(Source: cnet)

Looks like Toyota is at it again, upping the ante for other players in the automobile market to match the stellar reputation it has built over the years as an advanced engineering shop that leaves no stone unturned to enhance the safety of the riders in the Lexus vehicles.  This above featured new, inflatable Takata “Airbelt,” or SRS Seat Belt Airbag, is built into the webbing of the seat belt of the Lexus LFA, the latest out of Toyota’s Lexus stable, expected to hit the market soon. It’s designed to protect drivers and front-seat passengers in front- or side-impact collisions. So, how does it work? Well, it works as shown nicely in the above graphic and here is some additional text from Cnet.com to aid in your understanding:

“The belt expands directly to spread the shock-load over a wider area of the occupant’s chest during front impact. And in a side impact, the belt inflates between the shoulder and head to reduce lateral head movement and provide protection from impact with the side window or colliding object, the company said in a press release.”

Click here to read more.

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(Sources: Consumer Reports, Detroit Free Press, Wall Street Journal & CNN Money)

Consumer Reports magazine dealt Toyota Motor Corp. a blow Tuesday issuing a rare “don’t buy” recommendation for the 2010 Lexus GX 460 sport-utility vehicle.

Four of the magazine’s auto engineers found a safety risk during their standard emergency-handling tests.  The specific problem, according to the magazine’s testers, involved the slow reaction of the vehicle’s electronic stability control system when a driver takes it through a turn while quickly lifting his or her foot off the accelerator. Consumer Reports explained the problem in detail on its website as follows:

In real-world driving, lift-off oversteer could occur when a driver enters a highway’s exit ramp or drives through a sweeping turn and encounters an unexpected obstacle or suddenly finds that the turn is too tight for the vehicle’s speed. A natural impulse is to quickly lift off the accelerator pedal. If that were to happen in the GX, the rear could slide around far enough that a wheel could strike a curb or slide off the pavement.

Either of those scenarios can cause a vehicle to roll over. And because the GX is a tall SUV with a high center of gravity, our concern for rollover safety is heightened.

Like almost all current SUVs, the GX has standard ESC. That system is designed to prevent a vehicle from sliding out in a turn and has generally worked very effectively in the vehicles we’ve tested. It does that by applying individual brakes and cutting engine power to help keep the vehicle on its intended path. But the GX’s system doesn’t intervene quickly enough to stop the slide, and the rear end swings around too far.

“All four of Consumer Reports’ auto engineers who conducted the test experienced the problem in an exercise used to evaluate what’s called lift oversteer,” the magazine said in a statement.

The special designation given to the GX 460 by Consumer Reports — “Don’t Buy: Safety Risk” — is rarely given by the magazine. The last time it was used was in 2001, on the Mitsubishi Montero Limited.

“We’re concerned with the results,” said Toyota in a statement, adding that the company will try to duplicated Consumer Reports’ test “to determine if appropriate steps need to taken.”

About 5,000 GX 460s have been sold in the roughly three months the model has been on sale, the magazine said. It advises current owners of this vehicle to approach exit ramps with caution, and to call Toyota demanding a fix for the problem.

The recommendation comes as Toyota tries recover from a safety crisis that has hurt its reputation as a quality leader amid concerns that its Toyota and Lexus products are prone to sudden acceleration.

Click here to read more.

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(Source: Wall Street Journal, Detroit Free Press,  Reuters, Autoblog, JDPower.com)

* Ford, Chevrolet close in on Toyota brand

* Lexus, Porsche rank No. 1 and No. 2 for new car quality

* BMW’s Mini ranks last in J.D. Power survey

New vehicles sold by Chrysler, Ford and GM’s domestic brands have improved in initial quality by an average of 10% compared with 2008, but Toyota Motor Corp. was the star of this year’s study on initial quality from J.D. Power and Associates.

The study was released today at an Automotive Press Association luncheon at the Detroit Athletic Club.

Image Courtesy: J.D Power and Associates via Autoblog

Toyota’s Lexus brand ranked first among all nameplates with 84 problems per 100 vehicles. Toyota also captured 10 segment awards — more than any other corporation in the 2009 study.

Luxury brands captured the top three spots, while Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota were in what amounted to a statistical dead heat further down in the rankings, the survey by J.D. Power and Associates found.

“Have the leading domestic nameplates caught up with Toyota? The answer is almost,” Dave Sargent, vice president for auto research at J.D. Power, told reporters at a briefing in Detroit. The quality gap between the foreign imports and the Detroit auto makers is now the smallest it has ever been, David Sargent, JD Power’s vice president of automotive research, said during a speech at the Automotive Press Association in Detroit. The domestics lagged behind the foreign auto makers by just six points.

