Chrysler signals change in stance
After almost a year of taking a hard line with rejected dealerships, Chrysler Group changed the tone last week and offered to reinstate 50 dealerships.
The company also said it will enter settlement talks with an unspecified number of rejected dealerships and disclosed that 36 already have been reinstated nationwide.
Chrysler still favors dealerships that sell all four of its brands: Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and the recently added Ram truck brand. All 50 offers of reinstatement are to stores selling all those brands.
All the problems have not been sorted yet. Lawyers representing dealers say Chrysler hasn't budged in its approach to arbitration.
NHTSA studies acceleration complaints in ‘fixed’ Toyotas
U.S. regulators are investigating 10 recent cases in which owners of recalled Toyota vehicles say they brought their cars in for repair and yet still experienced unintended acceleration.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has started contacting consumers about these complaints “to make sure Toyota is doing everything possible to make its vehicles safe,” agency chief David Strickland said in an e-mailed statement.
A recurrence of unintended acceleration, even after sticky gas pedals and obtrusive floor mats have been addressed by dealers, would suggest there may be other causes of the loss of speed control in Toyota vehicles.
“We are confident that Toyota vehicles are safe, and we're doing everything we can to ensure that our customers are satisfied with the repairs we are making,” Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons said in an e-mail.
Lyons said Toyota has asked NHTSA for the information needed to contact customers with post-repair complaints.
Toyota's top executives have repeatedly denied that electronic throttle-control systems may interfere with acceleration, most recently at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Tuesday. The company has hired the Exponent consulting firm to look into the matter further.
Since October, Toyota has recalled more than 6 million U.S. vehicles for unintended acceleration. The causes were attributed either to sticky gas pedals or to floor mats that entrap pedals.
The Safety Research & Strategies consulting firm reported this week that four Toyota customers complained to NHTSA last month of recurring unintended acceleration, even after their vehicles were recalled and repaired.
In one case, the owner of a 2008 Toyota Avalon reported Feb. 25 that a few days after a recall, the driver had the car in reverse and was slowly backing out of a residential carport when it accelerated on its own, the Safety Research report said.
“The car did about three loops around the garage area of the home, causing damage to the car, benches, tree, bushes, lamp post, etc.” the report said.
The owner of a 2010 Camry reported that within a week of its Feb. 12 acceleration fix, the car sped up as the driver was entering a parking space.
“I was pressing the brake,” the complainant said, according to Safety Research. “I jammed both feet into the brake. After three seconds, as my car was climbing up a snow bank, it stopped.”
The complainant added: “The fix done by Toyota is not the fix for the acceleration problem.”
Said Toyota's Lyons: “We have rigorously tested the solutions that Toyota engineers have developed, and are aggressively investigating any complaints.”
Lexus offers IS 350C F-Sport Special Edition
Lexus is spicing up its IS 350C with the introduction of the F-Sport Special Edition model. With accessories taken from the Lexus F-Sport parts catalog, the limited-edition offers open-air driving enthusiasts a better-handling and more aggressive-looking IS C.
Building off the 360-hp IS 350C, Lexus installs Bilstein-developed shocks, shorter springs, thicker antiroll bars and newly styled 19-inch wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport tires. Lexus also upgrades the brake system for a firmer pedal feel and improved fade resistance.
Helping to distinguish itself from regular IS C models is a unique F-Sport grille, embroidered floor mats, shift knob, leather-wrapped shift knob, black leather seats with blue stitching and F-Sport exterior badges. Topping things off is an individually numbered center-console badge that marks the vehicle's spot in the 100-unit limited-edition run.
All 100 cars will be painted in one of only two available paint colors, tungsten pearl or obsidian. The 2010 IS 350C F-Sport Special Edition arrives in dealers later this month with a base price of $58,375, which represents roughly a $4,000 increase over a fully loaded base IS 350C.
Toyota confirms Fixes are working on recalled vehicles
Toyota maintains that the fixes being made to correct unintended acceleration in millions of recalled vehicles are sufficient.
But at a press event Monday, company officials said they are willing to bring in as many independent researchers as needed to resolve the issue once and for all.
“We don't think there is a ghost issue out there,” said Kristen Tabar, general manager of electronic systems at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, Mich.
But she conceded that “we need to verify claims, facts and evidence."
“Until we do that, we can't say there is nothing,” she said.
Toyota has recalled nearly 6 million vehicles in the United States to fix both sticky pedals and floor mats that could trap an accelerator and hold it open.
The company said those faults account for the incidents of unintended acceleration.
In a demonstration at the news conference, Toyota sought to debunk a claim made by Southern Illinois University professor David Gilbert that the problem could be electronic.
Gilbert, who testified before a congressional committee last month, has said that in an experiment he was able to cause a vehicle to surge forward without a fault code being generated for an onboard computer Toyota has designed as a safeguard.
More Powerful 2011 GMC Sierra debuts with new Denali version
GMC is making going to work a bit more stylish without compromising any of machismo, with the first-ever offering of its Denali trim on the Sierra heavy-duty line of trucks.
The 2011 Sierra heavy-duty range was revealed Wednesday in St. Louis at the National Truck Equipment Association Work Truck Show. It goes on sale early this summer.
Like the Chevrolet Silverado HD truck that was revealed at the Chicago auto show, engineers focused on under-the-skin improvements for the Sierra, including to the 6.6-liter Duramax turbo diesel which now makes 397 hp and 765 lb-ft of torque--up from 365 hp and 660 lb-ft in the last model. Towing capacity can reach 20,000 lbs with a fifth wheel. Fuel economy is improved 11 percent.
More than 30 percent of the engine parts are new, including modifications to the cylinder heads and crankshaft and a re-tuned turbocharger. The engine block has also been upgraded with strengthened bulkheads and ribs for noise reduction. It works with a re-done Allison six-speed automatic transmission.
The 6.0-liter small block Vortec V8 has a top payload of 6,335 lbs. It’s rated at 360 hp and 380 lb-ft in the most powerful versions of the Sierra. It’s paired with an updated six-speed Hyrda-Matic transmission.
The trucks also get a new, high-strength, fully-boxed steel frame and re-done suspensions. The frame is five times more rigid in torsional stiffness, the brakes are bolstered to 14-inch rotors front and rear and the suspension is new with a stronger independent layout front and asymmetrical leaf configuration rear.
The Sierra remains GMC’s top seller, making up about 40 percent of its volume.
“Sierra continues to be our cornerstone at GMC, and it will continue to be our cornerstone as long as Americans need strong, capable vehicles for work,” said Lisa Hutchinson, product marketing director for GMC.
The Denali trim adds a flashier chrome grille, chrome door handles and 18-inch wheels with 20-inchers available. Inside is brushed aluminum trim, wood-colored steering wheel and center console and available heated seats and steering wheel. It’s available on the 2500 model.
Other new features include a 36-gallon fuel tank that offers a range of up to 680 miles on the highway, B20 biofuel capability, a tow-haul mode, hill-start assist and trailer-sway program and smart exhaust brake.
“Each of these is aimed at adding increased driver control and confidence,” said Rick Spina, vehicle line executive.