Toyota
Toyota employs noise-canceling tech on hybrid
Toyota has taken the principle behind noise-canceling headphones and applied it to its Toyota Crown Hybrid. The company’s ‘Active Noise Control’ system uses three microphones located on the roof of the interior of the car to detect the muffled noise of the engine and then generates antiphase signals from three speakers – two located on the right and left front doors and one rear woofer on the rear shelf – to counter the noise. The system, which was implemented after the car’s engine was found to be noisier than expected, reduces the interior engine noise by about 5 to 8dB, the company said.
Scion's Hako Coupe concept: 'the sporty version of a box.'
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March 20, 2008 "Scion's Hako Coupe Concept embodies a distinct global perspective on today's youth," said Jack Hollis, Scion vice president. "This type of forward thinking complements the Scion philosophy of intently listening to our customers and being willing to take risks to help us see where our brand should be. We took the xB's iconic boxy shape and explored something more vivacious, yet just as emotionally appealing. This concept is the sporty version of a box."
Production ready Toyota iQ heads for Geneva
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February 14, 2008 Launched as a concept at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, a market-ready version of the Toyota iQ will debut Geneva next month. A compact urban vehicle that can can carry three people in comfort despite being less than three meters long, Toyota hopes the iQ will change the entrenched wisdom that buying a small car means less comfort and a compromise on safety.
Toyota's versatile Compact A-BAT Concept Vehicle
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January 14, 2008 Toyota rolled out a concept vehicle with direct roots to its heritage at NAIAS this week. The hybrid A-BAT is positioned below the Toyota Tacoma, and integrates truck features with car fundamentals, providing roominess, style and our favorite characteristic, versatility. The compact pickup architecture is designed to be equally as capable of manoeuvring the suburbs as dirt roads, as comfortable for long commutes as it is for road trips, as accommodating of outdoor toys as home improvement supplies. Inside the A-BAT has a retractable portable navigation unit, Wi-Fi Internet, portable device assistant synchronization, a hard drive for digital music and solar panels on the dash recapture energy from the sun to assist in the charging of the navigation unit, portable power pack and backlit information displays.
Toyota Prius turns 10
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December 19, 2007 This month marks the 10th anniversary of Toyota's landmark Prius hybrid-vehicle. Since the launch of the first generation model in Japan on December 15, 1997, approximately 900,000 vehicles have been sold worldwide - a drop in the ocean relative to total vehicle sales, but still a significant number that points to the important role the car has played in raising the profile of hybrid technology and proof that the public are willing to pay a premium for the fuel consumption and eco-friendly benefits it offers.
Robotic concerto: Toyota expands vision for intelligent helper machines
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December 7, 2007 Toyota has unveiled two additions to its growing family of partner robots - a new mobility robot and a humanoid robot that's dexterous enough to play the violin. According to the company's release, the violin playing robot can perform a variety of delicate tasks with its arms and hands - each of which contain 17 joints - including being able to mimic the human ability to achieve vibrato on a violin. The new Mobility Robot - which shares its design platform with the I-Real personal transport concept recently tested by Gizmag at the Tokyo Motor Show - is capable of transporting its owner or following in their footsteps as a porter, autonomously avoiding obstacles at speeds of up to 4mph.
New Toyota driving simulator: the world's biggest arcade game?
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December 1, 2007 Toyota has unveiled a huge driving simulator designed to recreate realistic driving environments and further the analysis of driving habits and reactions for the development of active safety technology.
Climb aboard the next-generation of personal transport: we ride Toyota’s I-REAL
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Gizmag leapt at the opportunity to take Toyota’s I-REAL personal mobility concept for a spin at the Tokyo Motor Show yesterday. “The seating position was remarkably comfortable and the joystick controls fell to hand immediately. Handling was surprisingly intuitive – when compared to other personal mobility devices such as the Segway, which is itself by no means difficult to master, the I-REAL was a breeze to pilot”, said Gizmag’s Mike Hanlon of his first impressions of the I-REAL. "Simply, it’s quiet, it’s very easy to use - it can be used at strolling pace and you can travel alongside somebody who’s walking very slowly and hold a conversation with them very easily, but when given full throttle it can sprint away much faster than a human being can hope to hit full pace running". Check out the I-REAL in this video.
