More owners of Toyota vehicles say recall repairs aren't working

More than 60 drivers have complained of sudden acceleration incidents despite the fact that their cars were repaired by Toyota Motor Corp. in the current recalls, new data released Thursday show.

The latest figure, released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, significantly increases the total number of complaints involving repaired vehicles, which was less than 10 on Tuesday. The new complaints allege several accidents and at least three injuries resulting from runaway unintended acceleration despite the vehicles' undergoing a series of modifications at Toyota dealerships designed to resolve the issue.

In response to the rising number of complaints, federal regulators said they would contact each motorist to find out more about what happened. NHTSA also said it would ask Toyota for similar complaints it may have received from customers. The agency does not normally verify individual reports, posted anonymously on its database.

"If it appears that a remedy provided by Toyota is not addressing the problem it was intended to fix, NHTSA has the authority to order Toyota to provide a different solution," the agency said in a statement.

Toyota said that it had begun its own evaluation of the complaints, and that it was too soon to release findings. Toyota is "doing everything it can to ensure that our customers are confident in their vehicles," the company said in a statement.

The automaker has maintained that sudden unintended acceleration in its Toyota and Lexus vehicles is caused by sticking gas pedals or floor mats that can entrap the pedal, and has issued nearly 10 million recall notices for vehicles worldwide to correct the problem.

The new complaints, however, are fueling skepticism from those who think the root cause may lie in Toyota's electronics.

"These reports are extremely troubling and reinforce the serious questions raised in congressional hearings about the true cause of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles," Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), vice chairman of the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee, said in letter Wednesday to the Department of Transportation and NHTSA.

If the allegations are true, he added, it could indicate "that Toyota electronics may be playing a role."

In its statement, Toyota said that the complaint evaluations it has already completed "have found no evidence of a failure of the vehicle electronic throttle control system, the recent recall remedies or the brake override feature."

One complaint involves a 2009 Matrix that was repaired Feb. 13 in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Eleven days later, it spun out of control and hit a concrete median at 55 mph, according to the filing, which alleges an unspecified injury.

The owner of a 2007 Camry wrote to NHTSA saying that even after the recall repairs were made Feb. 27 at a dealership in Greensboro, N.C., the vehicle "experienced a sudden surge in acceleration twice."

The driver described racing from a standing start and also an event that occurred at highway speeds. The complaint suggests the problem is in the car's computer system.

The recalls, which affect a broad variety of Toyota and Lexus vehicles, also include the Pontiac Vibe, which was built in a joint venture between General Motors Co. and Toyota at a California plant until last summer.

One driver from Missouri complained to NHTSA of a 2009 Vibe that raced to 7,000 rpm uncommanded, causing it to lurch forward.

The owner took it to the dealership Feb. 19, where its accelerator was modified and driver's-side floor mat removed. Three days later, the complaint alleged, "the car malfunctioned again, causing a near collision."

Under its two continuing recalls, which affect about 6 million cars in the U.S., Toyota is replacing or modifying pedals, changing out floor mats, removing carpet padding and installing software designed to allow the brake to electronically override the throttle.

Earlier this week, Toyota said it had already repaired more than 1 million vehicles under the recall campaigns.

NHTSA said this week that it had received at least 52 reports of fatalities linked to sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

