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Up to right now point, all Highlanders destined for the U.S. undergo been heard erected in Japan. Toyota had calculated to initiate construction a new, redesigned Highlander in late 2009 at its plant in Tupelo, Mississippi, a factory such a is continue to short of construction, but the hastily low SUV world prompted it to adjourn the vehicle’s redesign to 2010. Things tweak soon in their business, however, and due to the fact that its plant in Princeton, Indiana too builds the full-size Tundra is now sitting idle, Toyota has concluded to use the capacity to craft constructing the Highlander in the lessen of 2009. The Tupelo plant, meanwhile, might in its place embark on constructing the Prius right here in the U.S. when its constructing is finished in 2010. All the current flip flopping of creation can be wrapped up due to the fact that of the flexible manufacturing the was made to every of Toyota’s plants, and the definite end result is the current its employees can remain trying instead as opposed to sitting at house without a paycheck.

The crossover segment is quickly overpopulating many automaker’s lineups (think Mazda and Ford), and Toyota is the latest to join the fray. The folks from Aichi Japan are only a couple months away from launching a production version of the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show’s FSC concept in their home market. The concept blended SUV utility and station wagon styling queues with a platform that’s based on the Camry to give Toyota another entry in what may be the hottest segment in the industry. The for-sale vehicle will be named Mark X Zio in Japan, and it will cart around six or seven passengers via the power of a 2.4- or 3.5-liter engine.

No word yet on whether the Mark X Zio will ever be made available in the US market, but if does ever grace our shores, we doubt the awkward name will make the trek.
[Source: Winding Road]

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After Nissan scored creative points with its last Qashqai spot showing the ‘lil CUV taking to the half pipe and performing skateboard stunts that would make Rodney Mullen’s head spin, its now released a new campaign that involves – God help us – a driving dog, a Thai musical stunt team and a flaming hoop. The ad is part of Nissan’s newest viral campaign that will highlight four amateur performance groups – the first from Thailand, followed by teams of Flemish, Polish and African descent – on the blog.spannerleague.com website. Look for new videos to pop up each month, but without further ado, hit the jump to watch man’s best friend risk life and four limbs along with his band of (obviously fake) Thai musicians.

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BMW is marketing the X6 as an entirely new class of vehicle. As such, it’s trying to catch people’s attention in a revolutionary way. Utilizing hologram technology developed by the Dutch advertising firm, viZoo, a ten-foot long light-controlled area, the system will display a three-dimensional, interactive image of the X6 at four different locations in New York between April 21st and May 16th. The system is manipulated through a touch-screen mounted outside the display and allows participants to view the X6 from a variety of angles, check out the interior and get a run-down on the vehicle’s stats. Unfortunately, BMW hasn’t released any images or video of the X6 hologram in action, but you can read up on all the details in the press release posted below the fold.

[Source: BMW]

The Qashqai is a European-designed, Japan- and Euro-market crossover. We didn’t drive the gasoline version, but the diesel is doable, if a little slow off the line, and the steering is pretty crisp for a CUV. The Qashqai +2 adds a third row… but there really isn’t a lot of room back there, only suitable for new additions to the family. In a theme among all of the Nissan vehicles we drove today, the interior is quite pleasant. As ever, the Euros get mid-range vehicles with some really nice fit and finish. The leather in the diesel was especially nice, if a little puffy. The center console pleases the eye at a glance, but when you look closely at it you realize there are enough buttons and glyphs for a Sikorsky helicopter. It really takes scrutiny to decipher, and you don’t want to do it while you’re driving. But the panorama roof? Magnificent.

You can head over to the Nissan 360 event site for more details on the vehicles. But first, be sure to check out the gallery of hi-res photos below.

Slightly more than 90,000 Toyota Highlanders are being recalled for a seatbelt problem in the third row. The recalled crossovers are all 2008 models built between May of 2007 and March of this year. The stock belts could prevent secure mounting of a rear-facing child seat in the third row, and dealers will install a redesigned part on affected Highlanders. The problem with the third row belts hasn’t spawned any complaints or injuries, and owners will be notified starting in June. Still, Toyota has put the brakes on Highlander sales until current stock is retrofitted and assembly lines are resupplied with the new part.

[Source: AP via WCVB]