Toyota RiN Concept promotes driver well-being
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October 22, 2007 Toyota’s RIN Concept will take the stage at the Tokyo Motor Show later this week with a view not only to promote environmental sustainability, but also to encourage the healthy living and well-being of its occupants. Through features such as heated seats that help maintain good back posture, an oxygen-level conditioner and pinpoint humidifier, and the use of green glass to reduce ultraviolet and infrared light and increase cabin comfort, drivers are encouraged to turn their attention to maintaining a healthy mind and body.
The 1/X Concept: Toyota to focus on sustainability at 40th Tokyo Motor Show
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October 17, 2007 Toyota has revealed a raft of new concept vehicles based around cutting-edge sustainability technology that the company will showcase at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show. Among them is the 1/X (pronounced "one-Xth"), a light-weight (420kg) hybrid vehicle pitched as “redefining what it means to be environmentally considerate”. The 1/X matches the interior space of the Prius, but is only one-third the weight and aims to double its fuel efficiency. Gizmag will be on the ground to bring you the latest from the Show when it gets underway on October 26th. In the meantime visit our highlights page for more previews of what’s in store.
Major companies reveal their visions for the cars of 2057
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As part of the LA Auto Show Design Challenge, several major manufacturers have submitted blue-sky design concepts showing where they feel automotive design will go in the next 50 years. From Nissan's friendly family assistant to Mercedes’ liquid-metal convertible and Toyota's pollution-chewing roller/strider, the submissions are an exciting and thought-provoking look at where the next half a century will take us in personal and family mobility.
Toyota’s i-REAL personal mobility concept nears commercialization
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October 11, 2007 One of the most exciting transportation developments in recent years has been the ongoing series of Personal Mobility devices we have seen from Toyota. It began with the PM (Personal Mobility) Concept, and was followed by the i-unit and i-swing concepts, and we have watched these developments with the parallel exploration of mobility, partner and guide robots, as the company has surged to become the world’s largest automotive manufacturer. Now the next installment in this exciting personal mobility series is here, with the promise of commercialization drawing tantalizingly close. And it looks like it "carves", meaning it tilts into a corner in the same way a motorcycle does!
Toyota iQ small car design concept
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September 12, 2007 Since time (automotive time that is) began, luxury has also by default meant big. Big meant more interior space, more power, more features, more cost and more prestige. As the world comes to terms with doing more with less, that trend seems set for a reversal – small in the future will no longer mean frugal, meagre and penny-pinching and that’s the key message Toyota is hoping to convey with the iQ concept car. Large cars don’t make a lot of sense on the crowded streets of Rome, Paris and London, so the iQ packs luxury features into a small form factor.
Toyota introduce iPod integration kit
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September 4, 2007 Toyota has released an iPod integration kit which provides a direct link between your car’s audio system and an Apple iPod. The connection is housed inside the glovebox of the car, providing a simple plug and play option from iPod to stereo that also act as a charger. The iPod can then be completely controlled by using the car’s audio head unit, or (where fitted) the controls on the steering wheel. The integration kit can be installed into any current Toyota and Lexus model, and is compatible with most versions of iPod.
Toyota’s new Tour Guide Robot
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Toyota has unveiled a new Tour Guide Robot that features completely autonomous motion, jointed fingers, image recognition and complex verbal communication skills. Both Toyota and Honda (which has spent more than 20 years developing Asimo the humanoid robot), will leverage their already established global sales networks to become key players in the robotics market over coming decades. Toyota will become the largest car manufacturer in the world this year and with cars getting smarter and smaller and robots evolving to be able to carry people, a new era of convergence in personal mobility is on the horizon. The direction is predictable, but who knows what form it will take… and we can't wait to see what they do next.
Toyota experimenting with a plug-in electric Prius
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July 31, 2007 Toyota’s Prius was pretty much the mass-market pioneer of hybrid cars and its sales success has demonstrated to the company that a significant sector of the community are willing to pay a premium for a car that’s both exceptionally fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly. Still, it remains a petrol-based car in its current form, using its electric motor mainly to maintain cruising speed and charging it indirectly through the output of the petrol engine. Toyota’s latest announcement could turn that equation on its head – by incorporating bigger, longer-lasting batteries and enabling plug-in overnight charging, they’re experimenting with making the Prius a primarily electric-powered car that only falls back on petrol when it absolutely has to. The changes could give the Prius massive fuel economy if used for short commutes – between 100 and 500 miles per gallon is possible. Although the company’s sticking with old-school nickel-metal hydride batteries instead of the latest lithium-based units ( and it may well only be doing this in response to some smart aftermarket operators) this could be our first glimpse of a mass-market commercial car that runs primarily on batteries, but has all the comfort of petrol to fall back on.
