You are here: Home / Archives for toyota motor corp

Auto Electronic Faults May Be Untraceable, Need More Oversight, Panel Says – Bloomberg (Angela Greiling Keane)

January 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

U.S. regulators were justified in closing a probe into unintended acceleration of Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) vehicles without finding electronic causes, a National Academy of Sciences panel said while emphasizing it wasn’t ruling out such failures in the future.

Software and other electronic failures may not leave traces that investigators are equipped to find, so the Washington-based National Highway Traffic Safety Administration must “become more familiar with and engaged in” setting automotive- electronics standards, the panel said today in a report.

“It’s impossible to prove a complete negative, but all the data available to us indicated the conclusion that there was no electronic or software problem” that may have caused the Toyota unintended acceleration reports, Louis Lanzerotti, a New Jersey Institute of Technology physics professor and chairman of the panel, said today on a conference call with reporters.

Toyota recalled more than 8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles worldwide in 2009 and 2010, a record, after reports of unintended acceleration. NHTSA and Toyota investigated the electronic throttle controls, which send signals from the accelerator to the engine. They blamed the incidents on sticky gas pedals or floor mats that might jam them.

via Auto Electronic Faults May Be Untraceable, Need More Oversight, Panel Says – Bloomberg.

Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Toyota, Salesforce.com To Create Social Media Network For Vehicles – WSJ.com

May 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.TO) and California-based Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM) said Monday they have agreed to create a private social network for Toyota customers, marking another step forward in the spread of social media and the integration of automotive and telecommunications technology.

The two companies said they plan to start offering the service, to be called “Toyota Friend,” with Toyota’s electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids due out next year. The new service will allows users to exchange real time updates, or “tweets,” with other Toyota drivers, connect with local dealers and remotely obtain diagnostic information about their hybrid vehicles, such as battery usage, they said. It will debut in Japan before a global roll out later in 2012.

The move by Toyota to link up with Salesforce.com, a San Francisco-based start-up that has grown into a major force in cloud computing, comes as Japan’s leading auto maker plays catch up with rivals in areas such as dashboard telematics that offer wireless access to the Internet.

“This represents a concrete step towards creating a more mobile society,” Toyota President Akio Toyoda said at a press conference in Tokyo. “Toyota can learn a lot from an entrepreneurial firm like Salesforce.com,” he added.

Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff said he proposed the idea for the brand-specific social media network in January during a meeting with Toyoda in Hawaii. “Toyota Friend is an idea that I had when I thought about the changes in our industry today,” he told reporters in Tokyo. “The car is the true mobile device.”

The Japanese auto maker said the new service, which primarily relies on third party smart phones and other mobile devices sold separately from its cars, would complement a project announced last month with Microsoft Corp. that focuses on telematics hardware and software system built into its vehicles called Entune.

While Entune works off of Microsoft’s proprietary Azure platform and is expected to be available on select models later this year, Toyota Friend will use Salesforce.com’s open source network when it is introduced next year.

via UPDATE: Toyota, Salesforce.com To Create Social Media Network For Vehicles – WSJ.com.

Filed Under: Tech Bytes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Toyota Wins Ruling Against Former Company Lawyer Who Must Pay $2.6 Million – Bloomberg

January 5, 2011 By 1 Comment

Toyota Motor Corp. said an arbitrator ruled in its favor on all of its claims against Dimitrios Biller, a former in-house attorney who accused the carmaker of racketeering and hiding evidence in rollover lawsuits.

The arbitrator found Biller “liable for breach of contract, conversion and statutory unauthorized computer access” and awarded Toyota $2.5 million for unauthorized disclosures Biller made and $100,000 in punitive damages, Toyota said today in a statement posted on its website.

Biller, who worked at Toyota from 2003 to 2007, sued the carmaker in Los Angeles federal court in July 2009. He claimed the company destroyed engineering and testing evidence relevant in more than 300 suits over sport utility rollover accidents. Biller accused Toyota of racketeering, wrongful termination, infliction of emotional distress and defamation.

via Toyota Wins Ruling Against Former Company Lawyer Who Must Pay $2.6 Million – Bloomberg.

Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Insurers Sue Toyota Over Acceleration Claims Costs – WSJ.com

January 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Seven insurance companies have filed lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp. seeking a minimum of $230,000 to cover the cost of claims paid for accidents related to the unintended acceleration problems identified in Toyota vehicles in the past several years

The insurers filed separate but identical complaints Dec. 30 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming that defects in Toyota vehicles were the cause of the crashes. “Certain of Toyota’s cars and trucks have a defect that causes sudden, uncontrolled acceleration to speeds of up to 100 miles per hour or more,” the complaints allege. “This defect is combined with the operator’s inability to stop the vehicle during such an incidence due to defective electronics and the absence of a fail-safe, such as a brake-override system.”

The lawsuits are similar to one filed by Allstate Corp. three months ago in the same court seeking $3 million in damages. The litigants are American Hardware Mutual Insurance Co., Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., National Surety Corp., American Automobile Insurance Co., Ameriprise Insurance Co., Motorists Mutual Insurance Co. and IDS Property Casualty Insurance Co.

These types of claims “are common between insurers and auto makers. However, Toyota believes that any allegation that a vehicle-based defect is the cause of unintended acceleration in this or any other complaint is completely unfounded and has no basis,” said Celeste Migliore, a Toyota spokeswoman.

via Insurers Sue Toyota Over Acceleration Claims Costs – WSJ.com.

Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Toyota Settles Accelerator Suit – WSJ.com

September 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Toyota Motor Corp. reached an undisclosed settlement with the relatives of a California Highway patrolman who was killed along with three passengers in a 2009 car accident believed to have been caused by a floor mat that became lodged against the accelerator pedal.

The crash, which killed patrolman Mark Saylor, his wife, daughter and brother-in-law, increased scrutiny on complaints the Toyota vehicles sometimes accelerated on their own and fueled the image and safety crisis the engulfed the Japanese auto maker earlier this year.

Toyota still faces about 200 lawsuits, including one in federal court that was filed by hundreds of people who claim their Toyota’s accelerated out of control and blaming the electronic throttle control system, a charge that Toyota has denied.

The Saylor accident drew widespread media attention because Mr. Saylor’s brother-in-law, Chris Lastrella, placed a frantic 911 as the car raced to higher and higher speeds and said Mr. Saylor was jamming on the brakes but couldn’t stop the vehicle.

“Toyota and the Saylor and Lastrella families reached an amicable agreement in mediation that fully resolves their product liability claims against Toyota and a Lexus dealership,” Toyota’s statement said.

The accident happened in August 2009 near San Diego. Mr. Saylor, who was 45 years old and off duty at the time, was driving a 2009 Lexus ES 350 that he had been loaned by a Lexus dealership. The Lexus sped up to more than 100 miles an hour before it crashed over an embankment and burst into flames. An inspection after the crash found the floor mat melted on the accelerator pedal.

via Toyota Settles Accelerator Suit – WSJ.com.

Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: , , , ,

Court Approves Order for Preservation of Documents and Tangible Things in Toyota Litigation : Electronic Discovery Law

August 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

n re Toyota Motor Corp. Unintended Acceleration Mktg., Sales Practices, and Prods. Liab. Litig., 2010 WL 2901798 (N.D. Cal. July 20, 2010)

On July 20, 2010, the District Court entered an Order for the Preservation of Documents and Tangible Things which was submitted by the parties.  The order, which addresses only the preservation of documents and not relevance, discoverability, or admissibility, includes sections entitled:  “Documents and Tangible Items Required to be Preserved”, “Documents Not Required to be Preserved”, “Permissible Modifications and Alterations of Documents”, and “Implementation and Modification of Order”.

via Court Approves Order for Preservation of Documents and Tangible Things in Toyota Litigation : Electronic Discovery Law.

Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Calif. Toyota Litigation Coordinated in Los Angeles | National Law Journal

June 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dozens of sudden-acceleration lawsuits filed against Toyota Motor Corp. in California’s state courts will be coordinated in Los Angeles.