Ford Beating GM May Be ‘New Normal’ on Vehicle Lineup, Quality

Ford Motor Co. beating General Motors Co. in U.S. sales in February may signal a new automaker atop the industry as Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally pares operating costs and refreshes the vehicle lineup.
Monthly results released yesterday showed Ford topping GM in deliveries for the first time since 1998. Before that, the Dearborn, Michigan-based company’s last win was in 1970, based on Ford data. Both triumphs came when strikes idled Detroit- based GM, which has been No. 1 in U.S. annual sales since 1931.
“Ford’s advantage over GM could be the new normal,” said Shelly Lombard, a debt analyst for more than two decades who is now at Gimme Credit LLC in New York. “GM is still in turnaround mode and Ford is six steps ahead. Ford has the products, a new reputation for solid quality and management focus.”
Mulally, who joined Ford more than three years ago from Boeing Co., has championed redesigned sedans such as the Taurus, presided over a 47 percent cut in the North American workforce since 2006 and, unlike GM, avoided bankruptcy. The Ford brand rose to eighth place in 2009 from 23rd in 2001 in the initial quality survey by consumer researcher J.D. Power & Associates.
GM exited court protection last year with a plan to drop half its U.S. brands. The winding down of those units damped February results, and CEO Ed Whitacre reshuffled the sales team for the second time since December.
February Results
Ford reported a 43 percent increase in sales to 142,285 in February, topping the 33 percent average estimate among 5 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. GM reported sales of 141,951 units, a 12 percent gain that trailed the analysts’ projection of a 20 percent increase.
“It could be a turning point,” said John Wolkonowicz, an analyst with IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Ford’s U.S. market share was 18.2 percent, compared with 18.1 percent for GM, according to researcher Autodata Corp. in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
“We’re not measuring ourselves against any other company,” George Pipas, Ford’s sales analyst, said in an interview. “We’re measuring ourselves against the consumer.”
Jason Laird, a GM spokesman, said: “None of our internal benchmarks are against another company. And one game does not a season make.”
Toyota Motor Corp., which has been second in annual U.S. sales since 2007, said deliveries fell 8.7 percent to 100,027 after its global recalls. The drop at the world’s largest automaker was less than the 10 percent predicted by Santa Monica, California-based research firm Edmunds.com.
‘Nice Trajectory’
“The No. 1 spot is up for grabs now more than it has ever been,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president of Santa Monica-based researcher TrueCar.com. “Ford clearly is going through a major recovery and has a very nice trajectory for sales growth. But GM and Toyota both clearly have a shot.”
GM’s February results showed the effect of the planned sale or shutdown of Saab, Hummer, Saturn and Pontiac as part of last year’s government-backed bankruptcy. Those four vehicle lines plunged 86 percent to 3,102, GM said.
Deliveries for the remaining brands, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC, rose 32 percent from a year earlier, GM said. Volumes more than doubled for the Buick LaCrosse sedan and Chevrolet Equinox SUV.
“We have not moved far enough, fast enough,” GM North American President Mark Reuss said on a conference call in announcing the creation of separate arms for sales and marketing in the region.
GM’s Changes
Susan Docherty, vice president for sales, service and marketing, was shifted to handle only marketing. Steve Carlisle, most recently executive director of Southeast Asia operations, became vice president of U.S. sales operations, GM said.
Docherty was given her previous duties on Dec. 4, three days after Whitacre, 68, added the CEO title to his job as chairman when the board ousted Fritz Henderson. Docherty and Carlisle will report to Reuss, who was appointed in December.
Whitacre has said he wants to defend GM’s market share as he tries to halt about $88 billion in losses from the end of 2004 through last year’s first quarter. He has said he hopes for a profit this year. Mulally, 64, steered Ford to net income of $2.7 billion in 2009.
The U.S. industry is still recovering from last year’s plunge to the lowest sales levels since 1982.
Sales Rate
February sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 10.4 million, according to Autodata. Snowstorms curbed showroom traffic across much of the U.S. last month. Manufacturers, dealers and investors use the sales pace to compare monthly totals by taking into account seasonal buying patterns. Annual U.S. sales averaged 16.8 million last decade through 2007.
Ford fell 19 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $12.22 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have climbed 22 percent this year.
Ford last outsold GM on an annual and quarterly basis in 1930, when founder Henry Ford and his son, Edsel, were running the company, according to Ward’s Automotive Reports.
Toprak, the TrueCar.com analyst, said Ford, GM and Toyota would jockey for the top spot in the U.S. throughout 2010.
“These three will be very close to each other for the remainder of the year,” Toprak said. “It will be a head-to- head-to-head competition for the foreseeable future.”
--With assistance from Bill Koenig in New York and David Welch in Southfield, Michigan. Editors: Ed Dufner, Jamie Butters
-0- Mar/03/2010 05:01 GMT
To contact the reporters on this story: Keith Naughton in Southfield, Michigan, at Knaughton3@bloomberg.net; Mike Ramsey in Southfield, Michigan, at mramsey6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jamie Butters at jbutters@bloomberg.net
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Obama cites GOP ideas as he preps health care plan

President Barack Obama embraced a handful of Republican health care ideas Tuesday to lure votes of Democrats wary of a more partisan approach as he prepared to spell out his final package for a sharply divided House and Senate, where its fate is unsure.
In a bit of political sleight of hand, Obama said he might include four GOP-sponsored ideas in his plan, even though virtually no one in Congress or the White House thinks it will procure a single Republican vote.

