Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Witnesses: Toyota problems could be electronics
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Witnesses at the first of three Congressional hearings on Toyota's recall problems testified that they believe they have found a possible additional cause of unintended acceleration in Toyotas, one that has to do with the vehicles' electronic throttle control systems.
David Gilbert, a professor of automotive technology at Southern Illinois University, said he had uncovered a potential for a short circuit that could undermine the car's built in safety checks.
"What this does is this opens the opportunity to have other problems occur without detection," he said.
Toyota Motor U.S. sales chief Jim Lentz said that an engineering consulting firm hired by Toyota, Exponent, Inc., was able to replicate the situation created by Gilbert both in a Toyota vehicle and in a competing vehicle.
Gilbert spoke shortly after Rhonda Smith, a Lexus owner who experienced an episode of high-speed unintended acceleration in her ES350. The car revved out of control shortly after she entered the highway, she said, and neither the brakes nor shifting the car into neutral or reverse brought it to a stop.
"After six miles, God intervened," she said, and she was able to bring the car to a stop.
Representatives of both Toyota and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told her that what she had experienced could not have happened, she said.
"I was labeled a destructive lying idiot," she said.
The system used on Toyota relies on two separate sensors connected to the gas pedal and another pair connected to the throttle valve itself.
In order for the system to work each sensor in a pair has to match. If they don't match in the proper way, an on-board computer immediately senses that as a problem and the engine power is immediately reduced to idle or, in some situations, it's shut off altogether.
Gilbert said that he overrode that safety feature, which would have allowed faulty pedal signals to be sent to the engine with no problem being detected by the car's on-board computer.
Toyota has raised questions about Gilbert's tests and its application to real-world circumstances. The carmaker has invited Gilbert to demonstrate the problem for them after Toyota's own engineers were unable to replicate the situation in an earlier test.
The problem could, theoretically, be caused by a manufacturing defect in the sensors, Gilbert said.
Gilbert said he was unable to create a similar problem in cars by other manufacturers, including General Motors and Honda. Those cars use more stringent error-checking systems in their cars, Gilbert said.
Toyota Motor U.S. sales chief Jim Lentz is expected to deny that the carmaker's electronic throttle control systems are the cause of any unintended acceleration problems when he testifies before the Committee.
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electronic throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said in a prepared statement released prior to his testimony. "We have designed our electronic throttle control system with multiple failsafe mechanisms to shut off or reduce engine power in the event of a system failure."
After revealing that Toyota's consultants had been able, late Monday night, to replicate Gilbert's results, Lentz expressed skepticism that "crossing wires" reflected a real-world issue.
"Of these five attorneys who have sponsored your research how many of these law firms, right now, are suing Toyota?" Buyer asked Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies.
"I believe every one of them represents the voice of a victim of the problem we are dealing with today," Kane replied.
In a letter addressed to Lentz Monday, Oversight and Investigations subcommittee chairman Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) wrote that his committee's preliminary review of 75,000 pages of Toyota's internal company documents raises significant concerns. In particular, Toyota boasted of saving $100 million by dodging a more extensive recall of the Toyota Camry and Lexus.
In response, Lentz said in prepared testimony that, "Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our good faith and efforts. The problem has been compounded by poor communication both within our company and with regulators and consumers."
He goes on to say that Toyota's investigation of customer complaints focused on technical issues, failing to efficiently analyze and respond to information about sticking accelerator pedals.
"We acknowledge these mistakes, we apologize for them and we have learned from them," Lentz says in the remarks. "We now understand that we must think differently when investigating complaints and communicate faster, better and more effectively with our customer and our regulators."
He adds that Toyota's recent recalls of certain 2010 Prius and Lexus hybrids and 2010 Tacoma trucks exemplifies the automaker's revised approach. Plus, he explains that some of Toyota's 1,500 dealers are staying open 24 hours and have already repaired close to 1 million recalled vehicles.
Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who is scheduled to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday, will lead a "top-to-bottom review" of Toyota's operations, Lentz added.
Several witnesses at Tuesday morning's hearing are expected to testify about their suspicions that a software issue in the car's computerized throttle system may be to blame in some cases of unintended acceleration.
Documents reviewed by the Energy Committee call into question the thoroughness of Toyota's investigations.
During opening statements at the start of Tuesday's hearings, several Representatives also questioned NHTSA's ability to deal with possible software issues, noting that agency lacks technical expertise in computerized automotive systems.
David Gilbert, a professor of automotive technology at Southern Illinois University, said he had uncovered a potential for a short circuit that could undermine the car's built in safety checks.
