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There can be no argument that Japanese manufacturers, along with quite a few other manufacturers it has to be said, have taken a bit of a hammering in the UK during and post the credit crunch and subsequent recession. Almost to a man they have lost market share and seen the number of new cars registered each month drastically … [Read more...]
Toyota states that it is on course to correct 90 % of the vehicles they have recalled throughout Europe by the end of July. Since January, Toyota has recalled in excess of 1.7 million vehicles in Europe to test for possible safety issues in its best selling Auris, Avensis, Aygo, Yaris and Prius model lines. Toyota revealed that greater than 1 … [Read more...]
The US transport department is asking Toyota to pay a record fine of $16.4m (£10.7m) for failing to notify it about the flaws "in a timely way". The National Highways Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said documents provided by Toyota showed the carmaker knew about the defect back in September 2009. The US Transportation Secretary, Ray … [Read more...]
Toyota's US sales bounced back in March thanks to big discounts used to lure back disheartened customers to the brand after the raft of safety recalls. The Japanese car manufacturer saw its US sales jump 40.7% in March compared with a year earlier. Sales in February had slumped by 8.7%. Ford and General Motors also saw their sales rise last … [Read more...]
Toyota has said it respond faster to complaints and will listen more carefully to customers after the recall of millions of cars worldwide over safety fears. It also said it would enlist the help of outside experts across the world. The carmaker made the pledge following the first meeting of its “global safety committee”, which has been set … [Read more...]
Japanese car manufacturer Honda has announced it is recalling 410,000 cars in the US because of complaints about their brakes. The recall is of 344,000 Odyssey models and 68,000 Element vehicles made between 2007 and 2008. Honda said it had received complaints of brake pedals that felt soft or gradually needed more pressure to work. The … [Read more...]
European new car sales rose by 3.2% in February compared with February 2009, but fell almost 30% in Germany as its scrappage scheme ended. A total of 1,000,754 new passenger cars were registered in the 28 countries monitored by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). Slumping sales in Germany were offset by gains in … [Read more...]
Europe's biggest carmaker, VW, saw net profits fall 80% last year to 960m euros. Operating profits also fell 71% from a year earlier to 1.9bn euros, and revenues fell 8% to 105bn euros. But global sales rose 1.3% to 6.3 million vehicles, thanks to a 36.7% jump in deliveries to China. Deliveries to the German car market also rose 17.6% last … [Read more...]
Ford Motor Co reported a jump in US sales of 43% in February, selling more cars than its great rival General Motors who posted a more modest rise of 11.5%. Ford's total sales in February hit 142,285, compared with GM's 141,951. This was the first month that Ford outsold its rival since 1998, when GM's sales were hit by a strike. "The … [Read more...]
A power steering problem linked to 14 crashes in the US has forced General Motors to recall 1.3 million small cars in North America. The models affected are the Chevrolet Cobalt, Pontiac G5, Pontiac Pursuit and the Pontiac 4 and GM said the fault meant that at low speeds "greater steering effort may be required", but that the cars could still be … [Read more...]
With the recent problems besieging Toyota and the terrible publicity that surrounds their massive global recall program we thought it might be interesting to take a deeper look into the whole recall issue that affects all manufacturers at some time or another. In car manufacturing recalls come with the territory and millions of vehicles are … [Read more...]
Toyota has admitted it took "too long" to deal with safety issues which led to the recall of 8.5 million vehicles worldwide. James Lentz, head of Toyota in the US, said that on one issue, "we failed to promptly analyse and respond" to information provided. Mr Lentz will face questions from a US congressional committee later over the recall … [Read more...]
Jaguar has been revealed as the car manufacturer most likely to suffer brake problems, according to automotive warranty specialist, Warranty Direct. The performance of brake systems has been in the spotlight since Toyota announced it is planning to recall several hundred thousand of its popular petrol-electric hybrid, the Prius, with braking … [Read more...]
Toyota is now considering a recall for the Corolla, the world's best-selling car. It has said that so far no decision has been made as it is still looking into complaints about the power-steering on the Corolla. The Corolla has not been sold in the UK since early 2007, when it was superseded by the Auris. The US National Highway Traffic … [Read more...]
Toyota in the US is switching from factory overtime to factory shutdowns because of the disruption in retail sales caused by its January safety recall. Mike Goss, a spokesman for Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America said the company has now scaled back overtime and is halting production of some models as it tries to realign … [Read more...]
The recall notices continue for Toyota as it announces a recall of 8,000 Tacoma pick-up trucks in the US, over fears about defective front propeller shafts. Toyota said it was voluntarily recalling "a small production run of certain 2010 model-year Tacoma 4WD trucks". "The front shaft in these vehicles may include a component that contains … [Read more...]
There is no denying Toyota have been associated with some very depressing headlines lately, and let’s face it a driver being reported as being unable to stop his car because of an alleged fault and subsequently dying as a result is pretty much as about as bad as it gets. We can only begin to imagine the pain and heartache of the people … [Read more...]
VW is recalling close to 200,000 cars in Brazil because of a rear wheel problem. The company wants to determine whether rear wheel bearings are sufficiently greased on the Brazilian made “Novo Gol” and “Novo Voyage” models made before July 2009 as there is a possibility that a lack of lubrication could cause wheels to lock. In extreme … [Read more...]
The expected but unwanted effects of the Toyota recall fiasco (can we call it that?) seem to be kicking in already, and much like the decline of former England captain John Terry the cost to Toyota could be far worse than expected and not just financial. Cars may have thousands of component parts and no matter how much better technology has … [Read more...]
Brake problems have forced Toyota to announce the recall of nearly half a million hybrid vehicles worldwide, including its latest 3rd generation Prius model built before 27 January 2010. This includes more than 200,000 Prius cars sold in Japan and 8,500 cars in the UK. "We have decided to recall as we regard safety for our customers as our … [Read more...]
If there is one thing that has changed beyond all recognition since I started out in this business nearly thirty years ago, it’s the amount of electronic wizardry now fitted as standard to modern cars. Much of it, in my opinion is very necessary but some of it increasingly is totally unnecessary. Worse still, we don’t even have a choice. … [Read more...]
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