Tesla, Toyota teaming up to make electric-powered RAV4s
Palo Alto electric-car maker Tesla Motors and Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor confirmed Friday that they’re working to build a new electric-powered version of Toyota’s RAV4 crossover-utility vehicle. Under an agreement by the two automakers, Tesla will produce a fleet of RAV4 prototypes with electric powertrains this year. The two companies will aim to start [...]
Toyota to extend sales incentives
Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) will extend U.S. sales incentives in April as it recovers from a two-month sales dip linked to recalls and suspended sales. Don Esmond, Toyota U.S. senior vice president, on Thursday said incentives will be extended beyond April 5, but he declined to divulge details. “As we do on a on monthly [...]
Safety officials look into Toyota Corolla stalling issue
Government safety officials are probing a flaw that could cause popular Toyota Corolla compacts to stall, a problem that Toyota says is likely to affect only a tiny number of cars. Although some owners have said cars stalled in intersections or on highways, Toyota says the issue shouldn’t be considered a safety problem. Toyota has [...]
Toyota says tests cast doubts on story of runaway Prius in California
Toyota on Monday said that extensive testing of the 2008 Prius that allegedly took a Southern California driver on a 30-mile runaway ride last week casts serious doubts on his story. San Diego resident James Sikes, 61, was the subject of a highly publicized incident on a Southern California freeway March 8. Sikes said his [...]
Investigation says Toyota Prius incident not duplicable
BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhuanet) — A U.S. federal investigation into a dramatic Toyoto Prius incident last week, whose owner claimed he experienced a sudden and unintended acceleration, said the incident could not be duplicated. The investigation also raises questions for the driver’s version of the event, according to the Wall Street Journal in its online [...]
California Prius incident probed; GM offers criticized
WASHINGTON — As Toyota sought to contain the fallout from a California sudden-acceleration case caught on camera, its dealers accused General Motors of offering predatory incentives using federal money. The Japanese automaker and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration dispatched investigators to San Diego to analyze the 2008 Toyota Prius belonging to James Sikes, 61. [...]
Toyota attacks claim of defect found in electronics
The automaker brings out a panel of experts at its Torrance facility to debunk the findings of a professor trying to determine the cause of unintended acceleration. Months into its recall crisis, Toyota Motor Corp. launched a counterattack Monday, bringing out a panel of experts to debunk the claims of an academic who says he [...]
Toyota Chief Apologizes to China
BEIJING—Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda apologized Monday for the company’s recalls during a press conference in Beijing, and stressed the importance of the China market to Toyota. Mr. Toyoda said the floor mats involved in vehicle recalls in the U.S. and Canada are not used in China, and added new brake override systems will [...]
Toyota knew of defects, adjudges panel
In what was termed as a “systematic disregard of Law” by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Toyota Motor was accused of withholding evidence it was required to present in litigations the company had faced, and instead paid higher settlements to complainants to avoid revealing information. The documents from Lawyer Dimitrios Biller who represented [...]
Why the car company is named Toyota, not Toyoda
“My name is on every car,” Akio Toyoda, the president of Toyota Motor, assured Congress on Wednesday. The company started by Toyoda’s grandfather did indeed have his name — Tokyo Toyoda Motor Sales — until 1936, when a stroke of the brush changed it to Toyota. Writing “Toyoda” in Japanese requires 10 brush strokes, explains [...]
