driving feel of a GR vehicle. Its partial upgrade in 2024 reflects learnings from various motorsports in which the GR86 continues to compete. Based on feedback from professional drivers who hone cars in the extreme environment of racing, the throttle characteristics were modified (in manual transmission vehicles) and the engine-speed tolerance range during downshifting was expanded (in automatic transmission vehicles) to improve acceleration response and enable quicker downshifts, resulting in the further refinement of the unique driving feel of a GR vehicle. To enable pre-upgrade GR86 owners to experience this evolved driving performance, software upgrades “GR86 PERFORMANCE SOFTWARE for MT” / “GR86 PERFORMANCE SOFTWARE for AT” are to be sold^*2 through GR Garage locations from the spring of 2025. So that those who continue to drive the GR86 can enjoy it for many years to come, TGR intends to continue supporting the evolution of its customers’ beloved cars.

Software upgrade details

Manual transmission vehicles

Engine torque control has been modified for easier blipping, which is often required in motorsports. Also, throttle control has been adopted to obtain a more direct response to accelerator operation, improving ease of handling at the upper limits of performance.

Automatic transmission vehicles

Responding to requests from customers who participate in motorsports with automatic transmission vehicles, the engine-speed tolerance range during downshifting has been expanded, enabling sporty driving supported by a wider torque band.

5. Circuit Mode

Circuit Mode is a service that enables functions that bring out a car’s potential, such as by adding anti-lag control and raising the speed limit of the speed limiter, at service-eligible circuits and facilities in Japan. GPS location determination and operation using a dedicated app switches the vehicle’s instrument panel to a dedicated gauge display that intuitively shows shift timing and engine rpms, enabling the use of Circuit Mode.

In response to customer requests since the service’s launch on August 21, 2024, to be able to enjoy Circuit Mode in a variety of motorsports, the number of eligible circuits and facilities was increased today from the hitherto 50 to 77, centering on facilities where gymkhana and dirt trials can be enjoyed.

For details on eligible circuits and facilities, available features, etc., please see the following:
https://toyotagazooracing.com/jp/gr/circuit_mode/ (in Japanese)

GR Parts

TGR strives to quickly provide its customers with parts that leverage knowledge gained through racing. Sales of the following items for various vehicle models are to start in succession.

For the GR Yaris

For the GR86

NOTE: Some parts might be subject to long delivery times due to limited availability. Details will be announced at the time of each sales launch.

For the latest information on GR parts, please see the following:
https://toyotagazooracing.com/jp/gr/grparts/ (in Japanese)

7. GR Heritage Parts

The GR Heritage Parts Project is an initiative to reissue discontinued service parts and sell them anew as genuine parts to meet customers’ desires to keep on driving their beloved cars full of memories. In 2025, TGR plans to release 25 items for seven models, including the 70/80 Supra, AE86, and Land Cruiser 40, some of which will be exhibited at Tokyo Auto Salon 2025.

Also, TGR is reprinting for sale long-requested, nostalgia-inducing brochures of GR Heritage Parts vehicle models and other classic cars. The brochures can be purchased at Tokyo Auto Salon 2025 and through the online TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Rakuten Ichiba store^*3.

For details, please see the following:
https://toyotagazooracing.com/gr/heritage/

8. LAND CRUISER BASE

The Land Cruiser―a vehicle that allows people to go anywhere and everywhere and return safely―has been nurtured and honed by Toyota customers around the world for more than 70 years. Desiring to have customers long-lastingly enjoy using their Land Cruisers with a sense of security, the Land Cruiser specialty store LAND CRUISER BASE will be reborn on February 1, 2025, with Toyota Motor Corporation serving as its main business entity.

Working together with colleagues such as Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd., which has thus far been the store’s main business entity, and other related companies that support the Land Cruiser, Toyota will operate LAND CRUISER BASE as a specialty store that will serve as a place for Toyota to deepen its ties with customers, offer various services and activities based on customer feedback, such as planning and selling original parts and goods, create a community in which customers come together, and host events.

To view the LAND CRUISER BASE teaser site, please see the following:
https://toyota.jp/info/landcruiserbase (in Japanese)

About TOYOTA GAZOO ROOKIE Racing

ROOKIE Racing is a privateer team that focuses on making ever-better cars and developing human resources through the skills and dedication of various drivers, including Toyota’s master driver, professional drivers, gentleman drivers, and Toyota’s in-house evaluation drivers. TGR and ROOKIE Racing’s hitherto relationship was one of TGR taking the lead in car manufacturing and human resource development, with ROOKIE Racing being a privateer team that competes in motorsports as part of such TGR activities.

Going forward, TGR and ROOKIE Racing will work together under the banner of “TOYOTA GAZOO ROOKIE Racing” as “development partners who engage with cars and people on the front line, using driving data from races and other extreme conditions as a common language” to take the making of ever-better motorsports-bred cars and human resources development to the next level.