"What this does is this opens the opportunity to have other problems occur without detection," he said.
Toyota Motor U.S. sales chief Jim Lentz said that an engineering consulting firm hired by Toyota, Exponent, Inc., was able to replicate the situation created by Gilbert both in a Toyota vehicle and in a competing vehicle.
Gilbert spoke shortly after Rhonda Smith, a Lexus owner who experienced an episode of high-speed unintended acceleration in her ES350. The car revved out of control shortly after she entered the highway, she said, and neither the brakes nor shifting the car into neutral or reverse brought it to a stop.
"After six miles, God intervened," she said, and she was able to bring the car to a stop.
Representatives of both Toyota and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told her that what she had experienced could not have happened, she said.
"I was labeled a destructive lying idiot," she said.
The system used on Toyota relies on two separate sensors connected to the gas pedal and another pair connected to the throttle valve itself.
In order for the system to work each sensor in a pair has to match. If they don't match in the proper way, an on-board computer immediately senses that as a problem and the engine power is immediately reduced to idle or, in some situations, it's shut off altogether.
Gilbert said that he overrode that safety feature, which would have allowed faulty pedal signals to be sent to the engine with no problem being detected by the car's on-board computer.
Toyota has raised questions about Gilbert's tests and its application to real-world circumstances. The carmaker has invited Gilbert to demonstrate the problem for them after Toyota's own engineers were unable to replicate the situation in an earlier test.
The problem could, theoretically, be caused by a manufacturing defect in the sensors, Gilbert said.
Gilbert said he was unable to create a similar problem in cars by other manufacturers, including General Motors and Honda. Those cars use more stringent error-checking systems in their cars, Gilbert said.
Toyota Motor U.S. sales chief Jim Lentz is expected to deny that the carmaker's electronic throttle control systems are the cause of any unintended acceleration problems when he testifies before the Committee.
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electronic throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said in a prepared statement released prior to his testimony. "We have designed our electronic throttle control system with multiple failsafe mechanisms to shut off or reduce engine power in the event of a system failure."
After revealing that Toyota's consultants had been able, late Monday night, to replicate Gilbert's results, Lentz expressed skepticism that "crossing wires" reflected a real-world issue.
"Of these five attorneys who have sponsored your research how many of these law firms, right now, are suing Toyota?" Buyer asked Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies.
"I believe every one of them represents the voice of a victim of the problem we are dealing with today," Kane replied.
In a letter addressed to Lentz Monday, Oversight and Investigations subcommittee chairman Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) wrote that his committee's preliminary review of 75,000 pages of Toyota's internal company documents raises significant concerns. In particular, Toyota boasted of saving $100 million by dodging a more extensive recall of the Toyota Camry and Lexus.
In response, Lentz said in prepared testimony that, "Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our good faith and efforts. The problem has been compounded by poor communication both within our company and with regulators and consumers."
He goes on to say that Toyota's investigation of customer complaints focused on technical issues, failing to efficiently analyze and respond to information about sticking accelerator pedals.
"We acknowledge these mistakes, we apologize for them and we have learned from them," Lentz says in the remarks. "We now understand that we must think differently when investigating complaints and communicate faster, better and more effectively with our customer and our regulators."
He adds that Toyota's recent recalls of certain 2010 Prius and Lexus hybrids and 2010 Tacoma trucks exemplifies the automaker's revised approach. Plus, he explains that some of Toyota's 1,500 dealers are staying open 24 hours and have already repaired close to 1 million recalled vehicles.
Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who is scheduled to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday, will lead a "top-to-bottom review" of Toyota's operations, Lentz added.
Several witnesses at Tuesday morning's hearing are expected to testify about their suspicions that a software issue in the car's computerized throttle system may be to blame in some cases of unintended acceleration.
Documents reviewed by the Energy Committee call into question the thoroughness of Toyota's investigations.
During opening statements at the start of Tuesday's hearings, several Representatives also questioned NHTSA's ability to deal with possible software issues, noting that agency lacks technical expertise in computerized automotive systems.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Report: House subcommittee petitions Toyota for secret documents
According to a report by Automotive News, the House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to former Toyota lawyer Dimitrios Biller requiring him to submit secret documents to Congress in advance of a February 24 hearing about the Japanese automaker's unintended acceleration issues. Biller is required to submit the reported four 18-inch bank boxes of documents to Congress by February 23. Biller filed a federal racketeering suit against his former employer over the summer.
