by Paul A. Eisenstein | Mar 9, 2010
The auto business can make for some strange bedfellows, but Germany’s Daimler AG says it has decided to end its ties to the Indian automaker Tata Motors. Daimler expects to take in $410 million for its shares in Tata, where it held a roughly 5.3% stake. That’s good...
by Ken Zino | Mar 9, 2010
Yesterday afternoon, Monday, March 8, Toyota said it learned of a report that a California Highway Patrol (CHP) unit was dispatched in response to a 911 call from a motorist driving a 2008 Toyota Prius on Interstate 8 in San Diego County. The Prius driver, James...
by Ken Zino | Mar 8, 2010
During a live webcast for the media this afternoon, Toyota Motors Sales U.S.A. presented in great detail what are serious charges about the “validity, methodology and credibility” of a demonstration of alleged “unintended acceleration” in a...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Mar 8, 2010
Toyota officials acknowledge that some owners may be experiencing additional problems with unintended acceleration because dealers did not properly complete recall repairs. That revelation came during a news conference designed to counter claims made during last...
by Ken Zino | Mar 8, 2010
Lexus says that it now has more than 190,000 hybrids on the road, and they have traveled more than an estimated 5.5 billion miles – if you use 10,000 miles annually and global sales numbers. In it’s latest attempt to overcome the negative publicity surrounding...
by Ken Zino | Mar 8, 2010
Brazil’s 10 millionth flex-fuel vehicle was built last week, ready to be fueled by sugarcane- derived ethanol from an industry that is not government subsidized. In the U.S. taxpayers are subsidizing inefficient corn-derived ethanol to the tune of almost $4...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Mar 8, 2010
A quick tour of this year’s Geneva Motor Show reveals that a lot of automakers are going to the matte – matte finish, that is. Even before Henry Ford began advising customers they could get their Model T in “any color, as long as it’s black,” manufacturers prided...
by Ken Zino | Mar 6, 2010
The multi-front battle about whether at least some Toyota unintended acceleration problems are caused by an electronic glitch, which involves politics, Congressional testimony, saturation news coverage and auto industry safety and design practices, took a new turn...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Mar 5, 2010
In a sharp reversal of course, General Motors has agreed to reinstate 661 of the more than 2,000 dealers it had planned to eliminate after its bankruptcy, last year, though more than 400 other retailers may yet be reprieved through a Congressionally-mandated...
by Ken Zino | Mar 5, 2010
Chevrolet Camaro extended its lead in the U.S. sports car segment in February, posting 6,482 total sales. This is a 21% increase when compared to January results and easily outpaces the original pony car, the fading Ford Mustang at 5,115. Year-to date, it’s Camaro,...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Mar 5, 2010
Has Toyota withheld critical documents from federal investigators looking into the recall of more than 8 million cars, trucks and crossovers? That’s a question several senior lawmakers – running for reelection – are hoping to have answered. Even before...
