Monthly Archives: April 2011

Toyota Recalls Tundra Pickups for Rear Drive Shaft Failures

Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A. today announced it will conduct a safety recall on approximately 51,000, 2011 model year Toyota Tundra trucks to inspect the rear drive shaft. The rear drive shaft on Tundra models may include a defective slip … Continue reading

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Chrysler Sells Global Electric Motorcars to Polaris Industries

In practice the glorified golf carts provided good transportation in gated communities, sports stadiums or campuses, but with a top speed of 25 mph and a range of 30 miles on a charge GEM electric vehicles were limited to niche markets. Nonetheless, Chrysler estimates that it sold 45,000 of the EVs during the last decade. Continue reading

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Toyota March Production Drops 31% Globally, 62% in Japan

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) said that production at its Japanese and overseas factories dropped 31% in March, the month of the devastating Japan earthquake and tsunami. In Japan the impact was far worse as production dropped 62% for the month. … Continue reading

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Ford Motor Nets $2.6 Billion in Q1 on $33 Billion Revenue

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) today reported first quarter 2011 net income of $2.6 billion, or 61 cents per share, an increase of $466 million, or 11 cents per share, from first quarter 2010 as the global auto industry continued … Continue reading

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Standard & Poor’s Says Japanese Auto Outlook Now Negative

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services in Tokyo today cut its outlook on six Japanese auto companies from stable to negative, including the Japanese Big Three – Toyota Motor Corp. (TM, 7203.TO), Honda Motor Co. (HMC, 7267.TO) and Nissan Motor Co. … Continue reading

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Hyundai Adds Guaranteed Trade-In Value to Assurance Plan

This latest marketing push is made possible by newly found strength in Hyundai residual values, now among the highest in the auto industry, as Hyundai newest generation of vehicles have increased in sophistication and quality compared to previous models. Continue reading

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Honda Sets Fiscal Year Record for Overseas Auto Production

That of course was before the parts shortages and vehicle production disruptions caused by the Japan earthquake and tsunami on 11 March took hold. Continue reading

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Nissan Recalls Pathfinder, Infiniti QX4 for Rust, Steering Failure

Nissan Pathfinders from model years 1996-2004, and Infiniti QX4 SUVs from 1997-2003 are affected by regional recalls for vehicles originally sold in or currently registered in the following 20 states and the District of Columbia: Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington D.C., West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Critics of regional recalls for safety defects maintain that they do not address the entire population of defective vehicles. Automakers like them since it cuts the expense by limiting the inspection to fewer vehicles. Continue reading

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Honda Keeps Japan Plants at 50% Capacity until End of June

The latest setback for the Japanese auto industry, the result of the March earthquake and tsunami, follows the announcement late last week that Toyota will not be able to resume full production until the end of the year. Toyota, Japan’s largest automaker, is currently at 50% capacity in Japan and 40% or less in its overseas operations due to parts shortages. Continue reading

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Labor Department Charges Systemic Wage Abuses at New Jersey Gasoline Stations. Enforcement Actions Underway

The Labor Department will not allow gasoline station employers — many of whom operate under the banner of multi-billion-dollar corporations — to exploit workers and deprive them of their hard-earned wages.” Continue reading

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Toyota Auto Production Interruptions to Go On Until Year End

It is also an affirmation of the wisdom of the U.S. taxpayer financed bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler. At the time these were under debate in 2008 and 2009 ideologues scoffed at the assertion that to let those companies fail would also cause other North American auto companies – U.S. and offshore owned – to fail since suppliers in common would be wiped out taking the whole auto industry down. Continue reading

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Toyota Recalls Rav4 and Highlander SUVs for Bad Airbags

Toyota has been aware of the problem since October of 2007, and changed the software in new vehicles in 2008, and yet did not recall the defective vehicles. Previous such coverups resulted in record fines imposed on Toyota by NHTSA in 2010 for failure to act promptly on a safety defect. Continue reading

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Elena Ford Guilty of Driving While Intoxicated in Detroit Suburb

Elena Ford, 44, of Birmingham, MI and New York City told the judge “This is a complete embarrassment to my family, especially having my son in the car. “I embarrassed my friends and the people I work with,” she said. Continue reading

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ACLU Seeks Records about Alleged State Police “Secret Searches” of Driver Cell Phones During Traffic Stops.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan is in an ongoing battle with the Michigan State Police (MSP) who refuse to release information regarding the use of portable data extraction devices (DEDs) that can allegedly secretly capture personal information from cell phones during routine traffic stops. Continue reading

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DOT adds Protections for Air Travelers Abused by Airlines

The rulemaking finalized today grows from passenger protections issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation in December 2009, which prohibited U.S. airlines operating domestic flights from permitting an aircraft to remain on the tarmac for more than three hours. That rule stopped almost overnight a common abuse of passengers by 16 of the largest U.S. airlines. Continue reading

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