My friend Matt Lewis recently authored a thoughtful column about General Motors. As he pointed out, regardless of how one feels about the government bailout of GM – which he and I both vigorously opposed – there is reason for optimism about the company’s future. (more)
Can Volkswagen become a major force in the American market again? The German automaker is about to make its move. Failure in the U.S. would mean the grand VW plan to overtake Toyota and be No. 1 in the world would be likely to falter. (more)
Ford broke into the club that imported cars have dominated for the past 24 years, becoming the fifth highest-ranked brand in initial quality by J.D. Power and Associates, according to USA Today. (more)
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Denny Hamlin is so enamored with the No. 11 Toyota he won in Sunday at Pocono that he’s asked team owner Joe Gibbs if he can keep it when it’s finally taken out of the rotation. (more)
Chrysler said today it would recall 25,000 Dodge and Jeep vehicles to fix sticking gas pedals made by the same supplier involved in the much larger recall of Toyota vehicles for the same problem. (more)
One year ago, General Motors, once the largest and richest company in the country if not the world, entered into an emergency bankruptcy that cost billions of dollars, eliminated thousands of jobs, closed hundreds of dealerships, ended several product lines, left stockholders and debt holders with huge losses and gave the U.S. Treasury a majority share of the company. Now, some commentators are claiming that the auto rescue has been a success. (more)
TOKYO — A strike that crippled production at Honda Motor’s factories in China has come as a wake-up call to Japan’s flagship exporters as they seek to remain competitive and push into China’s burgeoning market with the help of low-wage workers. (more)
A carjacker in California got more than he bargained for when he tried taking 45-year-old Rosalina Ruiz’s only means of transportation to work. (more)
Toyota vehicles in unintended acceleration crashes may be linked to 89 deaths since 2000, up from 52 reported in March, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. (more)
Five months before the new 2002 Lexus ES hit showroom floors, the company’s U.S. engineers sent a test report to Toyota City in Japan: The luxury sedan shifted gears so roughly that it was “not acceptable for production.” (more)
Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, is acquiring a $50 million stake in Tesla Motors Inc. and will develop electric vehicles with the California company. (more)
My bags are packed, I’m ready to go, but I’m not leaving on a jet plane. The Icelandic volcano with the unpronounceable name is spewing more hot air than Al Gore at a global warming conference. My flight to South Africa, routed through London, is canceled. (more)
Last Friday I traveled to the Gulf Coast area affected by the oil spill caused by the April 20 explosion on the ultra-deep-water exploratory oil rig, Deepwater Horizon. The most dreadful consequence of this tragedy is the loss of life—of the 126 men and women on board the rig, 11 perished. Oil is now leaking into the Gulf at rates currently estimated at 5,000 barrels per day, and thousands of men and women have been working around the clock to get the spill under control. (more)
Toyota roared back to a profit in the fiscal year that just ended and forecast a further jump in earnings on Tuesday, shaking off the effects of a crippling global slowdown and a safety scandal that has threatened to ruin the Japanese automaker’s cherished reputation for quality. (more)
DETROIT (AP) — Buyers were willing to overlook Toyota’s safety troubles the last few months thanks to zero-percent financing and other deals, but as the lure of incentives fades, Toyota has a tough job: Winning over consumers who no longer trust the brand. (more)
President Obama’s tax-cheat treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, is trumpeting the fact that General Motors has paid back a small fraction of what taxpayers gave the company, noting that “GM had repaid in full the $4.7 billion balance it owed under the government’s Trouble Asset Relief Program.” “But this so-called ‘repayment’ was just an accounting trick. GM used government bailout money to make the ‘repayment,’ as the New York Times has noted.” (more)
All new cars would have to be equipped with “black boxes” that record performance data and federal safety regulators would be granted the authority to order immediate recalls under newly proposed auto-safety legislation being considered by Congress. (more)
WASHINGTON — Toyota Motor Corp. recalled about 50,000 Sequoia sport utility vehicles from the 2003 model year to fix an unexpected slowing of the vehicle in the latest recall issued by the Japanese automaker. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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. (more)
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