Specifically, TOYOTA GAZOO ROOKIE Racing intends to hone the GR YARIS (NÜR 24h) in the NLS and the GR YARIS M Concept in the Super Taikyu Series.

About TGR’s global motorsports structure

Through such initiatives as its partnership with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, Hitech TGR’s driver development activities in Europe, and the establishment of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Development, TGR is promoting efforts to hone the three elements of motorsports: people, product, and pipeline. Furthermore, to seamlessly advance the development of people, environments, and systems in motorsports, TGR is strengthening its global motorsports structure by positioning Morizo at the top and assigning two direct-report global directors. It is also bolstering cooperation with related organizations, affiliated companies, racing teams, and TGR’s bases of operations in Japan and overseas, as well as promoting people development and environment creation.

Las Vegas, USA―At CES 2025, Toyota Motor Corporation (“Toyota”) announced the completion of Phase 1 construction of Toyota Woven City (“Woven City”), its test course for mobility. The launch of Phase 1 is planned for fall 2025 or shortly thereafter.

Toyota first announced its transformation into a mobility company at CES 2018 and, at CES 2020, unveiled the Woven City concept being developed in collaboration with Woven by Toyota (“WbyT”) to demonstrate Toyota’s long-term commitment to shaping the future of mobility.

Woven City has made steady progress since its groundbreaking ceremony on February 23, 2021, at the former site of Toyota Motor East Japan’s (“TMEJ”) Higashi-Fuji Plant in Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Construction of Phase 1 buildings―the initial area for co-creation activities―was completed in October 2024. Preparations for the official launch are now underway.

Woven City’s Phase 1 has also previously been recognized for its environmentally conscious and human-centric design aimed at enhancing people’s overall quality of life. It earned Japan’s first LEED for Communities^* Platinum certification, the system’s highest rank.

Alongside Phase 1 preparations, renovation of a former TMEJ Higashi-Fuji Plant facility into a manufacturing hub for Woven City is underway, and site preparation work for Phase 2 has commenced. Insights from Phase 1 will help refine plans for Phase 2 and future phases, and continually enhance the test course’s functionality.

Woven City is a test course for mobility where “Inventors” who share a commitment to working “for someone other than themselves” can develop, test, and validate innovative products and services. These inventors include Toyota and Toyota Group companies, such as WbyT, as well as external companies, startups, and individual entrepreneurs. By leveraging Toyota’s decades-long manufacturing expertise and WbyT’s software capabilities, Woven City offers a unique environment equipped with the tools and services needed to tackle societal challenges and create future-focused value. Through collaboration among inventors and feedback from residents and visitors, Woven City aims to drive innovation and shape a better tomorrow.

The inventors of Woven City who have been confirmed so far are as follows.

Inventors

Alphabetical order as of January 7, 2025

Woven City is also in continued discussions with previously announced companies such as ENEOS Corporation, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), and Rinnai Corporation.

External startups, entrepreneurs, universities and research institutions are also scheduled to be invited to Woven City through an accelerator program, starting in summer 2025.

Residents and visitors will play an equally vital role alongside inventors in Woven City. Known as ‘Weavers,’ these individuals share a passion for the ‘expansion of mobility’ and a commitment to building a more flourishing society. Through their participation in co-creation activities, Weavers will contribute to realizing the full potential of Woven City.

At the official launch of Woven City, starting in fall 2025 or thereafter, approximately 100 residents―primarily Toyota and WbyT staff and their families―are expected to participate in co-creation activities as the first residents. The community will then gradually expand to include external inventors and their families. Phase 1 is projected to accommodate around 360 residents, with the total population, including Phase 2 and subsequent phases, expected to reach approximately 2,000. Initially, visitors will be limited to related parties, with plans to welcome the general public to participate as Weavers in co-creation activities starting in FY2026 or thereafter.

Woven City also serves as a test course for Toyota’s transformation into a mobility company. Together, Toyota and WbyT aim to redefine mobility, expanding its scope beyond transportation to encompass the movement of people, goods, information, and energy for the benefit of individuals and society. Designed as a human-centered city, Woven City places the people who gather there―Inventors and Weavers―at its center to unlock new possibilities in the shared pursuit of “Well-being for All”. With an eye on expanding mobility from land, sea, and air to space, WbyT also announced an investment in Interstellar Technologies Inc. and will leverage Toyota’s expertise to support the mass production of rockets.

Woven City Phase 1 Basic Information

About Woven by Toyota

Woven by Toyota, a part of the Toyota Group, is challenging the current state of mobility through human-centric innovation and empowering mobility transformation. Through our AD/ADAS technology, our automotive software development platform Arene OS, our mobility test course Toyota Woven City, and Toyota’s growth fund, Woven Capital, we are pioneering the movement of people, goods, information, and energy, weaving a future of enhanced safety, connectivity and well-being for all.