By now, Toyota executives must be afraid to go to their inboxes or turn on the news. These days, doing either is likely to reveal yet another challenge to the companys safety image. The latest blow comes from Consumer Reports, which has judged the Lexus GX 460 a safety risk. The consumer advocacy magazine then slapped a Dont Buy rating on the GX.
When Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn first formed the Franco-Japanese car alliance, he joked at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show about serving sushi and Chardonnay. Well, lets slather some spatzle on the side, shall we? Renault-Nissan and Daimler AG will form a global automotive triumvirate by swapping each other 3.1% stakes in each other. Its not a merger, mind you, but an alliance strung together with only a small equity stake.
If mid-month sales numbers from Edmunds.com are any indicator, the car market may be finally picking up. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based consumer research site says that through Mar. 18 , car sales were on pace for a 13.5 million annualized adjusted sales rate. Thats a nice clip considering that most analysts think car sales will be in the 11 million or 11.5 million range. But dont get too excited yet.
Toyota is looking more like Detroits Big three all the time. First the quality problems and now the company has a big incentive campaign to win back loyalty. Toyota is offering 0% financing for up to five years and some discounted lease deals as a way to get buyers to look at its cars in the wake of its seemingly unending recall problems. The latest problem came in San Diego when a driver of a 2008 Prius claimed couldnt stop the car even though he was braking hard.
