http://www.maxauto.co.za/CntView.aspx?CatID=26&CntID=1202
Two youths were arrested after they decided to "play on joke" on the owner of a car by simply driving it away, Pretoria police said on Wednesday.
Inspector Wanda Olivier said the two cousins - aged 16 and 19 - were arrested in Pretoria central on Tuesday when police pulled them over for reckless and negligent driving.
As it turned out, the car was reported stolen last week after the boys stole the car keys from the owner, with whom they lived.
"The 19-year-old alleged suspect tried to pull a joke on the owner of the vehicle.
"The suspect took the key of the vehicle earlier last week and planned on moving it in the early hours of Sunday morning to just park it somewhere," said Olivier.
The owner then reported the car stolen.
On Monday, the youth decided to drive himself and six high school friends to school.
"This is when the very skilled crime prevention unit members saw them and did not laugh about their joke when they drove recklessly and received attention from the police."
The youths were arrested for possession of a stolen motor vehicle, reckless driving and driving without a valid license.
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Toyota recall a PR disaster?
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Faced with an unprecedented recall of millions of vehicles and rivals swooping in on its customers, the public relations machine at Toyota - one of the most savvy brand-creators in Asia - is floundering.
Toyota has consistently played down recurring complaints of unintended acceleration, breaking what PR experts said is the the cardinal rule in crisis management: assume the worst.
"People want to see a company take full responsibility, be empathic to the victims and their families and be in control by outlining the problem and how they intend to solve it. They also expect the CEO doing all this," said Ong Hock Chuan, a technical adviser of Jakarta-based PR consultancy Maverick who specialises in crisis management.
"Toyota seems to have failed in all counts."
Toyota President Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the company's founder, has not formally addressed the public or media on the recall problems.
Through November, the company continued to blame loose floor mats for the problem. That has eventually spread to a potential problem with accelerator pedals, and U.S. safety regulators are now renewing efforts to re-confirm whether the electronic throttle control system could have been at fault.
At a news conference in Nagoya on Tuesday - the first appearance by an executive from headquarters since the recall expanded last week - there was no deep bow, a standard fixture in Japan when a firm declares it is responsible for its mistakes.
"There should have been a more convincing explanation, including from the president," said Masato Takahashi, a public relations consultant at Kyodo PR.
"Even when they announced the recall initially, you can't just say, 'We're going to do a recall'. They should have gone further in way of explanation, and there should have been a heartfelt apology from the top."
Absolute disaster
At the news conference, a little-known Toyota executive in charge of quality, Shinichi Sasaki, said part of the reason Toyota decided to use U.S. autoparts maker CTS's accelerators was to help contribute to the local U.S. economy.
That was not what customers want to hear, PR consultants said, least of all when public memory is still fresh of a 911 call of Aug. 28 along with the sounds of the caller's Lexus crashing, killing its driver and three members of his family.
"It is an absolute disaster for a company which is Japanese, which has top-notch quality control, to have done it in such a spluttering manner," said Suhel Seth, managing partner of Indian brand management firm Counselage.
"What's worse is that in this case this whole concept of the visible Japanese apology was so missing."
Toyota spokeswoman Mieko Iwasaki said the company had all along taken the steps it believed were the best and fastest to put its customers first.
"If that was perceived as too slow, we will accept that as a sign of our shortcoming," she said.
For the past decade, Japan Inc has tried to learn from past mistakes, when critics lambasted its habit of keeping data under wraps and its efforts to convey an image of calm deliberation.
After Bridgestone Corp was forced to recall 17 million tyres in 2000 following a series of deadly crashes, more companies have put in place crisis management procedures and turned to corporate communications firms for help.
Some argue that Toyota did what it could, as soon as it grasped the gravity of the problem.
Toyota ran full-page ads in major U.S. newspapers on Sunday alerting consumers to the recall and production shutdown. Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., appeared on U.S. TV and expressed regret for worrying drivers of its cars.
The scope of Toyota's recalls and production stoppage shows how serious Toyota is, said Hannah Cunliffe, a fund manager at Germany's Union Investment, which holds Toyota shares.
"Some of the comments that have come out of the management really show that they are not trying to put anything under the carpet or trying to deny anything," she said. "I don't feel they are handling it badly. But it's a very tough thing to handle."
Perception gap
Consumers in Japan have been slow to voice concern, and rival automakers have not offered incentives to capitalise on Toyota's woes.
"It seems to be a problem just in the U.S.," said retiree Masanori Kawami, 63, who said he was expecting delivery of a Prius at the end of this month. "I'm not worried."
But that nonchalance may not last.
