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By Jerry Hirsch | Toyota Motor Corp. issued yet another recall Wednesday, this time
announcing a program to upgrade the software in the vehicle stability
control system on about 50,000 early-2003 Toyota Sequoia sport utility
vehicles.
The electronic system is designed to prevent a loss of traction in turns
as a result of front or rear tire slippage during cornering.
By Becky Yerak | Allstate Corp. is making several changes to its Illinois insurance prices, including raising homeowners’ rates by an average of 8 percent this July and offering 5 percent auto-rate discounts to Geico policyholders who switch to the Northbrook-based insurer.
Allstate also recently began offering discounts of 7 percent to auto customers who pay their bills in full, as well as five new deductible options for auto customers.
Customers in the showroom at the Formula Ford dealership in Montpelier, Vt.(AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
Associated Press | Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it earned $2.1 billion in the first
quarter, another sign the economy is improving as people spend more on
big-ticket items like cars. The automaker expects to be solidly
profitable this year, a year earlier than its previous guidance.
Ford said its net income per share was 50 cents for the quarter. That’s
an about-face from the same period last year when it lost $1.4 billion,
or 60 cents per share, at the height of the recession. It was Ford’s
fourth straight positive quarter and its highest quarterly profit in
six years.
Associated Press | Hertz Global Holdings Inc., the world’s
largest car rental company, said Monday it has agreed to buy rival
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group for about $1.17 billion in cash and
stock. Hertz said the deal will give it an additional 1,550 additional
locations, boosting its total to 9,800. It said it will boost its
leisure rental business in Europe and elsewhere.
Dow Jones Newswires | Ford Motor Co. is recalling 33,256 vehicles
to fix a problem with front seat recliners in some of its 2010 models
of Fusion and Mercury Milan sedans as well as several Explorer, Explorer
Sport Trac and Mercury Mountaineer SUVs, the automaker said Friday.
Some of the vehicles failed to meet the requirements of the federal
motor-vehicle safety standard. “In the event of a crash, the seatback
and head restraint may move rearward, increasing the risk of injury,”
according to the recall notice posted by the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration.
Associated Press | General Motors Co. has repaid $8.1 billion in
loans it got from the U.S. and Canadian governments, a move its CEO
says is a sign automaker is on the road to recovery.
CEO Ed Whitacre announced the repayments Wednesday at GM’s Fairfax
Assembly Plant in Kansas City, Kan., where he said GM is investing $257
million in that factory and the Detroit-Hamtramck plant. This
afternoon, he flies to Washington to meet with top lawmakers.
Associated Press | Toyota hurriedly ordered recalls of nearly 10,000 Lexus SUVs for possible rollover dangers Monday and agreed to a record $16.4 million fine for a slow response in its broader earlier recall, scrambling to fix safety worries that threaten the Japanese auto giant’s reputation.
Get the full story: Toyota to recall 2010 Lexus GX460.
McClatchy/Tribune News | Nissan will start taking orders for its Leaf electric sedan on Tuesday. Priced around $25,000 after incentives, the compact is set to go on sale late this year.
Read the full story: Nissan to start taking orders for Leaf.
By Kiah Haslett | The average premium for car insurance in Illinois is $1,679.15, the
ninth most expensive in the nation, according to a study by insure.com.
The study looked at more than 2,400 vehicles, based on ten zip codes
from each state. The states topping the list are Louisiana, at $2,510.87, and
Michigan, at $2,098.29. At the bottom are Vermont, at $968.58, and
Maine, at $902.85. Maine has a small population that doesn’t drive very
often, keeping commuter mileage and the crash count low.
A technician installs a pedal modification on a Toyota. (Tribune, file photo)
Associated Press | The government said Monday that Toyota has agreed to pay a record $16.4
million fine for failing to properly notify federal authorities about a
dangerous pedal defect.
The fine is the largest-ever penalty paid by an automaker to the U.S.
government. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that by failing to
report safety problems, Toyota put consumers at risk.
By Kiah Haslett | Gas
prices Cook County jumped 23 cents in April to an average of $3.16 per
gallon of regular unleaded, an increase of 95 cents from last year,
according to AAA Chicago. In Illinois and northern Indiana, gas
increased to $3, 89 cents higher than
last April.
“Gas prices have continued to rise and as we head into summer season of
higher demand, we don’t see this changing soon,” says Beth Mosher, AAA
Chicago’s spokesperson.
Associated Press | Toyota is testing all its sport-utility
vehicles to reassure buyers of their safety after Consumer Reports
warned a large Lexus SUV is susceptible to rolling over.
The expanded testing covers the entire lineup of Toyota and Lexus SUVs,
including popular models such as the RAV4, 4Runner and Highlander, said
Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons. The automaker will be testing the
vehicles’ stability control to replicate the Consumer Reports’ test that
uncovered the problem, he said.
Dow Jones Newswires | Automakers are pressing the Obama
administration for more government subsidies to spur mass-market sales
of electric vehicles, including new tax breaks for consumers, utilities
and car companies.
The Obama administration has committed billions to electric-car
programs, including aid to auto makers to revamp plants and tax credits
for car buyers.
A red 2010 Lexus GX460 at a Maine dealership, with other Lexus vehicles behind it. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach)
Associated Press | Toyota says it will temporarily stop selling the Lexus GX460 after Consumer Reports said the SUV carried an unusually high risk of a rollover accident during certain types of turns.
In the latest blow to Toyota’s reputation, the Japanese automaker says it will suspend sales of the SUV while it conducts its own testing.
(AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, file)
By Kathy Bergen
| In the silver lining department: Yes, motorcycle sales plummeted last year, but so did the number of thefts.
Thefts fell by 13 percent , according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, a Des Plaines-based not-for-profit organization. This in a year when other trade groups reported motorcycle sales were down more than 40 percent.
