Toyota City, Japan, December 6, 2016―Toyota Motor Corporation, in pursuit of superb driving and environmental performance, and based on the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) structural reform for making ever-better cars, has developed advanced engines and transmissions and further evolved its hybrid systems. Toyota intends to deploy these new powertrain units in a rapidly broadening range of vehicle models, starting in 2017.

Using TNGA, Toyota has been changing the automobile from its very structure, lowering hood heights, lowering the center of gravity and implementing other innovations to improve driving performance. To enhance fundamental vehicle performance in terms of running, turning and stopping, it initiated a comprehensive review centered on vehicle platforms and is now, since the release of the fourth-generation Prius in 2015, expanding the use of new platforms throughout its product lineup. At the same time, it has been developing new powertrain units, which form the core of an automobile, that significantly improve both driving and environmental performance.

Toyota's newly developed powertrain units are light and compact and have a low-center of gravity. In-depth reconsideration of fundamental vehicle performance has resulted in engines with high-speed combustion and in highly efficient multi-geared transmissions. Furthermore, to standardize the basic structure of these new units, modular design (unified design) was used, building a foundation for the future making of "well-built cars".

While it was a given that the new powertrain units would be designed to have a high level of environmental performance, development focused on achieving driving performance that would "change how Toyota cars drive", under the theme "Direct & Smooth".

For Toyota, the starting point of making cars is "fun to drive"―the feeling of joy that comes when behind the wheel. Toyota aims to make cars with driving performance that responds to the will of the driver and are, at the same time, highly fuel efficient, among having other environment-friendly attributes. The new powertrain units announced today, in themselves, provide approximately 10 percent better power performance*2 and approximately 20 percent better fuel economy. Combining the new powertrain units with the overall evolution of the vehicle body, including aerodynamics, weight reduction and others, can open the way to even greater power performance and fuel economy.

Click here for more information on the new powertrain units.