Toyota announced that it would suspend U.S. production for one week beginning today. The car maker's decision in part due to problems with the Toyota supply chain, which was disrupted by March’s Sendai earthquake. However, it is unclear exactly what is causing the shutdown. To get to the bottom of the announcement, is Paul Eisenstein, publisher of website TheDetroitBureau.com.
It's safe to say Goldman Sachs, Toyota and BP had a rough year. The three high-profile companies all faced huge catastrophes and then suffered the public relations nightmares that followed (and continue to plague them).
Detroit got a dose of good news, yesterday. For the first time in the 24 year history of the JD Power and Associates Initial Quality Study American car makers beat out imports. Porsche still topped the list, but Ford was in the top five up there, along with luxury brands. That is the only time a mainstream American brand has been in that group.
In a statement released yesterday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he intends to levy a $16.4 million fine, the largest allowed by law, against embattled, multinational Toyota Motor Company.
A California man claims that while driving on a freeway near San Diego, his Toyota Prius took him for a 94 mph joy ride. Although nobody was injured, the incident immediately prompted a new investigation into the safety of the vehicle. Louise Story, Wall Street and finance reporter for The New York Times, estimates what this latest PR blow will cost the embattled Japanese automaker.
A video of a Prius that lost control in a dramatic crash on a California highway has sparked a new investigation into Toyota's acceleration problems. Worse, the driver says he had already reported problems to the car dealer.
February wasn’t a bad month for everyone in the auto industry. In the midst of recalls and Congressional hearings, Toyota’s sales dropped 9 percent, while Ford's sales were up a whopping 43 percent in the same month, which makes Ford the country’s top-selling automaker. We continue our conversation about the state of the auto industry and the health of some of its major players.
We take a look at what's ahead in our weekly agenda segment with Marcus Mabry, international business editor for The New York Times, and Rob Watson from the BBC.
Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda testified on Capitol Hill yesterday, sounding contrite and several times apologizing for the problems that have plagued his company. Toyoda stressed Toyota's commitment to safety, and, at one point, spoke directly to the families of Toyota drivers who were killed when their cars accelerated out of control. The hearing lasted approximately three hours and Toyoda faced tough questioning from lawmakers, but appeared to be hindered at times by an inability to understand his questioners.
The president of Japanese car giant Toyota will appear before Congress today as part of a probe into the company's recall of millions of vehicles over sudden acceleration problems, which have been blamed for about 30 U.S. deaths.
The CEO of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, will testify before Congress today as part of a probe into his company's massive car recall. Toyoda's prepared remarks have already been released and the embattled CEO is expected to apologize to customers and to lawmakers ahead of his testimony.
UPDATED 4:45 p.m. A quick update from Alex Goldmark, producing this evening, with some ideas we're considering.
We're still looking to find out how cities like Miami and New York can help Haitian schoolchildren with distance learning. American educators have just come back from Haiti; they're trying to assess how technology and willpower might meet the needs of kids who are still showing up each day in front of crumbled school houses, hoping for a plan to get their schooling back on track. It's not certain this will be on tomorrow, but we all think it's an intriguing story.
The FCC is looking at broadband access in rural America. We're reaching out to mayors and business folks in states where many, many people still don't have reliable access to broadband internet. (Compare this to highly connected Finland, which recently declared broadband access something that every one of its citizen has a legal right to.) We want to know the economic and social change that might come with the new FCC plan. Maybe it's better without internet in some ways. What do we know here in wired NYC? Another story that might come together for tomorrow, or might hit later on.
Our weekly look ahead at the news for the next seven days with Marcus Mabry, international business editor for The New York Times, and Jonathan Marcus from the BBC. This week: the fallout from a NATO air strike that killed a number of Afghan civilians; what's in store for Toyota executives as they face a grilling from U.S. lawmakers; and how Republicans are preparing to face President Obama at his health care summit.
Over the last few weeks, Toyota has been criticized for poorly handling the media and its public relations campaign. In response, Toyota's President Akio Toyoda held a press conference in Tokyo this morning to answer questions. But is Toyota allaying consumer concerns?
UPDATED: Sunday, 7:00 p.m.
As usually happens over the weekend, we've shifted the show around to follow the news. The U.S. military offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan ramped up significantly in the south, so we'll be talking with people on the ground there about how the move is playing out. Now that Monday's in sight, we're nailing down what will feature on our weekly agenda segment, and moving our planned piece on reliable car information forward from tomorrow to Tuesday. We'll be talking about danger in sports after a luge athlete from the former Soviet republic, Georgia, died after hitting a support pole on the luge track in Vancouver. Two doctors will be joining us to talk about the myths and realities of autism spectrum disorders, and we're asking everyone to vote on our user-submitted Takeaway Dog Show! (It turns out that our listeners who have dogs love them dearly and take excellent photos of them.)
State Rep. Charlie Hoffman from Georgetown, Ky., is witnessing the affects of the Toyota recalls on the lives of his community, who rely on the company for jobs.
Toyota's popular hybrid, the Prius, may be the next car to face a worldwide recall, according to news reports. The move comes at a perilous time for the embattled automaker, which is accused of responding too slowly to safety concerns.
Toyota President Akio Toyoda made his first public apology for the company's manufacturing problems, as the company announced it would further investigate possible break problems with its Lexus hybrid. New York Times business reporter Hiroko Tabuchi joins us from Japan to talk about the company's continuing problems.
Toyota officials in Japan are now saying that they are considering a recall of the 2010 Prius hybrid because of a flaw in the car’s anti-lock braking system. This flaw could affect other models as well. We find out more from New York Times Detroit bureau chief Bill Vlasic.
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