GM Dealerships To Stay Open

Posted on by

Last year General Motors announced that they would be closing dealerships due to the low demand for cars and trucks. Many dealerships argued the decision saying the auto maker did not offer enough details explaining how they decided which ones would be closed. Complaints to congress lead to a bill giving dealerships a chance to dispute their closure depending on their past success. This week GM announced that it will be reinstating more than half of the dealerships that disputed the closures. GM executives said that more than 600 dealerships out of the 1,100 seeking to stay open with GM will receive letters giving them the option to remain with the auto maker.

Below is GM’s statement regarding the dealer arbitration:

General Motors is taking a major step toward its goal of creating positive, lasting relationships with its dealers.

GM carefully reviewed each of the approximately 1,100 dealer reinstatement claims that were filed with the American Arbitration Association. We conducted these individual reviews, keeping in mind our goal of moving quickly and effectively to complete the overall arbitration process, and determined that we would send more than 600 Letters of Intent to the involved dealers. The Letter of Intent contains our usual core business criteria. This action will allow these dealers to conduct normal dealership operations as soon as they comply with the terms of the Letter of Intent.

“We are eager to restore relationships with our dealers, and get back to doing what we do best – selling cars and taking care of customers,” said Mark Reuss, president, GM North America. “The arbitration process creates uncertainty in the market. We believe issuing these Letters of Intent is good for our customers, our dealers and GM.”

Fords Electric Van The Transit Connect

Posted on by

Fords “Transit Connect” all electric vehicle made its debut at the Los Angeles Petersen Automotive Museum this week. One of the first of four battery powered vehicles planned by Ford to hit markets by 2012. This electric powered version of a light duty cargo van has been available since 2003 on the global market and is a popular vehicle for government and corporate fleets. The vehicle can travel a maximum of 80 miles per charge, making it perfect for in town deliveries where there is a predetermined route. Both the brakes and the accelerator pedal incorporate regenerative technologies that extend the vehicle’s range by recharging the battery when the vehicle is slowing down. Production of the Transit Connect Electric will begin in the fourth quarter followed by the Ford Focus Electric passenger car next year.

Did Toyota’s Recall Fix The Problem?

Posted on by

According to reports filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), complaints of unintended acceleration were filed in the last two weeks from Toyota owners that claim that they are still experiencing unintended acceleration even after their recall has been done. In addition to these reports of sudden acceleration, complaints of unusual vehicle behavior, such as erratic check-engine lights, have also been reported.

Although the allegations are unverified, there are concerns that the millions of recall notices issued by Toyota may not fully address the problem. During Toyota’s congressional hearing, congress members voiced their concerns that the problem was not mechanical and that the onboard computer may be the problem.

“There is already doubt out there that the solutions Toyota has put forward really fixed the problem of unintended acceleration,” said Aaron Bragman, auto industry analyst at IHS Global Insight. He cautioned, however, that the complaints should be thoroughly investigated.

Toyota spokeswoman Celeste Migliore said she was not aware of complaints that sudden acceleration had recurred despite receiving the repair, but said the auto maker will closely monitor the NHTSA database.

“We very much would like to have any of those individuals who claim they’ve had unintended acceleration after the fix go back to the dealership,” Migliore said. “If there was an accident, we want to see the vehicle and the driver and the accident report.”

GM Power Steering Recall

Posted on by

General Motors announced Monday that they will be recalling 1.3 million Chevrolet and Pontiac Compact cars for power steering problems. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began an investigation into the problem on Jan. 27 after getting 1,100 complaints of cars loosing power steering assist. The complaints included 14 crashes and one injury.

The auto maker said the vehicles are still safe to drive and never totally lose their steering, but consumers will notice harder steering when traveling under 15 mph. Shutting the vehicle off and then restarting will usually restore the power steering. The auto maker will start with older models first because the problem usually takes 20,000 to 30,000 miles of driving for the condition to develop.

The recall covers:

  • 2005 to 2010 Chevrolet Cobalts
  • 2007 to 2010 Pontiac G5s
  • 2005 and 2006 Pontiac Pursuits
  • 2005 and 2006 Pontiac G4s

Toyota #1 For Unintended Acceleration

Posted on by

During Toyota’s Congressional hearing, Congress members have been attacking Toyota not only for putting over eight million dangerous cars on the road, but also for how the recall was handled. The Toyota investigation puts government officials in an awkward position of punishing one automaker while being part owner of another. The federal government is a 60 percent shareholder in General Motors, one of Toyota’s biggest competitors.

