Akio Toyoda waves family flag, heir makes crisis personal challenge

The reclusive Akio Toyoda is taking the rare step of waving the family flag, as the scion to Toyota Motor Corp.’s founding dynasty tries to steer the world’s largest car company out of a spiraling safety crisis. In testimony prepared for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, President Toyoda pursues a rare personal tack on the emergency, saying “my name is on every car.” “As you well know, I am the grandson of the founder, and all the Toyota vehicles bear my name,” Toyoda says in prepared comments circulated ahead of Wednesday’s committee hearing in Washington. “For me, when the cars are damaged, it is as though I am as well.” The intimate reflection is a departure for Toyoda, who has spent most of his career sidestepping public discussion of his lineage.

Chrysler recalls 200 and Dodge Avenger for fuel-tank valves

Chrysler is recalling 1,934 examples of the 2013 Chrysler 200 and Dodge Avenger sedans, looking for 16 vehicles in particular with damaged fuel-tank-control valves. A routine maintenance operation led the tank supplier to discover it had shipped damaged goods. The damaged valves could cause engine stalling or fuel leakage.

Volvo’s ‘World Premier’ is a bit of a damp squib

We had been hoping – and, to a degree, expecting – that Volvo’s big ‘World Premier’ they’ve been teasing for today would be the new Volvo XC90, a long overdue replacement for the (still surprisingly good) current model which is now more than a decade old. But it’s not. Instead, the big news is that the facelift Volvo XC60 is getting a global launch with Swedish House Mafia’s ditty ‘Leave the World Behind’ as its sound track.