The first hybrid race win
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July 18, 2007 A new era dawned on the weekend when Toyota won the Tokashi 24-Hour Race with its Supra HV-R hybrid race car. It is the first time a hybrid race car has won a competition of any form though the Supra is quite different to roadgoing hybrids as it incorporates a quick-charging capacitor system and the four-wheel energy regeneration is tuned to work efficiently in recovering a large amount of the car’s energy during rapid deceleration. The system uses 10kw in-wheel motors in the front wheels plus a 150 kW rear-axle mounted electric motor. In total, the 1,080 kg Supra has a whopping 700 horsepower (473 bhp from the 4.5 litre petrol motor and 227 bhp from the electric motors). More importantly, the low down grunt afforded by the electric motors along with the ability to measure and modify the additional torque thousands of times per wheel per second make the car far more controllable than a simple petrol engined vehicle … not to mention kinder on tyres, more economical and brutally quick on the exit to corners.
Toyota develops active head restraint to reduce whiplash injuries
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July 4, 2007 Toyota has developed an Active Headrest that reduces the stress on the neck during low-speed, rear impacts. The new head restraint is an extension of the WIL concept seat, in which both the seatback and head restraint simultaneously cushion the head and lower back to reduce stress on the neck. Specifically, when the occupant’s back presses against the seatback during a rear-end collision, a built-in lower unit triggers the head restraint to move diagonally upward. This action swiftly catches the back of the head, thereby reducing the risk of whiplash injury sustained by the neck upon collision. In-house testing shows it reduces the severity of whiplash injury by 10-20%. The headrest will begin incorporation in new Toyota models in the near future.
Toyota develops next-generation engine valve mechanism
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June 19, 2007 Toyota has developed a new form of valve actuation for internal combustion engines which it claims improves fuel efficiency by 5 to 10 per cent, enhances throttle response, reduces CO2 emissions, and boosts power by at least 10 per cent. To be known as Valvematic, the new design offers a variable valve lift mechanism created through combining VVT-i (Variable Valve Timing-intelligent), which controls the timing of intake valve opening/closing, with a new mechanism that can also control the intake valve lift volume. The first application of Valvematic will be in a new 2.0-litre engine being introduced in the near future.
Toyota/Lexus dominate U.K. J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Awards
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May 10, 2007 The Toyota Prius has earned many plaudits worldwide since its launch in 2004 but it’s unlikely to ever have a better 24 hours than those that have just passed. Yesterday, the hybrid family car won its fourth consecutive International Engine of the Year Award for the engine with the best fuel economy, and today it finished equal top of the 2007 J.D. Power and Associates customer satisfaction study. The independent study of thousands of UK motorists driving vehicles registered between September 2005 and August 2006 saw the Prius place equal first, alongside the Lexus IS, another Toyota group model. Given that the award is open to cars of any price, the latest accolade demonstrates the high esteem in which it is held by the most demanding of judges – owners. It was a good day for Toyota in general, as the company’s premium Lexus brand took out its seventh consecutive Gold Award for customer satisfaction, ranking top in three of the four key measures – vehicle quality/reliability, service satisfaction and vehicle appeal. Lexus has now claimed the coveted Gold Award every year since it became eligible for consideration.
Toyota Hybrid X Concept
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March 7, 2007 Toyota ripped the covers off its Hybrid X at the Geneva Motor Show overnight with the reveal of a concept car that proposes a new design language for hybrid models, while also acting as an innovative technology showcase for future generation hybrid cars. Hybrid X is designed as a four-door, four-seat open-space concept and further extends the use of its Hybrid Synergy Drive.
Toyota's 400 bhp FT-HS Hybrid Sports Car Concept
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January 12, 2007 UPDATED PHOTO GALLERY Toyota’s FT-HS hybrid sports concept to be shown at the 2007 North American International Auto Show next week seems to have a lot more of the real world in it than your normal concept car. Sporting hybrids are coming to mainstream consumer land very soon, if we’re reading the signs correctly. The two-plus-two concept is a front-engine, rear-drive sports car with a projected 0-62mph acceleration in the four-second range. A powerful V6, 3.5L-engine is coupled with a sports hybrid system for a total of 400 bhp. The press release specifically prices the FT-HS in a mid-priced market position, making it a truly attainable exotic should it be produced. The Japanese company will achieve it’s Everest this year when it will become the world’s top selling automobile manufacturer – our bet is that this baby will be in the 2008 model range.