California Chief Justice Ronald George issued an order to that effect on Tuesday, following a hearing on May 21 when Los Angeles County, Calif., Superior Court Judge Carl West coordinated at least 21 lawsuits into a single proceeding. Related federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) encompassing more than 200 lawsuits is pending in nearby Santa Ana, Calif., which is in Orange County.

George told Charles “Tim” McCoy, presiding judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court, to select the judge who will hear the coordinated proceeding.

Most of the plaintiffs lawyers who attended the recent hearing had argued for Los Angeles.

“We have a very representative class section of citizenry in the L.A. area, rather than in Orange County, where you have a more conservative, more WASP-ish jury pool,” said Garo Mardirossian, managing partner of Los Angeles-based Mardirossian & Associates, who represents the husband of a woman who died on Aug. 28 after her Toyota accelerated to 100 miles per hour and crashed into a median. “We would rather have a jury pool that best represents folks in Southern California, not just what we would find in Orange County.”

Only five lawsuits have been filed in Orange County Superior Court, he added.

via Law.com – Calif. Toyota Litigation Coordinated in Los Angeles.

Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Judge Delays Appointing Lead Counsel in Toyota Shareholder Litigation | National Law Journal

June 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A federal judge has delayed appointing the lead plaintiffs attorneys in the shareholder litigation against Toyota Motor Corp. until U.S. Supreme Court decides whether foreign purchasers of a company’s U.S. stock have standing to sue in the United States.

U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer agreed on Monday to consolidate seven class actions pending in Los Angeles on behalf of Toyota shareholders whose holdings declined by tens of millions of dollars after the company announced a series of recalls associated with sudden unintended acceleration.

After two hours of sometimes contentious arguments in a courtroom full of plaintiffs attorneys, some of whom brought representatives of their institutional clients to the hearing, she declined to appoint a lead plaintiff and lead counsel.

Rather, she told counsel to make fresh arguments 10 days after the Supreme Court rules in a case on point, Morrison v. National Australia Bank. The justices have heard oral arguments in the case, which addresses whether U.S. courts have jurisdiction over claims brought by foreign investors who purchased U.S. stock.

Fischer noted that the plaintiffs in the Toyota case include foreign purchasers of Toyota stock on U.S. and Tokyo exchanges.

via Law.com – Judge Delays Appointing Lead Counsel in Toyota Shareholder Litigation.

Related articles by Zemanta
Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Toyota spars in U.S. court over internal documents | Reuters

May 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Toyota’s lawyers and class-action attorneys were set to square off in U.S. federal court on Friday over how quickly the automaker must produce documents from previous investigations of complaints about its cars racing out of control.

Attorneys pursuing scores of personal injury and consumer class-action claims against Toyota are seeking immediate possession of roughly 125,000 pages of internal documents already submitted to congressional panels and auto safety regulators.

Except for a relative handful of those papers cited in recent congressional hearings on Toyota’s handling of complaints of sudden, unintended acceleration in its vehicles, the documents in question have remained confidential.

They could prove valuable to plaintiffs' attorneys trying to substantiate their claims of product defects, negligence, fraud and other wrongdoing against Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T).

via RPT-Toyota spars in U.S. court over internal documents | Reuters.

Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Toyota Lawsuit Judge Names Lead Attorneys for Cases – BusinessWeek

May 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The federal judge overseeing sudden- acceleration lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp. appointed 21 plaintiffs’ lawyers to manage litigation involving U.S. claims.

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, faces at least 228 federal and 99 state lawsuits including proposed class actions over economic loss and claims of personal injuries or deaths caused by sudden-acceleration incidents. The federal lawsuits were combined April 9 in a multidistrict litigation, or MDL, before U.S. District Judge James V. Selna in Santa Ana, California.

More than 70 plaintiffs’ lawyers sought appointments to leadership positions in the federal lawsuits, including about 60 who spoke at a hearing before Selna yesterday.

Selna’s appointments today include Steve Berman at Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP in Seattle as co-lead counsel for economic loss plaintiffs and Elizabeth Cabraser at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP in San Francisco as co-lead for personal injury and death cases.

via Toyota Lawsuit Judge Names Lead Attorneys for Cases (Update1) – BusinessWeek.

Related articles by Zemanta
Filed Under: From The News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts