October 2012

Toyota to recall 2.47 million vehicles in U.S. over power window switches

(October 10, 2012) Toyota plans to recall 7.43 million vehicles worldwide — including 2.47 million vehicles in the United States — in the single biggest automotive recall since 1996 to fix faulty power window switches.

The U.S. action covers various 2007 through 2009 models of the Camry, Camry Hybrid, Yaris, RAV4, Tundra, Scion xD, Scion xA, Sequoia, Highlander, Highlander Hybrid, Corolla and Matrix. About 240,000 vehicles in Canada are also affected.

Fighting pain at the pump — Honda has natural gas solution

(October 10, 2012) TORRANCE, Calif. — Fighting back against a spike in gasoline prices and building on momentum from record sales of the Civic Natural Gas Vehicle, Honda today announced that it is working with Clean Energy Fuels Corp., America's largest owner of public compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations, and participating Honda dealers to provide a special savings to customers purchasing a new 2012 Civic Natural Gas Vehicle — a debit card pre-loaded with $3,000 that can be used at Clean Energy CNG fueling stations around the country to purchase fuel.

Volkswagen sets record for January through September sales

(October 10, 2012) WOLFSBURG, Germany – Volkswagen set a new passenger car sales record for the first three quarters of 2012 delivering over four million vehicles. From January to September, Europe’s largest automaker handed over 4.21 million vehicles to customers. The brand delivered 492,500 vehicles in  September.

2013 Cadillac SRX offers home theatre-like tech

(October 10, 2012) DETROIT — The refreshed 2013 Cadillac SRX will offer an entertainment package featuring a Blu-Ray DVD player that extends Cadillac’s signature CUE system for connectivity to the rear seats along with a redesigned kid-tested gaming-style remote control that allows each of the 8-inch flip-up rear screens to play unique media.

New Ram advertising demonstrates ‘Moving Heaven and Earth’

(October 10, 2012) AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — A new national advertising campaign, titled “Moving Heaven and Earth,” demonstrates how state-of-the-art technologies like a powerful 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine, class-exclusive eight-speed transmission, all-new air suspension system, revolutionary rotary shifter and next-generation Uconnect Access, give the new Ram 1500 the power to move heaven and earth and put the environment under the complete control of the driver.

Ronald McDonald gets new wheels in N.J.

(October 9, 2012) CAMDEN, N.J. — Holman Toyota of Mount Laurel, N.J., presented a new Sienna minivan to Ronald McDonald House of Southern New Jersey last week as part of Toyota's "100 Cars for Good" program.  Cars for Good is a major philanthropic effort from Toyota Motor Sales, USA that is awarding new vehicles to 100 nonprofit organizations over the course of 100 days, based on votes from the public.

Autoweek awards Jaguar F-TYPE 'Best of Show' in Paris

(October 9, 2012) LONDON — The all-new Jaguar F-TYPE two-seater sports car was awarded with the 2012 Autoweek Editors' Choice Award for Best in Show at the Paris motor show.

"Sleek, sexy and powerful, the F-TYPE becomes a new halo for Jaguar," Autoweek's Digital Editor Andrew Stoy said. "Put the top down, fire up the engine — especially the supercharged 5.0-liter V8 — and all suddenly becomes right with the world. It's a car to covet for anyone with a love of sports cars."

Bentley has 25 percent increase in global sales

(October 9, 2012) CREWE, England — Crewe-based manufacturer Bentley Motors today announces a 25% increase in global sales with 5,969 cars delivered to customers at the end of September 2012 (up from 4,759 in 2011).

Teams hustle to complete projects in Toyota Racing Dream Build Challenge

(October 9, 2012) TORRANCE, Calif. — Customizing a vehicle can often be broken down into a series of tasks that can then be scheduled and executed — at least until the clock runs out. Then all bets are off. And so it goes for the Toyota Racing Dream Build Challenge teams with time to complete their ambitious builds coming to a close in about two weeks, just before voting begins on Oct. 20.

Passenger car sales do well in September at GM

(October 9, 2012) DETROIT — While overall sales were up only 2 percent at General Motors Co. in September, the automaker reported its highest September passenger car sales since 2008: 210,245 vehicles.

New products helped drive a 29 percent increase in passenger car sales. Sales of GM’s mini, small and compact cars alone were up a combined 97 percent, and all GM brands increased their retail sales.