Feb26
Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda has ordered the creation of a temporary task force to improve internal and external communication as the automaker seeks to restore confidence in its damaged reputation. The world's biggest automaker is mired in a quality crisis that threatens a long-lasting hit to its image and sales, exacerbated by what many saw as a bungling of its communication with regulators and consumers since it expanded a series of recalls a month ago.
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Hummer's going, going, but definitely not gone -- or forgotten. Not by owners or dealers and probably not by the long tail of the Hummer aftermarket and used-vehicle business. General Motors says service and warranty plans will be honored. Hummer dealerships started closing their doors in 2008, when gasoline prices spiked and GM announced plans to sell the franchise. By the fourth quarter, about 5% of U.S. Hummer dealers had closed, and General Motors was loading the vehicles with...
Feb24
General Motors Co. will wind down its Hummer brand after a proposed sale to China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co. Ltd. fell through. Tengzhong “was unable to complete the acquisition,” GM said today in a statement. The Chinese company failed to win government approval of the sale, a source familiar with the negotiations said. GM will honor warranties, provide spare parts and will support service for Hummers worldwide, the automaker said. GM has 153 U.S. Hummer...
Beijing has rejected a bid by an obscure Chinese industrial equipment maker to buy GM's money-losing Hummer brand, a source said, dealing a possible death blow to the controversial deal. Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., based in China's Sichuan province, was believed to be lobbying behind the scenes for regulatory approval ahead of an end-February deadline to close the deal. Officials at the Ministry of Commerce, which must must approve all major foreign mergers...
Feb23
Three dozen states will launch programs in March and April to distribute almost $300 million in rebates to consumers buying energy-efficient appliances. The federally funded programs, similar to the cash-for-clunkers auto rebate program last year, are intended to improve energy efficiency and stimulate the economy. Rebates differ by state and appliance. Eight states launched programs this month, including New York, which offered $50 to $75 rebates on refrigerators, washers and...
Toyota Motor Corp. apologized for letting safety standards slip during a period of fast growth and vowed to respond more quickly to consumer complaints as two days of congressional hearings crucial to the automaker's reputation began. "We now understand that we must think differently when investigating complaints and communicate faster, better and more effectively with our customers and our regulators," said Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc
Feb22
There are things to gripe about in the 2010 Audi A3 TDI — but the diesel engine and six-speed automatic transmission aren't among them. Carmakers and buyers who think diesels can't appeal in the U.S. should spend a day with the A3 TDI (Audi's code for diesel). Car companies that believe they must tune transmissions to shift somewhat unresponsively to get good fuel economy should run the A3 TDI around their test tracks, then try to develop something as good as the six-speed S Tronic...
Making a replacement car key without its identifying code can be a grueling procedure. Steve Randall should know—he spent a summer during college working for his father's locksmithing company, watching experts struggle with the process. Lacking the identification codes, called bittings, that tell them which patterns to cut into blanks, locksmiths must rely on trial and error to make a perfect fit. Inspired, Randall and a friend, Ted Schwarzkopf, recently unveiled a solution: the...
A document claiming Toyota Motor Corp. saved more than $100 million by persuading U.S. regulators to agree to a cheap fix for unintended acceleration problems raised pressure on the company's president as he arrived in Washington to prepare for a grilling from lawmakers. The 2009 internal document turned over to lawmakers and made available Sunday shows the automaker's Washington staff trumpeting the savings achieved by getting safety officials to end a 2007 investigation of...
Feb19
Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda accepted an invitation to testify next week before a congressional committee that is investigating the automaker's safety problems. “I have received Congressman Towns' invitation to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on February 24 and I accept," Toyoda said in an e-mailed statement late Thursday. "I look forward to speaking directly with Congress and the American people.” Committee Chairman Ed Towns, D-N.Y...