The 2009 Initial Quality Study (IQS) provides information gathered from over 80,000 purchasers and lessees of 2009 model-year vehicles. Performance is measured using a “problems per 100 vehicles (PP100)” metric. A lower PP100 score indicates better performance and a higher PP100 score indicates worse performance. The 2009 study covers a total of 228 total problems, and organizes them into the following eight categories:

• Exterior
• The Driving Experience
• Features/Controls/Displays
• Audio/Entertainment/Navigation
• Seats
• HVAC, or Climate Controls
• Interior
• Engine/Transmission

The highlights of the 2009 IQS study (courtesy of J.D. Power & Associates):

• Overall, the industry average for initial quality is 108 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100) in 2009, down from 118 PP100 in 2008. Initial quality for domestic brands has improved to an average of 112 PP100 in 2009 from 124 PP100 in 2008, while import brands have improved to an average of 106 PP100 in 2009 from 114 PP100 in 2008.
• Lexus leads the overall nameplate rankings, averaging 84 PP100. This is the 12th time Lexus has been the highest-ranked brand in the 20 years it has been included in the IQS and the first time since 2005.
• Following in the rankings are Porsche, Cadillac (which moves from 10th rank position in 2008 to third in 2009),Hyundai (improves from 13th rank position in 2008 to fourth in 2009) and Honda, rounding out the top five.
• Toyota Motor Corporation captures 10 segment awards—more than any other automaker in the 2009 study—including five for Lexus, four for Toyota and one forScion. Lexus receives awards for the IS, GS, GX, LSand LX models. The Lexus LX has the fewest quality problems in the industry, with just 52 PP100. Toyota models receiving awards in their respective segments are the 4Runner (in a tie); Sienna; Tundra (in a tie); andYaris.
• Ford receives three awards for the Edge (in a tie); F-150 (in a tie); and Mustang. Garnering two awards each are Nissan (Altima and Z); and Honda (CR-V, in a tie, and Ridgeline).
• Also receiving segment awards are: Chevrolet TrailBlazer (in a tie), Chrysler PT Cruiser (in a tie), GMC Yukon, Hyundai Elantra Sedan, Mercury Sable and Scion tC.
• Suzuki is the most-improved nameplate in the industry this year. A reduction of 49 PP100 moves the Japanese brand from 32nd place in 2008 to ninth place this year. Suzuki is also the most improved nameplate for both Defects/Malfunctions and Design-related problems. Also, Saturn improves by 37 PP100 and Jeep by 30 PP100.
• The Toyota Motor Corporation assembly plant in Higashi-Fuji, Japan, receives the Platinum Plant Quality Award for producing vehicles yielding the fewest defects and malfunctions. Averaging just 29 PP100, the plant produces the Lexus SC 430 and Toyota Corolla. (Plant awards are based solely on average levels of defects and malfunctions and exclude design-related problems.)
• Among North and South American plants, the Honda plant in East Liberty, Ohio, which produces the Civic Sedan, CR-V and Element, achieves the Gold Plant Quality Award.
• In the Europe and Africa region, Daimler’s East London, South Africa, plant, which produces the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, receives the Gold Plant Quality Award.

The results underscored the competitive pressure on the industry at a time when U.S. sales have been driven to 30-year lows and both GM and Chrysler have been forced to rely on federal financing to restructure through bankruptcy.

U.S. automakers have spent heavily in recent years in a bid to close the gap with the Japanese automakers led by Toyota and Honda, which have established a reputation for eliminating flaws from engineering and manufacturing.

This year, GM’s Cadillac brand is the highest ranked domestic nameplate with 91 problems per 100 vehicles. Cadillac is ranked third and moved up from 10th last year.

Ford Motor Co. received the second most segment awards of any automaker with top rankings for its redesigned F-150 pickup, Ford Mustang mid-size sports car, Ford Edge crossover and Mercury Sable full-size sedan.

Brands that do well — typically luxury cars top the list — can use the results to bolster advertising campaigns. The vehicles were evaluated between November through February. “High quality enhances an auto maker’s reputation for reliability which is a critical purchase consideration for many consumers,” Mr. Sargent said.

Boosted by a strong reception for its high-end Genesis sedan, Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) pushed ahead of both Toyota and Honda Motor Co (7267.T) to become the top-ranked mass-market auto brand and No. 4 overall.

Honda ranked No. 5, followed by Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Ford and GM’s Chevrolet.

Click here to read the entire 2009 Initial Quality Study Results.

(Source: AP via WTOP.com)

 NEW YORK (AP) – Jaguar and Buick surged to the top of J.D. Power and Associates’ closely watched vehicle dependability study this year, tying for the No. 1 spot and dethroning Lexus for the first time since the Japanese luxury brand has been a part of the survey.

Lexus, Toyota Motor Corp.’s luxury brand, took the next spot in the study released Thursday, followed by Toyota’s namesake brand, then Mercury, Infiniti and Acura.

“Buick and Jaguar both lead the industry in nameplate performance,” said Neal Oddes, director of product research and analysis at J.D. Power. “In terms of individual model performance, Lexus and Toyota still do very, very well.”

The annual study measures problems experienced by the original owners of vehicles after three years. Suzuki owners reported the most problems among the 37 brands assessed by J.D. Power.

Despite losing its crown to Jaguar and Buick, Lexus still swept top awards in four segments, while Toyota’s namesake brand took five awards. General Motors Corp.’s Buick LaCrosse was J.D. Power’s top midsize car, while Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln brand took two awards. Chrysler LLC, which took no segment awards last year, won top honors for its Dodge Caravan in the van segment.

Jaguar jumped from the No. 10 spot in 2008, while Buick leapt from the No. 6 spot. The movement is notable for a study that is fairly consistent from year to year, and the results marked the first time Lexus was not either first or tied for first since it was first included in the study in 1995. Oddes said both Jaguar and Buick have made significant improvements recently.

“We see improvements all over the board with Jaguar,” Oddes said, citing fewer reported problems with vehicle exterior, sound system and the overall driving experience. “The improvement at a nameplate level is significant.”

Click here to read the entire article.