City Extra 10th Edition

All electric SUV sets high expectations

Toyota’s first ever pure electric vehicles – the bZ4X – has broken cover in Australia and is set for an exclusive second half launch.

Motoring journalists drove the first model at our Melbourne Centre of Excellence in the New Year, where Toyota senior managers confirmed that the much-anticipated SUV will be in our Sydney City Toyota showrooms soon.

The bZ4X has dimensions similar to our chart topping RAV4. Its all-electric power train and striking new features take Toyota, and for that matter the electric car movement, to the next level.

We’re already by far the biggest seller of electric vehicles in Australia with our comprehensive hybrid range of petrol-electric models.

Now, the combination of all electric power with renowned Toyota quality and service is a breakthrough in the move to a new way of motoring.

Specifications are still to be confirmed, but here’s what we can say.

The bZ4X is built on a new Toyota platform to take maximum advantage of the interior space made possible by the use of its electric power train and compact battery storage system.

It appears likely we’ll be able to offer front wheel drive and all-wheel drive variants with a corresponding choice of power units.

Some of the electronic controls and on-board voice activations will transform the way you drive.

The good news is that driving range is right up there with the best. And recharging capacity will be state of the art.

If you’re wondering about the name – bZ stands for Beyond Zero, a reference to reducing emissions (and fuel use) to a negative number. 4X means the cross-over from our sensational RAV4.

We’re seriously excited about the arrival of bZ. It’s less than two years since it was first shown as a concept car.

When the global market leader can achieve such a super-fast model development cycle, we know that we’re working in the best motoring interests of our guests.

All things automotive –2023 a good start to the year

New vehicles sales in the first month of 2023 were a phenomenal 12 percent up in January last year – and to many people that would indicate we’re returning to preCovid normality.

It’s really not the case, but I’m pleased to report to all our loyal guests who’ve valued waiting a while for their Toyota rather than settling for something less, that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

A lot of the January deliveries were pull throughs from 2022, not really reflecting the state of preparedness of the motor industry to meet forward demand.

At Sydney City Toyota, we’ve worked to put ourselves in a good stock position. For a start we have two dealerships –at Waterloo and Glebe and that means we have access to double the new vehicle allocation.

And we’ve also worked the Toyota network, sourcing new vehicles from Toyota colleagues around the country.

The bottom line is that as some of our competitors in the industry find that they can no longer maintain the supply they had at the beginning of the year, chances are we’ll be ramping up.

That’s the joy of being market leader. Of the 65 car makes on offer, Toyota is Number One by a substantial margin,

and that means even if there is a dip, we’re still in control of the lion’s share of the supply-pie.

In fact, we’re anticipating some of our guests who did go elsewhere may soon want to be trading their recent purchases as they move back to the brand they’ve always trusted.

I can’t make light of the cost of living. For so many people the situation heralds a major restructure of finances and lifestyle. But I would like to offer a word advice: have a look at your car loan and shop it around.

A lot of our guests have bundled their car loan into their house mortgage and right now that’s probably costing them money.

Carving out the car loan could save heaps. In fact, right now loans from the automotive financiers look pretty good stacked up against the banks.

During Covid, we entered a cash economy. Those days are pretty much gone. If people have surplus cash, they’re most likely to reduce their prime mortgage. Which is why securing an attractive car loan becomes doubly important.

John Roca, Dealer Principal

GR Corolla – will it be performance car of the year

The sensational new Toyota GR Corolla hot hatch has sped into our Sydney City Toyota showrooms with a choice of four colours and a pre-order list that’s growing by the moment. Hot on the bumper of the GR Yaris which has been a sell-out, the GR Corolla has even more power (221kW) and torque (370Nm) and a wider rev band to make it even more fun.

It’s the most powerful Corolla we’ve ever experienced. It joins our growing GR (Gazoo Racing) range of GR

Yaris, GR86 and GR Supra – all of them designed to be spectacular on both road and track.

The GTS GR Corolla is a true five seater.

At the wildly enthusiastic media launch at Sydney Motor Sport Park, journalists learned there’s also a limited edition two seat version coming.

It’s to be called the Morizo, the racing pseudonym of Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda, and just 25 will be available in our market.

Toyota has announced plans to launch at least three electric vehicles in the next three years, starting with the bZ4X. Electrified vehicles, including our top selling hybrid electrics will account for more than half of our entire fleet by 2025.

In 2022 our guests, nationally, bought a record 72,815 hybridelectric Toyotas representing almost a third of total deliveries.

By 2030 Toyota globally plans to release 30 new electric vehicles and lift global deliveries to 3.5million a year.

All of which is great news – but is it enough?

At Sydney City Toyota we thought we could do a lot more to get on board the ‘green machine’.

So, we’ve gone solar.

Our massive pre-delivery and holding headquarters at Banksmeadow has just had 114solar panels fitted to its roof – and that makes it totally free of the electricity grid.

The panels will power 75,206 kilowatt hours of power each year, and that’s more than Banksmeadow requires.

We’re feeding the surplus power to our Glebe and Waterloo showrooms as well.

Going green – it’s about more than the cars Service chief warns on false economies

As we start to reroof Waterloo, we’ll install solar too. Th good news for us, and our guests, is that we’re being far more energy efficient, so much so that we estimate well have paid pack our initial investment in the panels in just over five years.