North American and Japanese dealers have received several dozen complaints over insufficient braking on Toyota's new Prius hybrid on bumpy or frozen roads, Toyota said.
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Honda frets about Toyota
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Honda raised its annual forecast on Wednesday after cost-cuts boosted quarterly profit and said it was concerned that rival Toyota's huge safety recall might tarnish other Japanese brands.
Toyota, the world's largest automaker, continued to wrestle with the recall that was prompted by complaints over sticking accelerator pedals, losing U.S. sales and struggling to repair its reputation.
It suffered a sharp drop in U.S. sales last month as the recall and unprecedented sales halt allowed rivals to grab market share.
Honda, although not a beneficiary of Toyota's woes in January, raised its forecast for the year to March after cost cutting contributed to the strongest quarterly profit in a year-and-a-half.
A Honda executive expressed concern that fallout from Toyota's crisis might spill over to other car makers.
"Toyota is the front-runner representing Japanese cars," Honda Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo told reporters. "In that sense, we're somewhat worried that there may be a knock-on effect on other Japanese brands, but we'll need a little more time to gauge any impact."
Unlike rivals General Motors, Hyundai Motors and Ford Motor Co, Honda has not taken aim at Toyota customers.
Eight models pulled
In the latest blow to its once gold-plated quality image, Toyota said on Wednesday dealers in both the United States and Japan had reported complaints from buyers over the brakes in its new model Prius hybrid.
Toyota has received 77 reports of consumer complaints about the braking issue through dealers in Japan, as well as eight in North America, including one in Canada.
The carmaker has not had any reports of problems in Europe, a Toyota Motor Europe spokeswoman told Reuters.
Toyota pulled eight of its most popular models including the Camry, Corolla and Rav4 from U.S. showrooms in the last week of January following complaints over sticking accelerator pedals.
Toyota's monthly sales fell 16% and its U.S. market share fell to its lowest level since January 2006 as rivals Ford Motor Co and General Motors Corp surged past. Its monthly U.S. sales dropped below 100 000 vehicles for the first time in more than a decade.
"Auto sales and market share is kind of like a high-speed road race and if you get caught up in the gravel on the shoulder you can get passed really fast, and essentially that is what happened to Toyota," Autoconomy analyst Erich Merkle said.
"Right now we have to find out how long it is going to take them to get back on pavement again," Merkle said.
As Toyota sales fell, Ford and Hyundai Motor Co emerged as the big winners, each posting 34.8% sales gains. Honda's adjusted sales rose 2.9%.
Separately on Wednesday, Toyota's German rival Volkswagen said it saw a positive mid-term margin of 3-4% in the U.S., and 5-6% in the long-term.
Volkswagen had on Tuesday set out targets to dethrone Toyota as the world's top carmaker.
Volkswagen's total vehicle sales in the U.S. rose an adjusted 53.2% in January.
US "not finished with Toyota"Toyota is battling two problems - accelerator pedals that get stuck on floor mats and pedals that jam in the open position by themselves. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has said five people have died in two separate accidents in the United States because of Toyota accelerator pedals becoming stuck on floor mats. It is not aware of any deaths or injuries linked to the second problem.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood took a harder line with Toyota for what he said was a slow response to safety complaints.
"We're not finished with Toyota," LaHood said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
U.S. government officials said Toyota could face both an unusual civil penalty because of the recall and an expanded probe that would focus on electric controls. Either development could further damage the Japanese automaker's reputation.
On top of a separate recall for slipping floormats linked to unintended acceleration, some 8.1 million Toyota vehicles are now being recalled, more than its total group sales last year.
Regarding the Prius, a Toyota spokeswoman said the company was investigating several dozen complaints since December over what drivers characterised as insufficient braking when driving over bumpy or frozen roads.
Crisis management
The problems have raised questions about the handling of the crisis by Toyota executives, led by president and founding family member Akio Toyoda.
Toyota will have a further opportunity to address the issue at its third-quarter results, due on Thursday.
Honda, the first Japanese automaker to post third-quarter earnings, raised its full-year operating profit forecast to 320 billion yen, a third above consensus forecasts.
Shares in Honda ended 2.3% higher on Wednesday ahead of the results, while Toyota closed down 5.7% at its lowest in more than two months. Turnover was three times its daily average.
The stock has fallen in eight of the past nine sessions and lost more than $25 billion in value since its initial U.S. accelerator pedal recall on Jan. 21.
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BMW, PSA ink engine dealhttp://www.maxauto.co.za/CntView.aspx?CatID=26&CntID=1205
The BMW Group and PSA Peugeot Citroën will continue their engine collaboration, signing a fresh agreement to develop EU6-compliant four-cylinder petrol engines.
