By AKIO TOYODA

The past several months have been humbling for all of us at Toyota. We are taking this experience to heart, making fundamental changes in the way our company does business. I can assure you that our response will be comprehensive. The first step is taking care of vehicles on the road today. But it also means making even safer vehicles in the future—and being more open and transparent about any safety issues that arise. Read More...

TORRANCE, Calif., February 22, 2010 – Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc, today announced that it will install a brake override feature on an expanded range of customers’ vehicles to provide an additional measure of confidence. This braking system enhancement will automatically reduce engine power when the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal are applied simultaneously under certain driving conditions. Read More...

Best New Car Values 2010: Best Resale Value

A new article at Kiplinger (Yahoo Business News) offers some advice about getting more for your money with your next car purchase. Of course we new our cars offered great resale value already, but it’s nice when someone else acknowledges your product. Here are some of the featured vehicles that have “Best Resale Value” according to Yahoo Kiplinger.


Best Resale Value: Under $20,000

2010 Scion xB
Sticker price: $16,420 (manual)
Dealer cost: $15,632
New Car Blue Book Value: $16,420
Five-year service cost: $3,058
One-year insurance cost: $961
Resale value after three years: 60% -- five years: 42%
City: 22 mpg -- Highway: 28 mpg

The Scion xB’s rep as an edgy, hip vehicle that also offers scads of utility boosts its three-year resale value (and it doesn’t hurt that Scion is a Toyota nameplate). The xB offers a capacious 22 cubic feet of cargo space and optional features, such as touch-screen navigation and a DVD entertainment system Read More...

To judge by press accounts and statements from government officials, those innocuous-looking Toyota sedans and SUVs in millions of American driveways are somehow kin to the homicidal '58 Plymouth Fury in the Stephen King novel "Christine"—haunted by technological poltergeists and prone to fits of mechanical mayhem. In the midst of three major recalls, Toyota has been hammered by daily newspaper and TV pieces suggesting it has been slow to address safety problems. U.S. transportation secretary Ray LaHood announced that anyone who owns one of the recalled vehicles should "stop driving it." (He quickly backpedaled on that pronouncement, but warned, "We're not finished with Toyota.") Displaying a previously undisclosed concern for the safety of American owners of foreign-badged automobiles, the UAW quickly piled on. And now, Toyota's North American president Yoshi Inaba must submit to ritual humiliation at the hands of the U.S. Congress in a hearing on Wednesday.

Does Toyota—or any car company—deserve this? READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE >>>

MotorWeek 2010 Drivers' Choice Awards Names Toyota Prius Best Vehicle of the Year

Prius Also Awarded Best Eco-Friendly Vehicle

February 11, 2010 - - MotorWeek, television’s longest running automotive series, announced today the Toyota Prius has won the top honor of “Best of the Year” in its 2010 Drivers’ Choice Awards “for making improvements on virtually every front including, fuel efficiency, power and versatility.” Prius was a double winner as it also won MotorWeeks Drivers’ Choice Award for “Best Eco-Friendly” vehicle.

“If you can only buy one car for your family, the 2010 Prius is the one,” said MotorWeek host and executive producer John Davis. “The Prius is a no-compromise vehicle that offers impressive efficiency, cutting edge technology, smart packaging and truly iconic styling.”

“The Prius winning the prestigious MotorWeek Drivers’ Choice Best of the Year and Best Eco-Friendly awards is truly an honor that reflects how far hybrid technology in the U.S. has come in one short decade,” said Bob Carter, Toyota Division group vice president and general manager. “Since it was introduced in 2000, the Prius has been an icon for positive change. Now, with over 800,000 currently on American roads, Prius has helped change the way people think about transportation, the roles cars play in the environment, and what people could expect from their cars in the future.”

MotorWeek’s Drivers’ Choice Awards have been widely acknowledged as one of the auto industry’s top honors for more than 25 years. The Drivers’ Choice Awards are chosen by the MotorWeek editorial staff by test-driving vehicles using a broad range of evaluation factors that are most important to consumers – performance, technology, practicality and value.

The Prius will be featured as the “Best of the Year” and “Best Eco-Friendly” vehicle on MotorWeek beginning February 13 on PBS.