World premiere of all-new Toyota Tundra full-size Pickup
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February 12, 2006 –Toyota unveiled the all-new next-generation Tundra full-size pickup truck at the 2006 Chicago Auto Show this week, completely redesigning every single to create a bigger, more powerful vehicle with the ability to tow over 10,000 pounds. The Tundra will be aimed at the ‘True Trucker,' the people Toyota regards as the “true opinion leaders among full-size owners.” True Truckers, says Toyota, are “highly credible because they use, punish, and demand the most out of the pickups they buy."
Toyota mini SUV Urban Cruiser concept
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February 4, 2006 Toyota is set to show a concept it is billing as an Urban Cruiser at this month’s Geneva Auto Show. The futuristic mini SUV is a design exercise by ED2, Toyota’s European design studio with the concept car drawing heavily on Toyota’s heritage in Sports Utility Vehicles but also adding its own dynamic flair and rugged originality. The Urban Cruiser will also feature a fresh interior style inspired by trendy furniture.
Toyota discloses unprecedented details of F1 development
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January 23, 2006 There are just two environments akin to the acute excellence required to compete successfully at Formula One level – a space launch and the battlefield. All three areas are so close to the edge of human understanding that the technology developed in their pursuit often filters down to consumer products and introduces a better way. Panasonic Toyota Racing officially kicked off its 2006 Formula 1 campaign with a special event at the Toyota manufacturing facility in Valenciennes, France earlier this month, at the same time as disclosing an unprecedented amount of information about the Toyota production process and how it has been applied to the former art, and now decidedly scientific process of Formula One. Incredibly, the company has applied knowledge developed in manufacturing production cars to improve its Formula One competitiveness . If you’re into car racing or manufacturing, this is a “must” read!
Toyota F3R transforms from minivan to mobile lounge
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January 9, 2006 One of the surprises of the North American International Automobile Show in Detroit was the F3R concept vehicle from Toyota. The surprising F3R is an exercise in providing maximum space, efficiency and athletic style from a concept all but forgotten in today's automotive world – that of the minivan. Toyota’s research showed that the younger generation of new car buyers see the mini-van as something they were “carted around in as a kid.” In order to revitalize the image of the mini-van with its three-row seating, Toyota has given the F3R a reconfigurable lounge interior. "Younger people are hanging out in their cars,” says Toyota. “When they do that, the car becomes an entertainment area - a sophisticated extension of the home.”
Toyota Launches Car-shaped Music Player
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December 26 , 2005 Toyota announced today that it has begun nationwide sales in Japan of the completely redesigned bB passenger vehicle through "Netz" dealers. The first-generation bB, launched in 2000, was developed as an individualistic, compact hatchback—a completely new genre. Its sense of presence, apparent at a single glance, and its spacious, comfortable interior suitable for a diverse range of uses proved popular among younger customers. The New bB retains the strengths of the previous bB and strives to embody the lifestyle of people who want to be surrounded by music everywhere they go, adopting the development theme of "A Car-shaped Music Player" to satisfy the preferences of the younger generation.
Toyota's i-swing personal mobility concept
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October 25, 2005 Toyota debuted its i-swing mobility concept at the Tokyo Show today, arousing massive public interest. Toyota's i-swing is a new personal mobility vehicle in the same vein as the personal mobility models (such as the PM , i-unit and I-foot ) Toyota has exhibited previously but one that takes the concept several steps further, with the capability of operating in a similar manner to the Segway in two wheeled mode at walking pace on a footpath so it takes up little space, or transform to a three-wheeled mode for road speeds. In addition to the joystick control, the i-swing can be controlled by body weight movements with a feeling reportedly like turning as if on snow skis. The i-swing concept proposes using Artificial Intelligence to enable it to learn the habits and preferences of users.
Toyota's welcoming Fine-X Fuel Cell Hybrid
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October 25, 2005 Toyota's 39th Tokyo Motor Show was probably the busiest of any manufacturer as the world's number two manufacturer of transport solutions fielded seven concept vehicles at its home motor show event. Apart from the i-swing personal mobility solution (covered in detail here), the most unconventional of the concept cars on show was the Fine-X, a new fuel cell hybrid vehicle. Toyota is touting the Fine-X as a glimpse of the automobile's future, providing the environmental performance of a fuel cell hybrid system and featuring an ease of movement through four-wheel independent drive control and a large, steering angle mechanism. The vehicle aims for a sense of "hospitality" through variable lighting intensity in the interior and through power "Welcome Seats" that move in and out of the car as the gull-wing doors open widely to assist getting in and out of the vehicle.
