TOYOTA OF NEW ORLEANS BLOG

Toyota Motor Sales issued the following statement:

“Toyota denies any reports of the discontinuation of the Sequoia. For obvious competitive reasons, Toyota does not discuss future product plans. Sequoia continues to be a profitable, high-quality vehicle for Toyota and several years remain in the life of the current generation. Our focus remains on building our vehicles, including the Sequoia, with the highest possible quality.”

The statement is posted on the Toyota USA Newsroom at:
http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota/statement-regarding-media-reports-165537.aspx

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Senate Democrats have unveiled a scaled-down energy bill that would provide $4 billion in incentives to boost the use of natural-gas vehicles and $400 million for electric vehicles.  That is substantially less than the $11 billion in the original legislation.

The new measure includes government rebates of $10,000 to $64,000 for natural-gas powered cars and heavy trucks. It also includes cash grants of up to $50,000 to stations that install natural gas pumps and cash grants for R&D and demonstration projects.

To read more, please click on:
http://www.detnews.com/article/20100728/POLITICS03/7280339/1148/Energy-bill-cut-down-to-$4.4B

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The first Prius came to America in July 2000.  That year, the star of the Detroit auto show was the Hummer H2, and the price of gasoline averaged $1.50 a gallon. The attention paid to the Prius wasn’t always flattering, and sales projections were modest.

What a difference a decade makes. The Prius has sold over 1.8 million units worldwide, including nearly 900,000 in the United States, and it started a revolution in the industry.

To read more about this motor vehicle milestone, please click on:
http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota/toyota-celebrates-10-years-of-164612.aspx

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Toyota’s Avalon and Camry are among the “10 Comfortable Cars Under $30,000” list compiled by Kelley Blue Book.

To read more, please click on:
http://www.kbb.com/car-news/all-the-latest/10-most-comfortable-cars-under-30000

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The senior Republican on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter to the chief federal auto safety regulator Wednesday questioning whether his agency is withholding information favorable to Toyota as Congress prepares to vote on a bill to dramatically increase oversight and penalties on automakers.

Rep. Joe Barton of Texas sent the letter to David Strickland, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seeking more information following last week’s Wall Street Journal report that NHTSA had found drivers had their foot on the wrong pedal in dozens of cases of alleged unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.

“The committee recently passed, and the House of Representatives may soon consider, a sweeping $800 million reauthorization of NHTSA that includes provisions aimed at unintended acceleration,” Barton said in the letter. “It is important for us to know whether NHTSA has EDR (event data recorder) data showing that some incidents of reported sudden unintended acceleration were the result of pedal misapplication.”

Also Wednesday, a group of consumer advocates and individuals who say they are victims of unintended acceleration gathered on Capitol Hill with congressional backers of the bill to urge its passage, including Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich.

To read more, please click on:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/transportation/obama-administration-officials-pressed-toyota-crash-data/#

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For the second year in a row, Toyota Camry ranked No. 1 on a list compiled by Cars.com of the most “American-made” vehicles.

Cars.com’s annual American-Made Index takes into account the percentage of domestically produced parts, the location of the factories where the vehicle was assembled, and its popularity in the United States. “All three factors figure into creating American jobs and prosperity,” said USA Today’s Drive On in its report on the list today.

In addition to Camry ranking No. 1 on the list, Tundra was No. 8 and Sienna was No. 10, making Toyota the only manufacturer with three vehicles in the top 10.  Honda, Ford and Chrysler each earned two spots. Chevrolet had one spot.

Camry is assembled in Georgetown, Ky., and Lafayette, Ind., while Tundra is assembled in San Antonio, Texas, and Sienna in Princeton, Ind.

Rounding out the list, Honda Accord ranked No. 2; Ford Escape, 3; Ford Focus, 4; Chevrolet Malibu, 5; Honda Odyssey, 6; Dodge Ram 1500, 7; and Jeep Wrangler, 9.

“What’s interesting this year is the lack of a full-sized domestic pickup truck on the list,” said Patrick Olsen, Cars.com’s editor-in-chief. “The Ford F-150 went from the top spot a couple of years ago to being totally left off the list. While the F-150 is still assembled in the U.S., its domestic parts content fell to 55 percent. In the past, it’s had a domestic parts content of around 80 percent.”

To read the USA Today article, please click on
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/06/detroits-pickups-flunk-toyota-soars-on-american-made-list/1

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The senior Republican on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter to the chief federal auto safety regulator Wednesday questioning whether his agency is withholding information favorable to Toyota as Congress prepares to vote on a bill to dramatically increase oversight and penalties on automakers.

Rep. Joe Barton of Texas sent the letter to David Strickland, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seeking more information following last week’s Wall Street Journal report that NHTSA had found drivers had their foot on the wrong pedal in dozens of cases of alleged unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.

“The committee recently passed, and the House of Representatives may soon consider, a sweeping $800 million reauthorization of NHTSA that includes provisions aimed at unintended acceleration,” Barton said in the letter. “It is important for us to know whether NHTSA has EDR (event data recorder) data showing that some incidents of reported sudden unintended acceleration were the result of pedal misapplication.”

Also Wednesday, a group of consumer advocates and individuals who say they are victims of unintended acceleration gathered on Capitol Hill with congressional backers of the bill to urge its passage, including Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich.

To read more, please click on:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/transportation/obama-administration-officials-pressed-toyota-crash-data/#

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July 13 (Bloomberg) — Toyota Motor Corp.’s investigations of accidents involving reports of unintended acceleration found “virtually all” were caused by drivers stepping on the wrong pedal, a company spokesman said.

