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The Chrysler plant in Belvidere. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty, File)
From the Detroit News | Chrysler expects to put its 2,300 workers in Belvidere back to work Friday, assembling the Dodge Caliber, Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot. The plant has been closed for three days because of a parts shortage.
Read the full story: detnews.com
A Toyota service technician performs a recall repair on a Corolla earlier this month. (Justin Sullivan/Getty)
Associated Press | Toyota is considering a recall of its
hot-selling Corolla subcompact after complaints about power steering
problems – another blow to the world’s largest automaker already
reeling from a string of recalls for safety problems.
Company President Akio Toyoda, meanwhile, said he won’t be attending
the U.S. congressional hearing on the automaker’s safety lapses,
entrusting the job to U.S.-based executives – though he did say he
would consider appearing if summoned. He said he wanted to focus his
energies on improving quality worldwide.
Amber Crutchfield 18, left, and Megan Nolan 18, belt up and get ready during a teen safety driving program a sponsored by the National Safety Council in 2006. (John Smierciak/Chicago Tribune, File)
By Becky Yerak | In what seems like a role reversal, teenage girl drivers are expressing a new need for speed, while aggressive driving and speeding by boys is down, according to an Allstate study.
“As more young women participate in activities like competitive sports
and take on a more assertive lifestyle, they’re narrowing the gender
gap,” Allan
Williams, former chief scientist at the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety, said in a statement
Read the full story: chicagotribune.com/business
Associated Press | Toyota said Tuesday it plans to idle
production temporarily at assembly plants in Texas and Kentucky while
it grapples with massive recalls in the United States.
Toyota spokesman Mike Goss said a plant in San Antonio, Texas, has
scheduled production breaks for the weeks of March 15 and April 12. A
plant in Georgetown, Ky., has scheduled a non-production day on Feb. 26
and may not produce vehicles on three more days in March and April,
Goss said.
Associated Press | Complaints of deaths connected to sudden
acceleration in Toyota vehicles has surged in recent weeks, with the
alleged death toll reaching 34 since 2000, according to new consumer
data gathered by the government.
Complaints to a database maintained by the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration about the popular Toyota Prius hybrid grew by
nearly 1,000 in just over a week.
Associated Press | Chrysler Group LLC is offering a 60-day
money-back guarantee on its minivans to attract customers who may be
turned off by its financial troubles.
The Auburn Hills, Mich., automaker says buyers can get the guarantee
by trading any vehicle made by another automaker for a Dodge Grand
Caravan or Chrysler Town & Country minivan. The offer runs through
March 31.
Buyers must drive the minivans for at least 30 days. If they aren’t
satisfied, they can return them to the dealer for a refund of the
purchase price, minus registration and license fees.
Associated Press | Toyota executive said Wednesday that dealers have so far reinforced
the sticking accelerator on more than 220,000 recalled vehicles, with
repairs continuing at a rate of about 50,000 vehicles a day.
“Nothing is more important to Toyota than the safety and reliability of
our vehicles, and right now we are completely focused on fixing the
vehicles that have been affected under this recall,” Bob Carter, Toyota
group vice president and general manager, said at the Chicago Auto Show.
The Toyota name and logo are reflected in Prius on display during the first Media preview day of the Chicago Friday. (Photo by Frank Polich/Getty Images)
By M.J. Grandinetti | Bob Carter, vice president of North American sales for Toyota, said the automaker nearly canceled its introduction of the 2011 Avalon in Chicago, “but it was important to show consumers we are out in front of the recall situation.” “The Chicago show is critical for Toyota because it will let us gauge consumer reaction to the recalls,” he said. |
See also • Edge, Avalon and other new cars introduced today |
A Toyota service technician performs a recall repair on an accelerator pedal from a brand new Toyota Corolla. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
| Associated Press | Federal safety officials say they will look into complaints from Toyota Corolla drivers about difficulty with the steering on their vehicles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received about 80 complaints from drivers of 2009 and 2010 Corollas. Many say their cars can wander when they drive on the highway, making it hard to stay in lanes |
See also • Toyota recalls 437,000 Prius • State Farm alerted NTSHA in 2007 • Book resale values drop |
A man takes a photograph of a 2010 Prius hybrid at the Toyota showroom in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
| Associated Press | Toyota says it is recalling about 437,000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles worldwide to fix brake problems — the latest in a string of embarrassing safety lapses at the world’s largest automaker. With the Prius announcement, the number of vehicles recalled globally |
See also • State Farm said it warned NHTSA about Toyota in 2007 |
A couple checks the hatchback of a Toyota Motor Corp.’s new Prius hybrid at the Toyota museum in Toyota, central Japan. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
Associated Press | Toyota plans to recall about 300,000 Prius hybrids worldwide over a brake problem and will notify the U.S. and Japanese governments Tuesday, a news report said, as a top executive will testify before U.S. lawmakers over recall woes that have tarnished its reputation for quality and safety.
The recall of the gas-electric Prius will cover the latest version of the cars that went on sale since May, Kyodo News agency reported late Monday.
Associated Press | Toyota has told dealers it’s preparing a plan to repair the brakes on thousands of hybrid Prius cars in the U.S.
In a message sent Friday night to dealers, a Toyota group vice
president, Bob Carter, said the company is working on a plan and will
disclose more details early next week. More than 100 drivers of 2010
Prius cars have complained that their brakes seemed to fail momentarily
when they were driving on bumpy roads. The U.S. government says the
problem is suspected in four crashes and two minor injuries.
By Julie Wernau | A 23-year-old St. Charles resident who had an accident in a rented 2010 Corolla is suing Toyota Motor Corp. over the sticking-gas-pedal issue that prompted a massive recall by the automaker.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court by Ed Izenstark, is asking for damages in excess of $50,000 following a Dec. 26 crash in St. Charles.The suit is the first one filed in Cook County in connection with Toyota’s recalls, Izenstark’s attorney, Robert Langendorf, believes.
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Assocated Press | Toyota’s president apologized for the automaker’s global recalls and promised to beef up quality control by setting up a special committee he would head himself. Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda said the automaker was still deciding what to do to fix braking problems with the popular Prius gas-electric hybrid. Toyoda, grandson of Toyota’s founder, was speaking at a hastily called news conference in Nagoya, Japan, late Friday, which was shown at Toyota’s Tokyo office by satellite feed. |
See also • Toyota expected to recall 270,000 Prius hybrids • Problems put spotlight on car electronics • Ford to fix brake problems on Fusion, Milan • Greg Burns on Daily Show’s Toyotathon of Death |
| Associated Press | Toyota acknowledged design problems with the brakes in its prized Prius, adding to the catalog of woes for the Japanese automaker as it reels from massive gas-pedal recalls in the U.S.
Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it found design problems with the antilock brake system and corrected them for Prius models sold since late January, including those being shipped overseas. |
See also • Toyota returns to profit, raises forecast despite recall |