Just one week ago Toyota won a temporary injunction against Biller barring the lawyer from releasing any of the secret documents. Biller's lawyer, Jeffrey Allen, says the congressional subpoena supersedes the injunction and that Biller intends to supply the documents by the February 23 deadline. Biller contends that Toyota destroyed multiple documents that could have implicated the automaker in SUV rollover cases. In late September, Texas Judge T. John Ward ordered Toyota not to destroy any crash informaton.
Toyota is suing Biller for $33.5 million for divulging confidential information and Biller's lawyer contends that Toyota's ex-lawyer flew to Japan and tried for four days to get executives to air his concerns over the handling of the information. Biller was then reportedly asked to resign and given a severance.
The February 24 House Oversight meeting has still more drama due to the fact that Toyota President Akio Toyoda will testify before the committee. Toyoda originally planned to leave the testifying to Yoshimi Inaba, president of Toyota's operations in North America. That changed when committee chairman Edolphus Towns (D-NY) sent a formal letter to the Toyota president requesting his presence.
We're not sure how the alleged SUV rollover info is relevant to unintended acceleration, but the bigger picture may be that congress is looking into whether Toyota has a history of hiding evidence that could potentially paint the company in a bad light.
Just one week ago Toyota won a temporary injunction against Biller barring the lawyer from releasing any of the secret documents. Biller's lawyer, Jeffrey Allen, says the congressional subpoena supersedes the injunction and that Biller intends to supply the documents by the February 23 deadline. Biller contends that Toyota destroyed multiple documents that could have implicated the automaker in SUV rollover cases. In late September, Texas Judge T. John Ward ordered Toyota not to destroy any crash informaton.
Toyota is suing Biller for $33.5 million for divulging confidential information and Biller's lawyer contends that Toyota's ex-lawyer flew to Japan and tried for four days to get executives to air his concerns over the handling of the information. Biller was then reportedly asked to resign and given a severance.
The February 24 House Oversight meeting has still more drama due to the fact that Toyota President Akio Toyoda will testify before the committee. Toyoda originally planned to leave the testifying to Yoshimi Inaba, president of Toyota's operations in North America. That changed when committee chairman Edolphus Towns (D-NY) sent a formal letter to the Toyota president requesting his presence.
We're not sure how the alleged SUV rollover info is relevant to unintended acceleration, but the bigger picture may be that congress is looking into whether Toyota has a history of hiding evidence that could potentially paint the company in a bad light.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Germany's Volkswagen says sales up 41 per cent on year in January, powered by China
BERLIN — German car maker Volkswagen AG said Friday that its global sales were up more than 40 per cent on the year in January, powered by strong demand in China.
Deliveries by the Volkswagen Group - including brands such as Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda - totalled 538,500 vehicles in January, up from 381,100 a year earlier. That was a 41.3 per cent increase.
However, the board member responsible for sales, Christian Klingler, cautioned that the company still faces a challenging year because "the situation on international automotive markets remains tense."
In Germany, the Volkswagen group delivered 71,800 vehicles in January, an increase of 34.6 per cent. In the U.S., it saw a 40.1 per cent increase to 24,600 cars, benefiting from higher demand for smaller and more fuel-efficient cars.
The highest sales increase, however, came from China, where deliveries were up 98.8 per cent on the year - soaring to 166,900 from 83,900.
Volkswagen, based in Wolfsburg, is Europe's largest automotive group by sales. It also is a major shareholder of two of Europe's largest truck makers, MAN SE of Germany and Scania AB of Sweden.
In a market that was down slightly, shares of VW fell 2.7 per cent at euro55.60 (US$76.34) in afternoon trading in Frankfurt.
Copyright © 2010 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Deliveries by the Volkswagen Group - including brands such as Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda - totalled 538,500 vehicles in January, up from 381,100 a year earlier. That was a 41.3 per cent increase.
However, the board member responsible for sales, Christian Klingler, cautioned that the company still faces a challenging year because "the situation on international automotive markets remains tense."
In Germany, the Volkswagen group delivered 71,800 vehicles in January, an increase of 34.6 per cent. In the U.S., it saw a 40.1 per cent increase to 24,600 cars, benefiting from higher demand for smaller and more fuel-efficient cars.
The highest sales increase, however, came from China, where deliveries were up 98.8 per cent on the year - soaring to 166,900 from 83,900.
Volkswagen, based in Wolfsburg, is Europe's largest automotive group by sales. It also is a major shareholder of two of Europe's largest truck makers, MAN SE of Germany and Scania AB of Sweden.
In a market that was down slightly, shares of VW fell 2.7 per cent at euro55.60 (US$76.34) in afternoon trading in Frankfurt.
Copyright © 2010 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
