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Associated Press | Consumer Reports has given the Lexus GX460 a rare “Don’t Buy” warning, saying a problem that occurred during routine handling tests could lead the SUV to roll over in real-world driving.
In the latest blow to Toyota’s reputation, the magazine said that during a test of the vehicle’s performance during unusual turns, the rear of the vehicle slid until it was nearly sideways before the electronic stability control system kicked in.
From USA Today | Bloomington-based State Farm Insurance has asked Toyota to
repay them for any crashes related to unintended acceleration by its
vehicles. Demands for repayment of claims — called “subrogation” in the insurance
business — could end up costing Toyota from $20 million to $30 million,
says Mark Bunim, an attorney with Closed Case, a mediation firm.
Get the full story: usatoday.com.
Associated Press | Five days before Toyota announced a massive recall, a U.S. executive at
the company wrote in an internal e-mail: “We need to come clean” about
accelerator problems, according to documents obtained by The Associated
Press.
“We are not protecting our customers by keeping this quiet,” wrote Irv
Miller, group vice president for environment and public affairs. “The
time to hide on this one is over.”
Associated Press | Carmakers Renault SA, Nissan Motor Co. and
Daimler AG have entered a wide-ranging alliance to help each other gain
ground in the growing but fiercely competitive market for small,
fuel-efficient vehicles.
The partnership comes amid a painful industrywide slump and will focus
on sharing the development and production of chassis and engines. The
move will be sealed with a cross-shareholding giving the three
companies a small, symbolic stake in each other.
By Monique Garcia | Transportation
Sec. Ray LaHood said Tuesday his agency is going through 70,000
documents from Toyota that show the company knew it had a “sticky pedal
problem” long before it was reported to federal officials.
“It’s clearly a violation and it’s clearly an indication that they have
violated the law,” LaHood said. “We are absolutely not going to stand
for that kind of behavior for one second.”Because the agency is still
digging through the paperwork, LaHood said
he would not be surprised to find other violations by Toyota.
Associated Press | Toyota will continue to offer most of its
heavy incentives throughout April after the deals helped lift its sales
more than 40 percent last month, the automaker said Tuesday.
Toyota Motor Corp. will continue to offer cheap leases on up to eight
of its most popular models, including the Camry, Corolla and RAV4. It
is scaling back its zero-percent financing offers to just six vehicles
instead of eight, but is expanding a popular two-year free maintenance
program to all customers.
Associated Press | A top Toyota executive is expected to address auto dealers, a day after federal officials said they’ll seek a $16 million penalty over safety recalls.
Don Esmond is the senior vice president of automotive operations at Toyota Motor Sales USA. He’s expected to speak about new incentives and safety recalls in Rosemont.
Associated Press | General Motors says it will install a new brake
safety measure that can prevent unintended acceleration on all its new
vehicles worldwide by 2012.
The announcement Monday comes as federal regulators consider making the
technology mandatory on new cars and trucks after Toyota’s big problems
with vehicles that can speed out of control. Congress is also exploring
the issue after a series of hearings last month on Toyota’s recall of
millions of vehicles over gas pedals that get stuck or trapped on floor
mats.
Dow Jones Newswires | Hyundai Motor Co. and subsidiary Kia Motors Corp. each plan to start selling a midsize hybrid sedan in the U.S. market.
Hyundai will release a Sonata hybrid there at the end of this year. Featuring a lithium ion battery system made by LG Chemical Ltd., the 2.4-liter vehicle gets 39 miles per gallon of gasoline, or 16-17km per liter, in high-speed traffic and 37mpg in cities. It will be unveiled at the New York International Auto Show, which opens Saturday.
“The car has been tailored to the U.S., where people spend quite a long
time traveling in high-speed traffic,” a Hyundai official says.
Autoworkers check stats on a new Chevy Volt. (Photo by John F. Martin for Chevrolet)
Tribune staff report | The first pre-production Chevrolet Volts are coming off the line at the Detroit-Hamtramck manufacturing plant in Detroit, Michigan.
The pre-production versions of the Volt will not be sold at dealerships, but will be used to assure all steps in the production system will meet the quality targets set by the Volt engineering team.
Associated Press | An incentives war touched off by Toyota boosted sales at most major automakers last month.
GM reported a 21 percent jump in new vehicles sales on Thursday, while
Ford’s climbed nearly 40 percent over last March, when economic
uncertainty and rising unemployment kept buyers from showrooms. Sales
at Hyundai and Subaru also rose, but Chrysler continued to struggle
with sales down 8 percent.
Associated Press | The U.S. government is setting tough gas
mileage standards for new cars and trucks, spurring the next generation
of fuel-sipping gas-electric hybrids, efficient engines and electric
cars.
The heads of the Transportation Department and the Environmental
Protection Agency on Thursday will sign final rules requiring 2016
model-year vehicles to meet fuel efficiency targets of 35.5 miles per
gallon combined for cars and trucks, an increase of nearly 10 mpg over
current standards set by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration.
Visitors at the Toyota’s company showroom next to its headquarters in Japan. (Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images)
Associated Press | Toyota sales surged 40 percent in March compared with last year after the automaker offered some of its deepest discounts ever to cope with the fallout of millions of recalls.
The incentives were scheduled to end April 5, but Toyota Group Vice President Bob Carter said some will continue into the spring, including an offer of free maintenance for return Toyota customers.
Associated Press | Ford
Motor Co. and Microsoft Corp. have signed a deal to work together on a computerized link between houses, electric cars and utility companies to help manage energy use.
The companies said Wednesday at the New York International Auto Show that this is the beginning of a smart system that will help utilities and customers manage energy costs and electrical generating capacity.
Associated Press | Ford Motor Co. will become a player in the small market for luxury hybrids this fall when it launches its first Lincoln hybrid, a gas-electric version of the 2011 Lincoln MKZ.
Ford says the hybrid MKZ – introduced Wednesday at the New York International Auto Show — will be the most fuel-efficient luxury sedan on the market, getting an estimated 41 miles per gallon in city driving. By comparison, the Lexus HS250h gets 35 miles per gallon.