Toyota Motor Corporation has received the highest number of consumer complaints of unintended acceleration filed with NHTSA. The complaints cover model years 2005 to 2010. According to Edmunds.com, while Toyota has received the most complaints for unintended accelerations, the total filed complaints are fewer than most auto makers. Toyota ranked 17th of 20 automakers in the number of complaints filed with NHTSA over the past decade. Toyota had 9.1 percent of the complaints from 2001 through 2010; during this period, the company sold 13.5 percent of all new cars in the United States. The vehicle with the most complaints, was the Toyota Camry, but it was also the best selling model in 2009.

“This is a very small problem here,” Dow Jones columnist Al Lewis told Fox News on America’s Newsroom. “We have had 2,000 complaints in a decade against the back drop of millions and millions of cars sold.” Auto industry expert Lauren Fix tells Fox the problem shouldn’t be minimized. “When you have all the complaints and Toyota has three times more deaths with the unintended acceleration than any other manufacturer combined, we have a problem.”

Toyota Congressional Hearing. Day Two.

Posted on by

On day two of the Toyota Congressional hearing, the focus was on the president of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, and transportation secretary, Raymond LaHood. Both men spent hours in front of the Committee answering questions about Toyota’s recall for unintended acceleration.

Ray LaHood appeared alone, saying that he was taking full responsibility for his department’s actions in how this case was handled. When asked whether the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had treated Toyota the same an auto manufacturer who received government bailout money, Mr. LaHood replied, “Absolutely, there is not a cozy relationship. In the past three years, we’ve recalled 23 million cars.”

Akio Toyoda appeared with the company’s chief operating officer for North America, Yoshimi Inaba. When asked, Mr. Inaba said that Toyota was aware of issues with sticking pedals in Britain and Ireland in late 2008. By August 2009, Toyota began a production change on cars sold in Europe that was completed by January, weeks before it recalled millions of vehicles in the United States.“We did not hide it,” Mr. Inaba said. “But it was not properly shared.

During Toyoda’s testimony, he assured lawmakers that the company was doing whatever they could to deal with the recalls and that they are placing a priority to make quality vehicles. When criticizes by a committee representative about not showing enough remorse, Toyota replied with, “I extend my condolences from the deepest part of my heart.”

Toyota Ranks Well In Consumer Reports

Posted on by

After all the news we have been hearing about Toyota and their problems, Consumer Reports still ranks Toyota vehicles as number three. (The same ranking as last year.) The rankings are based on performance, comfort, utility and reliability of over 280 different vehicles.

“Toyota builds extremely good, reliable cars”, said David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center. “I think once they get through all the recalls you will see that they are a very reliable manufacturer.” The magazine ended up dropping a couple of Toyota models from the Top Picks after the company suspended sales because of the recall. Since the vehicles were not for sale at the time, they could not make the list.

Honda (which includes Acura models) and Subaru were tied for first place, the fourth year that Honda was the leading manufacturer. They were followed by Toyota, and Hyundai (including Kia) which was ranked fourth, up from ninth last year. American manufacturers fared poorly. Ford was ranked eleventh, moving up one place from last year. General Motors and Chrysler occupied the bottom two slots, respectively.

Faked Emissions Tests

Posted on by

The 1990 Clean Air Act is a piece of United States environmental policy relating to the reduction of smog and air pollution. Although the Clean Air Act is a federal law covering the entire country, the states do much of the work to carry out the Act. Auto inspections were included in the law to make sure cars are well maintained. When your register a car in California, an emissions check is required, and with every other registration renewal the check must be done again. Used car dealers are required to issue a valid emissions test for any vehicle they sell. With a private sale it is the responsibility of the buyer.

Dozens of auto repair shops and service stations in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County faked the results of emissions tests, giving nearly 21,000 cars and light trucks passing grades, state environmental officials said Thursday. Officials with the State Department of Environmental Conservation said they had issued citations to 40 of about 3,500 inspection sites in the region for granting inspection certificates for vehicles that were not tested. These stations could face fines of $375 to $15,000 for the first offense and up to $22,500 for each ensuing offense. Although the emissions testing costs only about $37, repairs to vehicles that fail the test can cost much more. Dealerships may pass a vehicles emission test to save on money, leaving the consumer to have to pay for the repairs when they take their vehicle for the next emissions test.