Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.TO) said Sunday that it will introduce diesel-engine models in the U.S. market in an effort to offer low-emission vehicles.

The Japanese car maker will also roll out plug-in gasoline-electric hybrids with lithium-ion batteries in the U.S. by 2010.

Toyota will launch the Tundra pickup truck and the Sequoia minivan, which will be powered by a new diesel V8 engine, “in the near future,” Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe said Sunday.

Other Japanese car makers also said earlier in the day at the North American International Auto Show that they want to bring in diesel-powered vehicles in the U.S. as regulations for gas emissions are becoming stricter and gasoline prices remain high. Diesel engines are about 20% more fuel efficient than gasoline engines.

Honda Motor Co.  President Takeo Fukui said that it will launch diesel vehicles under its luxury Acura brand by 2009.

Toyota, which is the world’s leading gasoline-electric hybrid car maker, will also show two all new, dedicated hybrids, one for Toyota and one for Lexus, next year, Watanabe said.

Toyota Motor (TM) is at it again. On Jan. 13, the Japanese automaker took the wraps off another product that could have embattled American automakers scrambling to catch up. Its new concept truck, dubbed A-BAT, will made worldwide debut in the heart of the U.S. auto industry, at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. And the tough-looking pickup packs a hybrid gas-electric power supply similar to the Prius sedan, likely the most well-known green machine on American roads.

In November, 2007, General Motors (GM) introduced a hybrid version of its largest pickup, but no other automaker currently offers a modern, small truck with a gas-electric power plant. And none have Toyota’s environmental street cred to make such a vehicle a sales star.

Toyota’s truck division had a banner year in 2007, giving it significant momentum into ‘08. Now, the A-BAT shows a potential new small truck that could slot into the company’s truck lineup under the Tundra and midsize Tacoma, effectively creating a new segment. The small vehicle, which could be built on a car platform, looks big but is about the size of the company’s smallest sport-utility vehicle, the RAV4, and could prove popular with young buyers looking for a fuel-efficient but versatile vehicle.

Toyota designers gave BusinessWeek.com an exclusive peek at the pre-production concept model.

Used Trucks for sale at TrucksJunction.com

According to the State Patrol, the driver of a truck for the Taste of Scandinavia bakery rolled near County Road 14.

Investigators think the truck ran off the road to the right and then overcorrected and rolled over.

The driver was pinned under the cab and was killed. His name has not been released.

Toyota Motor Corp President Katsuaki Watanabe said on Sunday the Japanese automaker will launch a diesel-powered Tundra pickup truck and Sequoia SUV in the United States soon, in an about-face to its hybrid-centered product strategy.

Toyota, which likely unseated General Motors Corp as the world’s biggest automaker last year, has repeatedly hesitated to committing a diesel vehicle for the U.S. market, which is slowly warming to the fuel-efficient drivetrain, especially for use in larger vehicles.

“I am happy to confirm that a new clean-diesel V8 engine will be offered in both the Tundra and the Sequoia in the near future,” Watanabe told a news conference at the North American International Auto Show.

The diesel vehicles were one way to meet new fuel economy regulations agreed by the U.S. Congress that require a fleet average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, Watanabe said.

He added that Toyota will also expand its hybrid line-up by launching world premieres of two all-new, dedicated hybrid models - one for Toyota and one for its luxury Lexus brand - at next year’s Detroit auto show.

“We will not wait until the deadline to comply (with the fuel economy standards),” Watanabe said. “I have issued a challenge to our engineers to meet the new standard well in advance of 2020.”

Toyota, which brought the world the first mass-produced gasoline-electric hybrid, has a goal of selling 1 million hybrid cars a year soon after 2010. In the 10 years since the launch of the first-generation Prius in late 1997, Toyota sold 1.25 million hybrid cars.

At the press conference, Toyota also unveiled a new hybrid pickup truck concept called A-BAT, which stands for the Advanced-Breakthrough Aerodynamic Truck.

Toyota is due to unveil another concept, the Venza, on Monday.

Americans bought more Toyota Prius hybrid petrol-electric hatchbacks in 2007 than Ford Explorer sports utility vehicles, the top-selling SUV for more than a decade.

The change of fortune, buried in US vehicle sales data for 2007 and unthinkable a few years ago, will find an echo at this year’s Detroit auto show, which starts on Sunday.

While Americans’ love for powerful gas-guzzlers remains strong, the slowing economy and high fuel prices are forcing buyers to lower their sights. Pressure on manufacturers to offer more fuel-efficient vehicles increased last month with a law requiring them to improve vehicles’ average fuel efficiency by 40 per cent over the next 12 years.

