In a press conference on Wednesday in Tokyo, Toyota Motor Company’s president Akio Toyoda (grandson of the company’s founder) revealed new details of his plan to reform the automaker’s quality standards. Toyota has been beset by a trio of high-profile recalls, two of which involve unintended acceleration caused by either floormats or a sticking accelerator [...]
Oh, what a terrible feeling it must have been when Toyota’s president, Akio Toyoda, had to sit down and write out this here mea culpa, mia maxima culpa for today’s Washington Post. As the bad news continues to fall upon Toyota’s bruised crown, we imagine that Mr. Toyoda realized that his company had reached the [...]
Fifteen days after Toyota announced a recall of 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. for sticking accelerator pedals, the company’s president and grandson of its founder made a formal apology at an evening news conference in Japan on Friday night (early morning EST). Akio Toyoda has been largely silent during the last two weeks as [...]
Toyota’s recalled pedal assembly close-up – Click above for high-res image gallery
That’s right, more ThrottleGate! Even though the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) doesn’t have to approve Toyota’s solution to fix its recalled gas pedals, the NHTSA could offer up an objection. 2.3 million Toyota cars and trucks have been affected by the pedal [...]
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, then there was the sales and manufacturing freeze. And now there’s this this: The UAW and the Teamsters are planning to rally outside the Japanese Embassy in Washington D.C. [...]
We have an announcement to make: the Robot Apocalypse is not on its way. The Robot Apocalypse has officially begun. Toyota is working on a plethora of robots that will assist in caring for the elderly. Home health care is massively expensive and time consuming, and if the task were pawned off on taken over [...]
Here’s a bit of interesting folklore for you history-obsessed car buffs out there. Nissan (then selling Datsuns) was tricked into coming to America. Seems that Nissan never planned to sell cars here, as they felt that their diminutive, economical rides were too small and slow for the mighty U.S. market. However, one man felt different: [...]
Here’s a bit of interesting folklore for you history-obsessed car buffs out there. Nissan (then selling Datsuns) was tricked into coming to America. Seems that Nissan never planned to sell cars here, as they felt that their diminutive, economical rides were too small and slow for the mighty U.S. market. However, one man felt different: [...]
A while back, Nissan scientists helped to develop a paint clearcoat called Scratch Shield that can self-repair light scratches overnight or over the course of a week.
Now the Japanese automaker is spreading the love, licensing the technology to Japan’s largest wireless company, NTT DoCoMo. The clearcoat uses a special top layer of highly elastic [...]
You remember Nintendo’s Paperboy, right? Back in Triassic era of videogames, you had to deliver the day’s print to the right house while not getting run over by a car or taken out by a tire. Not exactly the most direct way to learn bicycle safety, but it was fun. A more efficient way to [...]
2010 Mitsubishi Outlander GT – Click above for high-res image gallery
Mitsubishi presented its best and brightest rides for us to drive over the course of an eight-hour event in the parched desert oasis of Palm Springs, CA. Everything from a tuned, 290-hp Lancer Sportback Ralliart to an electric i MiEV. And drive them we did. [...]
Jim Kenzie of the Toronto Star tries out the U3-X – Click above for high-res image gallery
If there is one thing humans love, it’s personal mobility. After all, what other species regularly harness other creatures for the sole purpose of getting around. The auto industry is all about personal mobility. Since the dawn of the [...]
Daihatsu Tanto Exe and Tanto Exe Custom — Click above for high-res image gallery
A “tanto” is a short Japanese sword or dagger, which means the only thing it has in common with the Daihatsu Tanto Exe and Tanto Exe Custom is the descriptor “short” and the additional epithet, “light.” Both the Tanto Exe and Exe [...]
Gran Turismo PSP Commercial – Click above to watch the video after the break
Don’t worry, this video is totally safe for work. But we’re saying revolting because we can remember back years ago we watched Clint Eastwood’s Pink Cadillac with a friend’s father who happened to restore muscle cars for a living. Anywho, as you [...]
With apologies to Freddie Mercury and company, another one bites the dust. Hyundai was literally the final major automaker not based in Japan with plans to attend the Tokyo Motor Show next month, and now, the final holdout has apparently canceled its appearance at the show. According to Automotive News, Toyokazu Ishida, who administers the [...]