Toyota’s ENDO Urban Car Concept
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August 31, 2005 Toyota is the world’s second largest automotive manufacturer and it has known for some time that it would not become number one selling automobiles as we now know them. Over the last few years the Japanese giant has both entrenched itself in traditional automotive enclaves such as prestige motoring and Formula 1, while it has evolved numerous concepts for mobility solutions in the grey area where robotics meets personal transport – ranging from walking chairs, through intelligent transforming personal wheeled transporters. Two of the concepts to be shown by Toyota at the upcoming Frankfurt Auto Show are in this “personal mobility” area - the Endo and the I-unit. Emanating from the company’s ED2 design studio in Southern France, the Endo is an urban-friendly car designed to address some of the key issues of modern urban life, while the i-unit has been seen previously at the New York Auto Show in January this year and is one of the major attractions at EXPO 2005 in Aichi, Japan and is "a new approach to human mobility that enables the driver to interact with his or her surroundings. The design of the i-unit is "inspired by a leaf, a natural expression of life on earth."
Creating a plug-in Toyota Prius
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Many people including the California Cars Initiative (CalCars), see the short to medium term future of hybrid cars as plug-in hybrids – hybrids where you can choose not to use petroleum should you wish. They claim that the biggest problem with the current Honda and Toyota hybrids is that you can’t charge their batteries overnight because they’ve been designed to gently wean the population off petrol. So CalCars decided to jump-start the market for plug-in hybrids itself, taking a Toyota Prius, adding much bigger batteries and modifying it so it could be plugged into the electricity supply and charged overnight. The aim is to harness the collective vision and purchasing power of individuals and corporate and government fleets and get a major auto manufacturer to produce plug-in versions of existing hybrids.
Malaysian F1 - Renault wins again, Toyota shines through
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March 20, 2005 A second win in two races for the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team at the Malaysian Grand Prix was the major news, but close behind Renault’s win at Sepang was the performance of Toyota, which finally appears to have arrived as a force in Formula One. Panasonic Toyota Racing scored its debut podium position after a "Trulli" outstanding drive from Jarno ensured he comfortably ended the grueling 56-lap race in 2nd position. A determined drive from Ralf Schumacher made it two cars in the top five for toyota, a total of 12 world championship points and second place in the constructors' championship.
Toyota Camry TS-01 Performance – TS for Trulli & Schumacher
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March 3, 2005 Toyota pulled one of the surprises of the Melbourne Motor Show when it announced a new sports Camry show car named after the marque’s Formula One drivers Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher and both drivers were there to introduce the vehicle to the press. The car is the first built by a newly formed development team within Toyota Australia as a major statement of capability and will be used to evaluate motoring enthusiast reaction. The aggressive looking V6 Camry TS-01 develops 185kW – 28 per cent more than the for-sale Sportivo version, and 320Nm of torque – an increase of 12 percent.
Toyota's radical Compact Sports & Specialty Concept
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March 3, 2005 A radical Toyota sports car featuring a hybrid petrol-electric drive-train and a host of innovative interior features was one of the stars of the media day at the 2005 Melbourne International Motor Show. The CS&S (Compact Sports & Specialty) concept was designed to demonstrate the sporting potential of Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive technology, as featured in the second-generation Prius production car. With its midship-mounted next-generation Toyota Hybrid System THS II based on the Hybrid Synergy Drive concept and an E-Four (electric 4-wheel drive) system, the CS&S is designed to provide outstanding environmental performance and driving exhilaration.
Toyota's FJ Cruiser SUV goes from concept to production model at 2005 Chicago Auto Show
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February 12, 2005 Toyota unveiled the all-new FJ Cruiser sport utility vehicle (SUV) at the 2005 Chicago Auto Show this week. Like so many other concept vehicles greeted by a positive response, the FJ Cruiser concept of two years ago has catalysed a production version. The all-new production model retains much of the design details of the original concept. "The FJ Cruiser effectively fills a gap in the Toyota lineup which was once our core heritage - capable, affordable and durable vehicles that are youthful, fun-to-drive, aggressive and tough," said a Toyota spokesperson. "The FJ Cruiser will deliver true off-road ruggedness, image and performance at a very low price, making it highly accessible for a large volume of young buyers."