The move is aimed instead at wavering Democrats, especially in the House. Some of them might find it easier to vote for the health care package if they can tell constituents it had bipartisan elements that Republicans should have supported. Yet there is no guarantee that Democratic leaders will incorporate Obama's suggestions in revised legislation.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell warned that Democrats will enact their health care plan at their own political peril, vowing to make it an issue in every congressional race this fall.

In remarks at the White House on Wednesday, the president will describe the final elements of his proposal and then ask Congress to enact it, aides said. Obama was expected to reiterate why changing the system is so important and again explain what his plans would mean to families and businesses. The aides also expected Obama to talk about the Republican ideas he wants woven into the Democrats' plans.
He is expected to leave no doubt that, barring an unexpected change in Republican tactics, he wants Congress to pass the legislation using budget reconciliation rules, which prohibit Senate filibusters. Obama is unlikely to use those exact words, as Democratic leaders are emphasizing they want to pass a bill with simple majority votes in the House and Senate.
"He'll urge Congress to move swiftly toward votes on this legislation," said a White House official who described Obama's remarks on condition of anonymity to avoid upstaging the president.

It takes 60 votes to halt a filibuster, and Democrats can count on only 59 in the 100-member Senate.
In a letter to congressional leaders Tuesday, Obama said he would consider four ideas floated by Republican lawmakers: sending investigators disguised as patients to uncover fraud and waste in Medicare and Medicaid; expanding pilot programs to bring more predictability to medical malpractice lawsuits; increasing payments to Medicaid providers; and expanding the use of health savings accounts.
"I said throughout this process that I'd continue to draw on the best ideas from both parties, and I'm open to these proposals in that spirit," Obama wrote.
In a nod to his 2008 presidential rival, he said he had eliminated a special deal for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in Florida and other states that drew criticism from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
But Obama again rejected Republican appeals to restart the health care debate or dramatically scale back his proposals.
"Piecemeal reform is not the best way to effectively reduce premiums, end the exclusion of people with pre-existing conditions or offer Americans the security of knowing that they will never lose coverage," his letter said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the letter "brings us just another step closer to passing the bill." She said she hopes to incorporate some of the GOP ideas.
Republicans, meanwhile, made it clear the president's overtures will not win their hearts or votes.

Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican who proposed some of the notions Obama is weighing, said that "merely incorporating these ideas into the deeply flawed House and Senate bills will not bring us any closer to real reform."
In a letter to Obama, Coburn noted that opinion polls show extensive opposition to the Democratic plan. "An all-or-nothing reconciliation strategy will give the American people nothing," Coburn wrote.
White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, after meeting with top Democrats in the Capitol, told reporters: "Reconciliation is a vehicle that's been used many times. This is a normal procedure."
The Democratic package would extend health coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans over 10 years, with a first-time mandate for nearly everyone to buy insurance. It would provide subsidies to help low-income people buy insurance, and it would impose several new requirements on insurers and employers.

It will be less expensive than the health care bill the House narrowly passed in November, and will contain no government-run insurance program to compete with private insurers.
Those changes might appeal to some of the three dozen Democratic House moderates who opposed the November version of the bill. The revised bill may die if none of those Democrats vote for it, because some Democrats appear likely to switch from yes to no because of a dispute over abortion funding restrictions.
Obama signaled a willingness to take a small step farther into the contentious issue of limiting lawsuits that allege medical malpractice. Plaintiffs' lawyers, a key fundraising source for Democrats, staunchly oppose such limits. But Republicans and many doctors have demanded them for years.
Obama's letter said he was open to appropriating an extra $50 million for pilot programs that experiment with specialized health courts rather than jury trials. A judge steeped in medical matters would hear evidence and render verdicts for patients alleging injuries from wrongful acts.
A plaintiff lawyers' group, the Center for Justice & Democracy, said it strongly opposes such health courts, calling them "anti-patient."
It was unclear Tuesday when the House and Senate might vote on the revised health care proposals. Some Democrats hope to do so before Obama leaves for a trip to Asia on March 20.

Data from a Democratic pollster has been circulating on Capitol Hill showing that opposition to the health care plan drops substantially when people learn more details about how it might help them. This is especially true of independent voters, who fear the plan involves too much government intervention until they learn more about it, the poll states.