by Joseph Szczesny | Feb 4, 2010
Under prodding from Consumer Reports, a long-time strong proponent of Toyota quality, Ford Motor Company has launched a customer satisfaction program to update the software of the regenerative brake system of some 2010-model Ford Fusion Hybrids and Mercury Milan...
by Ken Zino | Feb 4, 2010
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today announced that it is opening a formal investigation of the Toyota Prius Hybrid model year 2010 to look into allegations of momentary loss of braking capability while traveling over an uneven road...
by Ken Zino | Feb 4, 2010
Engineers and scientists from NASA and General Motors Company are working together through a Space Act Agreement to build a new humanoid robot capable of working side by side with people. At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston living people are exploring control,...
by Ken Zino | Feb 4, 2010
GMAC reported this morning a record Quarter 4 loss of $3.9 billion from ongoing operations, compared with a profit of $7.5 billion a year earlier. A net loss of $5.0 billion bought the total full-year net loss to $10.3 billion, compared to net income of $1.9 billion...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Feb 4, 2010
Toyota owners may still be saying, “Oh, what a feeling,” but likely not for the same reason they did in the past, as the automaker’s growing problems with safety and corporate credibility emerge, Toyota officials in Japan now confirming that they have known about a...
by Joseph Szczesny | Feb 3, 2010
Cummins Inc. has signed a multiyear extension of its current agreement to supply Chrysler Group LLC with 6.7-liter turbodiesel engines for the automaker’s Ram Heavy Duty pickups and Chassis Cab trucks. The announcement is a vote of confidence in Chrysler from a key...
by Ken Zino | Feb 3, 2010
President Barack Obama today announced a series of steps his Administration is taking as part of its strategy to “enhance American energy independence while building a foundation for a new clean energy economy, and its promise of new industries and millions of jobs.”...
by Ken Zino | Feb 3, 2010
The world’s largest auto market is about to catch up with western ones, as both offshore makers and native brands rush to introduce hybrids during the next few years. The market is expanding elsewhere so it is no surprise that carmakers and component suppliers in the...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Feb 3, 2010
Caught up in the swirl surrounding the ongoing Toyota safety recalls, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood apparently took things a step too far, at a Wednesday morning hearing on Capitol Hill, initially suggesting that owners of more than 4 million vehicles...
by Ken Zino | Feb 3, 2010
We first got wind of this new car half a dozen years years ago at the Geneva Motor Show, only when it reappears on the French maker’s stand this time around, the Wind will no longer be a concept. Rather it will enter production later this year. The diminutive...
by Ken Zino | Feb 3, 2010
Maybe it is just a coincidence, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened defect investigations into millions of non-Toyota vehicles last month. The safety agency is under criticism, of course, for lack of action in the ongoing Toyota unintended...
by Joseph Szczesny | Feb 3, 2010
Nobody is calling January’s vehicle sales robust, but they were promising, even with Toyota’s ongoing recall troubles. The Seasonally Adjusted Annual Selling rate of 10.8 million did not exactly rate cheers. However, it still beat the estimates of most...