The two companies currently have an agreement in place. The four-cylinder engine is used in several Mini, Peugeot and Citroen models.
Signed by Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG and Philippe Varin, Chairman of the Managing Board of PSA Peugeot Citroën, in Paris, the companies also confirmed possibly exploring other areas of cooperation at systems and component levels.
“We are delighted to continue our engine cooperation and look into options for further collaboration.” said Reithofer.
PSA's Varin declared “this new agreement with BMW is confirming the success of the cooperation between our two companies which has produced 1.3 million engines since 2006. I am confident that the next generation of jointly developed engines will reach the same success as the current generation”.
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World Car of the Year shortlist
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The World Car of the Year shortlist has been announced – and yes, there are some shockers.
Now running for its seventh year (and on the cusp of a seven year itch perhaps?), the World Car of the Year award (WCOTY) winners will be presented at the New York auto show on 1 April.
Last year the Volkswagen Golf and Nisan GT-R won the World Car and Performance Car of the Year categories, respectively.
A global group of 59 motoring journalists (including one South African and way too many Australians) make up the WCOTY voting panel.
With preliminary voting completed the panel has selected its top 10 list of candidates for the overall WCOTY winner and the 2010 Performance Car award.
Car of the Year
The 2010 World Car of the Year nominees most probable to take the title include Toyota’s Prius, Porsche Panamera, Audi Q5 and the new Volkswagen Polo.
Other shortlisted contenders (with an outside chance at the title) are BMW X1, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Mazda3 and Kia Soul. GM’s Chevrolet Cruze and Opel Insignia round off the list as rank outsiders.
Really fast car of the year
The World Performance Car of the Year candidates list a particularly strong field. Aston Martin V12 Vantage, Audi R8 V10, Audi TT RS coupe/roadster, BMW Z4, Ferrari California, Jaguar XFR, Lotus Evora, Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, Nissan 370Z, Porsche 911 GT3 and Zuffenhausen's Boxster/Cayman.
If you are a meticulous reader you’ll notice there are eleven WCOTY Performance Car contenders — allegedly because the first round of voting produced a tie. We think the committee should get its house in order, but no matter…
Pretty and clean car of the year awards too
The WCOTY process germinates two other awards too: World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year, as voted on by a different (allegedly specialist) panels.
The 2010 WCOTY Green Car finalists include the Ford Fusion Hybrid and Honda Insight, Merc’s S400 hybrid, the Toyota Prius (as always) and VW's BlueMotion family (Golf, Passat, Polo).
When it comes to the WCOTY Design award there are four contenders. The Citroën C3 Picasso (most deserving in our estimation), Kia’s funky Soul and the Toyota Prius (again?). Pandering to America’s wounded pride the Camaro also makes the design shortlist…
Pick your winner(s)
In the first week of March at the Geneva auto show a top-three shortlist of each category will be announced, before the big winners are tabled at the New York auto show on 1 April.
Our winners from the esteemed jurors’ rather odd list of candidates? Car of the year: Porsche Panamera. Performance car of the year: Audi R8 V10. World Green Car: Honda Insight. WCOTY Design: Citroën C3 Picasso.
Toyota’s Prius with three nominations despite its pending recall? Makes one wonder about the WCOTY’s credibility coefficient, doesn’t it?
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Former lawyer accuses Toyota of hiding poor safety
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The Los Angeles Times is reporting that a former Toyota attorney has accused the world's largest automaker of covering up hazardous problems with their cars in as many as 300 separate lawsuits. The lawyer, Dimitrios Biller, told the newspaper, "Toyota is a very secretive corporation."
"It doesn't believe anybody outside the corporation deserves to know what is going on inside, even if it kills somebody."
Biller's accusations are unrelated to the sudden acceleration issue known to affect eight different Toyota models. The sticking accelerator, and a faulty floormat that affects use of the gas pedal, has been the subject of a recall and production freeze affecting millions of vehicles.
Biller has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Toyota of tampering with and disposing of evidence. The suit claims that a culture of corruption exists throughout the automaker, leading up to the boardroom in Japan. He also says that Toyota frequently withheld evidence in other lawsuits.
The former employee acquired over 6,000 internal papers during his time at Toyota that support his accusations, Biller said. He says he got hold of the papers when mounting a defence in a 2005 case related to a rollover accident. Upon visiting several Toyota offices, he found a large volume of documents that had not been given to him, he said.
"I was distraught because I knew there probably was stuff in there that the company did not produce," Biller said. Biller would have been required by law to turn the documents over to plaintiff attorneys if they were requested. The documents are currently under seal, with an arbitrator deliberating on making them public.