Sydney City Toyota’s General Manager Service, Con Hatzivasiliou has strongly urged guests to beware of dangerous cost-cutting measures being offered by some non-franchised workshops. There’s increasing evidence some workshops are eliminating vital services in order to win jobs through lower costs.

“We’ve found recent evidence of workshops deleting a brake fluid change from their schedule, simply to bring their costs down and win the business, “Con said.

“Naturally they don’t tell their customer.”

Avoiding a brake fluid change can lead to brake failure at worst, and even before that catastrophe it can result in expensive repairs to damaged callipers and master cylinders.

“It’s totally false economy, but it’s one of the tricks unscrupulous operators are employing to pull the wool over their customers’ eyes. “Con said.

“In reality, the saving is minimal, but the risk is huge.”

Con cites incidents where he has found all fluids, including even the windscreen washer solvent to have been left out of non-compliant services.

“We make a habit of involving the spare tyre in tyre rotations to get the most efficient life out of the tyres and to maximise traction.

“It’s not something we see being practices elsewhere. “

A service stamp in your logbook more than makes up for the difference. A Toyota with a proven record of service at a franchised dealer is always likely to be more valuable at time of trade-in or resale.”

We celebrate International Women’s Day

Sydney City Toyota joined with Toyota dealerships around the world on March 8 to celebrate International Women’s Day. This year the theme was DigitALL, Innovation and Technology and that summed up the revolution that has been going on within our own team as more women step up to taking our entire automotive industry forward.

IWD is an initiative of the United Nations, and we’ve supported it pretty much since its inception.

The motor industry is about a lot more than cars. It represents the future of sustainable mobility in our ever-changing society.

Some of the women who have joined our company have substantially changed our perspective on what our business stands for.

Sydney City Toyota has always prided itself on its ethics, but it’s fair to say that an atmosphere of inclusivity and a policy of gender equality has opened our eyes to soi much more potential. Not just because of IWD, we believe our company is a much better place because of the respect that exists between all our talented team members.

Toyota’s first racing car –built again from blueprints

Toyota’s chairman Akio Toyoda is a rev head. He believes strongly that motorsport improves the breed and also breeds excitement in his brand. But where did he get it from?

It turns out his grandfather, company founder Kiichiro, had the bug as well.

In 1950 Kiichiro built two open wheel racing cars, the Toyopet Racers, and he planned to drive one himself.

But Kiichiro sadly died, just 57, and his cars disappeared –that is until 2018 when the director of the proposed Fuji Motorsports Museum, Naoki Nunogaki, found the blueprints. It took a power of research just to confirm that such a project had existed and even more to discover that the two cars had long since been lost. Toyota decided to start again.

Building Kiichiro’s racer from scratch became a Toyota passion project.

Teams of young volunteers used modern tools to craft ‘ancient’ technology so the Toyopet Racer could be exactly as Kiichiro intended – a 995cc, 27hp open cockpit racing car based on Toyota’s model SD which was at the time Japan’s most successful taxi.

At the end of 2022 Nunogaki-San opened the spectacular new motorsport museum at the Toyota owned Fuji International Speedway south of Tokyo. And the star of the show was the Toyopet Racer.

It’s doubtful even 70 years ago that the Toyopet Racer would have been an outright winner.

But in Kiichiro’s papers there’s reference to his dream of a 200hp model to take on the world. Perhaps that could be the next project.

Day tripping – share your favourite destinations with us

With this edition of City Extra, we’re inviting our guests to share your favourite road trips – places you’ve enjoyed in your Toyota and destinations you’d recommend.

The distance can be long or short.

Here’s one we prepared earlier:

A COASTAL EXPERIENCE 11 KMS FROM THE SYDNEY CBD.

WHAT: The North Head Manly Sanctuary, recently reopened after devastating bushfires offers amazing glimpses into Sydney’s quarantine past, walking tracks, guided tours of our early defences, sensational coastal and city views and even if you’re lucky the opportunity for whale watching.

Home to the Gayamagal people, the headland is a must see for all Sydneysiders. Post-pandemic, it’s thought provoking to stand in an ancient coastal cemetery built for the 1881 smallpox epidemic.

WHERE: Just 11kms from the Sydney CBD, over the Spit Bridge to Manly, then up Darley Road past the glorious gothic St. Patrick’s College, through stone archways and onto the North Head Scenic Drive. Parking is in North Fort car Park.

EATING: The licensed Bella Vista Café is perched on the entrance to the car park (203/33 North Head Scenic Drive), open for breakfast, lunch and morning and afternoon teas. We love the chunky Berkelo sourdough ($8) and chose the home-made gnocchi with WA Shark Bay swimmer crab ($35).

ON THE WAY HOME: Drop into Clontarf Beach, Sandy Bay Road, Clontarf for a kid-friendly swim in a netted harbor pool. If you’re adventurous you can take the single track cliff walk 800 metres around to secluded Castle Rock beach, named naturally for the rock which looks like…… Castle Rock boasts it has no lifeguards, no shops, no water, no toilets –just a lovely quiet beach.

Sydney City Toyota GLEBE

36-38 Parramatta Road

Glebe, NSW 2037

T 02 9565 6313

Sydney City Toyota

WATERLOO

824 Bourke Street

Waterloo, NSW 2017

T 02 9690 9999

www.sydneycitytoyota.com.au