January 31, 2010

Toyota accused of ‘not being frank’ on problem

Lawyers say that automaker hid dangers of pedals

BY JUSTIN HYDE
FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF
WASHINGTON — When owners of Lexus sedans began reporting harrowing crashes involving stuck accelerator pedals in early 2007, Toyota told U.S. safety regulators there was no safety problem with its floor mats — but [...]

Jan. 31, 2010, 4:07 p.m. EST
GM liquidator sues BMW over supply contract

Nummi workers demand action by union leaders
Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, January 31, 2010

More…
 

(01-30) 14:40 PST FREMONT — Leaders of a United Auto Workers local answered questions from skeptical members Saturday about why it was taking so long to negotiate the final payments to the 4,700 people who will lose their [...]

For Release: Friday, January 29, 2010
UAW Freightliner workers win ruling against Daimler Trucks North America
MOUNT HOLLY, N.C. – An arbitrator has ruled that Daimler Trucks North America violated its agreement with UAW workers when it cut production at its North Carolina facilities and shifted the work to Mexico.
The arbitrator also ruled the company must compensate [...]

About 300 UAW workers took latest Ford buyout
Fri, Jan 29 2010
By David Bailey
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich (Reuters) – About 300 United Auto Workers union members accepted Ford Motor Co’s latest round of buyout offers that ended last week, the automaker’s president of the Americas said on Friday.
Ford, which posted its first full-year profit in four years [...]

CPWS manages without GM plant
By WILLIAM BOWERS

 

 

The loss of GM’s Spring Hill Manufacturing facility is just one more in a decade-long decline of industrial customers that have cut the amount of water Columbia Power and Water Systems sells in half.
CPWS General Manager Jim Clark said losing the former Saturn plant’s business would not have an [...]

Honda recalls 646,000 small cars globally for faulty window switch
Toddler died after fire broke out in car

Automotive News | January 29, 2010 – 6:01 am EST
[...]

January 28, 2010

UAW, Teamsters protest Toyota in Washington

By Justin Hyde
Free Press Washington Staff
The UAW and the Teamsters union protested outside the Japanese Embassy in Washington today calling on Toyota to reverse decisions to close a California plant and hire nonunion carhaulers.
Roughly 100 supporters gathered as UAW Vice President Bob King and Teamsters President James Hoffa [...]

UAW, Teamsters plan D.C. rally against Toyota over NUMMI plant closing
01.28.2010
G6 in Articles, AutoBlog, NUMMI, Teamsters, Toyota, UAW, rally

AutoBlog: Report: UAW, Teamsters plan D.C. rally against Toyota over NUMMI plant closing
How much Toyota news can you take in one week? Put another way, how much negative press can Toyota absorb? First there was the massive recall, [...]

The Biz Beat

Jan 29, 2010

U.S. loans $1.4 billion to Japan’s Nissan for Tennessee plant
 
 

A Nissan Leaf five-door hatchback, electric car is shown in profile on July 18, 2009. The EV is a pure electric vehicle that produces no CO2 tailpipe pollution.

CAPTION
By Nissan

The Obama administration has closed a $1.4-billion loan agreement with Nissan to build its new Leaf [...]

Payback time: Is Toyota being punished by Obama, Congress and Detroit?
 
 
 
 

Bob Reeves, of Crown Point, Ind.,delivers Toyota vehicles from the Toyota manufacturing facility in Princeton, Indi., to Continental Toyota/Scion in Hodgkins, Illinois. Toyota has announced it would expand their recall of millions of vehicles due to a defect in the accelerator pedal assembly.

CAPTION
By Scott Olson/Getty [...]

January 29, 2010
http://detnews.com/article/20100129/OPINION03/1290349

Delphi retirees lose out

DANIEL HOWES
Next week, the federal government’s pension agency is set to begin paying sharply reduced benefits to thousands of salaried retirees from the former Delphi Corp.
The check stubs likely won’t have the word "travesty" or "discrimination" printed on them, but they should.
Because roughly half of the 8,400 people who [...]

January 29, 2010
http://detnews.com/article/20100129/AUTO01/1290424

Toyota to recall 8 models, up to 1.8M vehicles in Europe

CHRISTINE TIERNEY
The Detroit News
Toyota Motor Corp. said it may recall as many as 1.8 million vehicles in Europe, as the trouble with the automaker’s gas pedals spread beyond North America.
Brussels-based Toyota Motor Europe said it would recall eight models, including the Corolla [...]

January 28, 2010
http://detnews.com/article/20100128/AUTO01/1280364

Recall may dull Toyota’s image, resale values

Brand’s resistance to depreciation, long the envy of rivals, could be in jeopardy, some say

BRYCE G. HOFFMAN
The Detroit News
Toyota Motor Corp.’s sweeping recall is raising serious questions about how the problem with unintended acceleration could impact the company’s brand image and the long-term value of its [...]