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NHTSA opens safety investigations into Toyota, GM and Honda crossovers

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is evidently keeping itself very busy these days, as the federal agency has just announced it is launching or renewing investigations into Toyota, Honda and General Motors crossovers.
2006-2008 model year Toyota RAV4 crossovers are under review for allegations of rear tie-rod rust which can result in failure. NHTSA also said it is probing some 35 complaints about 2005 Honda Pilot models with inappropriate activation of the vehicles' stability control system. The alleged malfunction can cause the vehicles to slow down or stop in bad unsafe situations. At the moment, NHTSA is reviewing a petition regarding the Pilot issue, a move that will determine whether it needs to open a full-blown investigation.
In addition, Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia three-row crossovers built in 2007-2009 are getting looked at for "loss of low beam headlamp" function. One complainant said the wiring in his Outlook overheated and melted. NHTSA says it has received 415 complaints about the problem and a GM spokesman confirmed that the automaker already started a "Customer Satisfaction Program" in December to address the issue.

Toyota GT86, Scion FR-S sales disappointing worldwide?

Okay, folks - it appears we've got a problem. The Toyota GT86, Europe's counterpart to our own beloved Subaru BRZ and Scion FR-S coupes, is apparently not selling too well. This, according to Toyota's European Vice President of Research and Development, Gerald Killman, is what's limiting plans for additional variants of the rear-drive coupe.
"A faster version of that car would be at the top of most people's wish lists, but like the cabriolet, it is hard to justify a business case to push either model into production based on the current sales," Killman told AutoExpress. "Personally, I think that engine could use a little bit more," he added.
More troubling is that slow sales aren't limited to the Euro-spec car, with Killman claiming that the GT86 have been missing sales targets in major markets around the globe. It may not be that the US is one of those major markets, though. Scion's Vice President, Doug Murtha, tells Autoblog that his brand is happy with the sales of its version of the GT86, the FR-S. 18,000 units were sold last year, which Murtha says is "generally in line with original expectations for the car."

Toyota wants half its vehicles in Japan to be hybrids

The Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle could signal the future of motoring with a somewhat accessible price and cutting-edge green technology, but there's no guarantee for the model actually spearheading a revolution in the marketplace. In the meantime, the Japanese brand is continuing to focus on its hybrid powertrains and actually plans to build even more of them. As soon as next year, half of Toyota's sales in Japan could be electrically assisted. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, Toyota is pushing to sell 760,000 hybrids in Japan in 2016, compared to 684,000 last year. That figure would account for half of the company's sales in that country, and the company plans to increase overall production of its gas-electric models. The automaker could build 1.32 million of them next year, which would be about 30 percent more than in 2014. There's actually a financial incentive for Toyota to try this green strategy. Japan's rules for tax breaks on efficient models are about to get more stringent. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, only about half of all new models are expected to meet the guidelines for the incentives, compared to over 80 percent now, and the change could cost buyers as much as 100,000 yen ($840) more. With the impending debut of the next-gen Prius and heightened hybrid production, Toyota can position itself as an attractive choice to customers. News Source: Nikkei Asian Review via Green Car CongressImage Credit: Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP / Getty Images Green Plants/Manufacturing Toyota Hybrid