"Mr. Biller is legally bound not to reveal documentation he acquired when he was in our employ," a Toyota spokeswoman told the LA Times. However, if the documents relate to a haphazard approach to public safety the arbitrator may ignore Toyota's stance.
"Toyota does not believe it has to follow orders or turn over documents," Biller told the newspaper. "They just don't think the rules apply to them." He went on to say that his supervisors made no effort to fix the problem once reported to them.
Biller received $3.9 million in severance when he left Toyota. Toyota's spokeswoman believes the release of documents would be a violation of his agreement with the automaker. Before Toyota, Biller handled product-liability litigation for Ford, amongst others.
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Toyota confirms Prius had brake design problems
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The news just keeps getting worse and worse for Toyota.
Now, the storied Japanese automaker has had to admit there have been problems with the anti-lock braking system on the celebrated Toyota Prius hybrid model.
The company has received about 180 complaints from Prius owners in both the U.S. and Japan about unresponsive brakes. The flaw is due to the dual nature of the gasoline-electric hybrid Prius - the brakes may become momentarily ineffective as the vehicle switches between the hydraulic brakes and the electronically controlled braking system. The brake system flaw requires a software reprogramming to fix.
Toyota has said it has fixed the problem in its Prius production but has not yet decided whether to issue a recall for Prius models which were delivered to customers before the fix in late January. The brake problem in the Prius dates back to 2007.
Toyota has recently had to recall about 4.5 million vehicles worldwide due to a gas-pedal flaw which can cause the accelerator to stick. The company estimates the cost of the recall to be about $2 billion, including a loss of sales. Toyota's stock value has fallen about 22 percent since the recall was announced on the 21st of January.
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VW intends to overtake Toyota
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While General Motors and Ford are trying to lure a few U.S. customers away from Toyota in the midst of Toyota's safety fiasco, Volkswagen is setting more long-term goals. The German automaker is targetting sales increases to over 10 million units by 2018, according to Bloomberg News.
That would promote VW for the largest passenger vehicle manufacturer in Europe to the largest in the world. 2009 VW sales were up 1.1% to 6.29 million, while Toyota sales dipped to 7.81 million, a 13% drop.
Those numbers, and the future target, is a combined total for VW and many of their brands. The German automaker owns Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Seat, and Skoda. The figures do not include Porsche, which will be integrated with Volkswagen in 2011. Karmann is likely not included as well, as the small manufacturer will not be merged in until 2012.
"With the implementation of 'Strategy 2018,' the Volkswagen group is seeking global economic and environmental leadership in the automotive industry by 2018," a VW statement reportedly said. The strategy includes extensive cost cutting in effort to create a pretax profit higher than 8% of sales, but will not elminate research and development funding for electric and hybrid vehicles.
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Toyota recall: SA cars named
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"Toyota South Africa Motors have been able to isolate the Auris, new generation Verso and Corolla as part of the technical study of all the vehicles that are sold in South Africa," said Toyota South Africa spokesman Leo Kok in statement.
"This would imply that these three model ranges will in all possibility be included in the South African recall programme."
Toyota South Africa has not excluded other vehicles yet, and would be able to tell the public the model ranges and the specific date ranges for the recalled models by next week, he said.
Kok could not immediately be reached for further comment.
Toyota has recalled 4.2 million cars and trucks in North America, Europe and China to fix the accelerators, which may be harder to depress, slow to return to the idle position or remain in a partially depressed position.
The Japanese car giant indicated it would expand the recall to Middle East, Africa and Latin America - taking back about 180 000 cars imported from the United States and sold in these areas.
Earlier this week, Kok said the company had received the recall directive from Japan, but that the company had not experienced problems locally.
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Petrol stations warned
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This year the Department of Energy will begin visiting filling stations to check that their petrol prices are being correctly advertised each week. Should this be found not to be the case, the filling stations concerned could be summarily closed down.
This is the first time since the Petroleum Products Amendment Act came into force in 2003 that the department's officials will police filling stations.
Nelisiwe Magubane, director-general at the Department of Energy, told our informant that the act will be amended to permit spot fines if filling stations fail to meet requirements.
Another condition with which filling stations must comply is to ensure that pumps are properly labelled.
One of the problems the department is experiencing is the finalising of old license applications. To date 15 135 applications have been received, but some 3 000 still need to be processed.
From June 1 the Department of Energy will make sure that it takes no longer than 90 days to award a license, said Magubane.
The Liquid Fuels Charter will also be revised this year to see if the sector is meeting transformation targets.
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