Toyota does 'the right thing' and suspends sales on mystery problem

Our own U.S. Federal government agency that is supposed to care about motoring safety wouldn't have made this move, but Toyota gets great kudos for suspending sales of models of cars, trucks, and suv's that may have a serious problem. This is the first time that a manufacturer noticed that there may be a serious problem with some of their vehicles and reacted with swift action to come to the bottom of the problem that is causing certain Toyota models to suddenly accelerate to high speeds without warning.


All in all, there are 8 Toyota models affected on this latest look at what may be a serious problem. Up to 18 reported deaths may be attributable to this problem according to published reports. If anything, Toyota took the high road on this, where other manufacturers may have waited for govenmental action that may have never came. Several dealers are still selling cars despite the announcement that sales of them have ceased however.

There will be confusion on this, but when the dust clears, the best thing to do is what Toyota did. They are putting their customer safety first, where no one else would.


Here's a news report on the Toyota action taken just today:

Toyota issues massive recall on Camry, Corolla and others following sticking gas pedals

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/business/22toyota.html

Business


Toyota Issues a 2nd Recall


By NICK BUNKLEY


Published: January 22, 2010


The latest recall involves 2.3 million vehicles because of accelerators that can get stuck and cause cars to speed up unintentionally.
 
 
 
               Read this article about how the Toyota mystery continues in regards to up to 16 deaths of cars and SUV's by Toyota that just start accelerating uncontrolled for no reason. Many people how this has happened to have said it is not the floor mats that is causing their problem. If it isn't the floor mats what is it now? Is the US Government doing all it can to insure that they are fixing this terrible problem?


         See the story here from ABC News:

 



 

Ford's SYNC a hit with tech folks and the plain buying public

  

     It's no secret that Ford Motors is one of the most stabile car companies in America. They've weathered the storm of the economic downturn very well. One of the reasons of this success is that Ford has embraced new technology. It's SYNC program is very well received by a public that is hungry for new tech products when it comes to riding in their vehicle. It's something that GM seems to ignore and the buying public knows it.


     Having your iPod or mp3 player along for the ride should be second nature for car companies. Ford realized this early and now makes it simple to connect your devices to its new cars and trucks using SYNC. Having built in bluetooth and extra functionality is essential to today's motoring public. Slowly, it is making it's way towards other American car manufacturers but there is still a lot more for them to do on this front.



       Listen to a podcast about the SYNC right here
  

LA Auto show Dec 4-13 showcasing 2010 models

       Don't look now, but the Auto Shows are poised to start again for the motoring public for 2010 kicking off with the Los Angeles Auto show in December. Of course the most exciting cars will be the debuts of the new models for '10 and some of them include:

          Chevrolet Cruze

           Audi R8 Spyder

           Ford Fiesta


     A few of the cars will be World debuts, the first time that they can be seen here in the USA.


                         Visit the site here to find out more about the LA Auto Show 

Cash for Clunkers, a boon to Japan?

The Cash for Clunkers program is over. The numbers are in and some of the automakers benefited from this program more than others. The Japanese manufacturers faired the best, the top vehicles purchased were mostly all Japanese flagged car manufacturers.


Top 10 New Vehicles Purchased

1. Toyota Corolla
2. Honda Civic
3. Toyota Camry
4. Ford Focus FWD
5. Hyundai Elantra
6. Nissan Versa
7. Toyota Prius
8. Honda Accord
9. Honda Fit
10. Ford Escape FWD



Most of the vehicles traded in were all American car manufacturers as consumers flocked to the special deal and traded in their vehicles for the $4500 rebate that the government backed.



Top 10 Trade-in Vehicles

1. Ford Explorer 4WD
2. Ford F150 Pickup 2WD
3. Jeep Grand Cherokee 4WD
4. Ford Explorer 2WD
5. Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan 2WD
6. Jeep Cherokee 4WD
7. Chevrolet Blazer 4WD
8. Ford F150 Pickup 4WD
9. Chevrolet C1500 Pickup 2WD
10. Ford Windstar FWD Van
　
Vehicles Purchased by Category
Passenger Cars: 397,182
Category 1 Truck: 230,220
Category 2 Truck: 47,425
Category 3 Truck: 2,254



Find these numbers and a whole lot more right here

200+ miles to the gallon? Chevrolet Volt

       Ready for the king of all cars on gas mileage? Toyota, nah; Honda, nah; it's a Chevy!




   http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/business/12auto.html

Opel sold off, GM now just a shell of what it was

Opel cars was sold off to a company called Magna by GM. It's one of the deals that have left GM just a shell of what it was before all the economic and gasoline price rise ruined the car and banking markets starting nearly 18 months ago.

Magna is one of the biggest manufacturers of auto parts in the world. The deal's been in the works for a couple months and now it seems like it is going through. GM thought about holding on to Opel, but with the US Government now a 'partner' of GM, it was plain to see that the US interests wanted it sold off. The US advanced GM $50 Billion dollars, and that is a lot of money. Probably enough money to buy a couple cars each for every driving man or women in America. Where did all of this money go?

There was a 'board' of 13 members appointed to sell the stake in Opel. It has been reported that nearly no one on the board had any experience in cars or the overseas operations of Opel. Most of the board members were appointed by the Obama administration.

Electric powered cars still on drawing boards

The rush to implement electric powered cars has slowed over the past 12-18 months after record high gasoline prices during the time that the Bush administration occupied the Oval Office. However, the drawing boards are still full of 'possible' replacement vehicles of the future that run off of electrical charging stations.


Not only is all of this happening because of the price of gasoline, it is also happening to give a solution to the global warming and pollution problems. Germany has just committed $705 million dollars into the concept of having more electrical vehicles on thier roadways in the coming years. BMW and Volkswagen are also just a couple years away from their offerings in this market. Chevrolet will unveil it's new Volt car later this year, and we will see how much consumers take to the idea when it is released. France is also giving a green light to battery powered vehicles as well.

Post Clunker auto economics

The good news is that there were about 700,000 new car and truck sales in the dealerships across America for the 'cash for clunkers' deal that recently just expired. In true car dealership fashion, the program had an extremely abrupt ending as the program was pulled last week.


The question is... what now? Will the auto industry pick up steam now that the program is over and all those vehicles were sold? What motivating factors will come into play to inspire people to buy new vehicles? I've said many times in this blog that the 'average' Joe Citizen would want a new vehicle but doesn't make enough to afford one. The cost to keep up with the latest model SUV or family car has risen fairly dramatically for domestic vehicles in the past few years, and way out of proportion to what salaries have risen.


It will be interesting to see what happens in the next 6 months in the auto industry. Are the worst of times over, or have they just been patched up a little?

'Clunkers' program to end abruptly next Monday at 8 pm

Sounding like a true Car dealer, the US Government have announced, this is the last weekend you can trade in for your 'clunker credit.' A program that did jump start the car buying market, is coming to a really abrupt ending all of a sudden. Some dealers had to rent lots just to put the clunker cars on, so now they have to complete all the required details of ridding their lots of the clunkers as they continue to pile up!


The clunker cars have to have their engines seized thus taking them out of commision for good and then off to the scrap yard. Could there have been a better way to dispense the clunkers? Say at a public auction? One man's trash is another man's treasure they say, but now all these clunkers appear to be headed off to the junk yards.


One thing will be for sure, last chance to trade in that clunker and get something for it! Don't be late it ends this coming Monday at 8.