While Prius sales soared 69 per cent in 2007, demand for the Explorer was less than a third of its 2000 peak. Many Americans are replacing truck-based SUVs with crossover vehicles, which are built like cars, thus offering a smoother ride and better fuel efficiency. Toyota began selling the Prius in North America in 2000, the same year Explorer sales reached a record 445,000 units.

“It’s a combination of an ascending star and a falling star,” says George Magliano, director of automotive industry analysis at consultant Global Insight.

The Explorer led the SUV charge in the 1990s to replace the minivan as the family car. Baby-boomers craving space, a protective cocoon high above the ground and the power of a V-8 engine have driven about 6m out of showrooms over the past 18 years. But filling an Explorer fuel tank now costs close to $70, against $30 five years ago. The traditional SUV “is a dead market”, Mr Magliano says.

Toyota has pushed Prius sales hard in the past year, but in one respect, the car has become like most other North America vehicles – its sales have been buoyed by special promotions.

In Detroit, Ford will unveil a crossover vehicle, Explorer America – a signal that the traditional SUV’s days are numbered. The Explorer America will come with a fuel-efficient engine and the eight-cylinder version will be dropped.

Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Saab and BMW are among other carmakers showing off new crossover models at the auto show. Ford will also be exhibiting a four-door version of its Verve hatchback.

The Motor National Monster Truck Show will be held at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 7 p.m. Sunday in the Main Arena of the Forrest County Multi Purpose Center.

This event will feature monster trucks shown on television as they race to beat the clock.

Advanced tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for children under 12 on Friday and Saturday only.

Admission at the door will be $15 for adults and $12 for children on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, admission will be $15 for adults and $6 for children.

Tickets are on sale at Mack’s Mini Mart, TJs Western Ware and the Multi Purpose Center Box Office.t

When those monster tires from those monster trucks drive over those poor cars, ever wonder where the smashed-up Fords, Toyotas and Oldsmobiles come from?

“We usually get them from the (local) wreck yard,” said Steve Quercio, vice president of AMP Live Events, whose company puts on the Thunder Slam Monster Truck Spectacular.

Quercio said the cars must be flattened to make it easier for the trucks to run over.

The Thunder Slam Monster Truck Spectacular will roar into the Alabama A&M University Agribition Center for three shows starting Friday night. The Agribition Center is located at 4925 Moores Mill Road.

A limited amount of tickets are available from Ticket master for $10. Otherwise, tickets start at $17.

The event will feature car-crushing action from monster trucks Predator, Prowler and the one that started it all, Big Foot.

According to Quercio, Big Foot hasn’t made an appearance in Huntsville for almost five years.

“It’s going to be a real barn burner,” he said.

And if 10-foot tall trucks smashing cars like bugs isn’t enough, the show will also host local “tuff trucks” and “mud boggers.”

Quercio said anyone with a truck is invited to show up before the event and race against other local truck enthusiasts.

But if you think your four-cylinder Ford pickup is going to compete, think again. Quercio said the trucks are usually modified by folks who know what they’re doing.

Local “tuff trucks” will go head-to-head on a track filled with humps, bumps and jumps.

The mud boggers will race through mud to see which good ol’ boy has the best mud-racing truck.

The local truck races will be held before the monster truck races.

Allied Transport Establishment has contracted FAMCO (Al-Futtaim Auto and Machinery Company) to supply 30 Volvo trucks for its operations in the United Arab Emirates.

The company, which selected the Volvo FH400 model with I-shift transmission technology, received the first vehicles from the order during a recent ceremony at the FAMCO headquarters in Dubai.

“Our fleet currently includes eight Volvo trucks and we have found these vehicles to be very reliable. With the addition of the latest Volvo I-Shift trucks, we will be able to achieve our objectives with much better economy and improved efficiency,” said Ali Beyat, managing director of Allied Transport.

“The primary reason for choosing these vehicles was Volvo’s superior quality and reliability, supported by FAMCO’s reputation for after-sales service,” he added.

Allied Transport is now planning to provide DHL with the vehicles to boost the courier company’s fleet network in the Middle East and support the recent increase in demand for express deliveries in the region.

“This order is part of our five-year strategy with DHL,” said Beyat. “We anticipate the supply of over 500 trucks for DHL’s requirements over this period time. The vehicles will be used to meet the growing demand for the company’s express service across the GCC and Levant countries and North America.”