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, is looking into causes of unintended acceleration in its cars and trucks and has recalled more than 8 million worldwide in the past year for defects such as pedals that stuck or snagged on floor mats. U.S. auto-safety regulators are also probing the causes and haven’t released their findings.

The Toyota City, Japan-based company has reviewed about 2,000 reports of unintended acceleration since March, including analyzing information from event-data recorders when the incidents involved crashes, said Mike Michels, a Toyota spokesman in Torrance, California.

“There are a variety of causes — pedal entrapment, sticky pedal, other foreign objects in the car” and “pedal misapplication,” Michels said today in a telephone interview. Asked how many crashes were linked to pushing the accelerator instead of the brake, he said, “Virtually all.”

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier today that the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s analysis of Toyota data recorders found cases in which throttles were open and brakes hadn’t been deployed.

NHTSA spokeswomen declined to comment on that report.

To contact the reporters on this story: Angela Greiling Keane in Washington at agreilingkea@bloomberg.net

Find out more about Bloomberg for iPhone: http://m.bloomberg.com/iphone

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Quick and collaborative action last week by Toyota’s SMART teams defused a potentially damaging media report of unintended acceleration in a Toyota vehicle near San Francisco.  The initial, highly-speculative report of this event aired on KGO-TV, the ABC affiliate in San Francisco, on Monday night and Tuesday morning.

It can be viewed here: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/south_bay&id=7526764

In response, Field Technician Specialist Kuyen Yip went to Magnussen Toyota in Palo Alto, Calif., on Tuesday to inspect the car.  He quickly discovered that an oil filter wrench had been left in the engine compartment by an aftermarket vendor who had recently serviced the vehicle – not a Toyota technician. The wrench became stuck in the throttle body of the 2002 Highlander with an older accelerator cable system, causing the throttle to open up.

Once the owners were informed, they offered to go back on camera publicly. The TMS Corporate Communications department arranged for a follow-up segment on KGO-TV, which aired on Wednesday night and featured Yip commending the customer for taking the proper action during the UA event. It also showed Yip removing the oil filter wrench from the throttle cable assembly.

To read the follow up story, please visit:  http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/south_bay&id=7531303

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Hey Toyota Racing Fans,

LOOKING BACK AT LOUDON: In last Sunday’s NASCAR® Sprint Cup Series™ (NSCS) race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, 2009 race winner Joey Logano (ninth) was the highest-finishing Camry driver at the one-mile New England oval. Logano started 11th in the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 20 Home Depot Toyota and earned his seventh top-10 finish in 17 starts this season.

RECORD BREAKER: Busch moved into a second-place tie on the all-time NASCAR® Nationwide Series™ (NNS) win list (36) with his victory last Saturday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Busch started fourth and led six times for 126 (of 200) laps and became the series’ all-time lap leader. The 25-year-old Las Vegas native has now led 8,117 laps in 186 career NNS races, surpassing the 8,023 laps led by Mark Martin. Logano (fourth) and Trevor Bayne (fifth) also recorded top-five finishes for Toyota. It marked a career-best finish for the 19-year-old Bayne.

MOVING FORWARD — POINTS PUSH: As the NSCS heads to Daytona International Speedway for the 18th race of the season, Busch and Hamlin remain third and fourth, respectively, in the NSCS point standings. Busch is currently 161 points behind series points leader, and Hamlin sits 185 points out of first-place. Camry drivers Logano (16th), Martin Truex Jr. (18th) and Reutimann (19th) are looking to break into the top-12 with nine races remaining before the 10-race Chase for the championship begins in September.

SUPERSPEEDWAY SUCCESS: Camry drivers return to Daytona this weekend, where Busch won the 2008 summer NSCS race at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. In February, Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) teammates Reutimann and Truex recorded top-10 finishes for Toyota at the Daytona 500. Reutimann recorded a fifth-place finish in his seventh start at the “World Center of Racing” while Truex earned a sixth-place finish in his first points race in the MWR No. 56 NAPA Camry.

TUNDRA TALLY: Tundra drivers will enjoy another weekend off before the NASCAR® Camping World Truck Series™ (NCWTS) returns to action at Iowa Speedway, July 11. Tundra driver Todd Bodine currently leads the series point standings and holds a 55-point lead over fellow Toyota driver Aric Almirola (second). Timothy Peters (third), Mike Skinner (fifth) and David Starr (eighth) are also representing Toyota in the top-10 in the point standings.

SPONSAFIER 2: The Toyota “Sponsafy Your Ride” contest is back. Sponsafier 2 launched on Sunday, June 20. There are already over 15,400 entries. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity. Visit www.sponsafier.com and design your race car today!

Check out the memorable highlights video featuring the Sponsafier 1 contest winner.

GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED: Toyota drivers Mike Skinner and Michael Waltrip will both drive Camrys this weekend in West Sussex, England, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Skinner will drive a Red Bull Camry for the second year in a row in the famous hill-climb event, while Waltrip will run a NAPA Camry around the 1.16-mile course.

Log-on to www.toyotaracing.com for up-to-date racing information.

What to Watch:

NASCAR® Nationwide Series™ at Daytona International Speedway, Friday, July 2 @ 8:00 PM (ET), ESPN

 NASCAR® Sprint Cup Series™ at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, July 3 @ 7:30 PM (ET), TNT