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Consumer Reports says infotainment systems 'growing first-year reliability plague'

The Consumer Reports Annual Auto Reliability Survey (right) is out, and the top two spots look much the same as last year's list with Lexus and Toyota in first and second place, respectively. However, there are some major shakeups for 2014, with Acura plunging eight spots from third in 2013 to 11th this year, and Mazda replaces it on the lowest step of the podium. Honda and Audi round out the top five. This year's list includes six Japanese brands in the top 10, two Europeans, one America and one Korean.
Acura isn't the only one taking a tumble, though. Infiniti is the biggest loser this year by dropping 14 spots to 20th place. Other big losses come from Mercedes-Benz with an 11-place fall to 24th, and GMC, which declines 10 positions to 19th.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's not traditional mechanical bugs hauling down these automaker's reliability scores. Instead, pesky problems with infotainment systems are taking a series toll on the rankings. According to Consumer Reports, complaints about "in-car electronics" were the most grumbled about element in new cars. Problem areas included things like unresponsive touchscreens, issues pairing phones and multi-use controllers that refused to work right.

Toyota, Subaru developing RAV4-sized electric crossover and platform for more EVs

TOKYO — Toyota and Subaru announced they will jointly develop a battery-electric crossover on a platform developed for multiple production vehicles. The first crossover built on the platform will be a C-segment vehicle, which will be a small vehicle similar in size to a Toyota RAV4 or Subaru Forester. It will also be sold by both brands with altered styling and badging. The small crossover will only be the first vehicle to use the platform, though, as it's being developed for use in medium-small C-segment sedans and both D-segment larger sedans and crossovers. So we could see electric cars similar to the Corolla and Impreza, Camry and Legacy, and even the Highlander and Ascent on this platform in the future. Not surprisingly, this first electric crossover will have all-wheel drive, and the companies said that Subaru would provide all-wheel drive expertise with Toyota adding its electric powertrain knowledge. It's a safe bet that all of the future Subarus on the platform will have all-wheel drive, but it will be interesting to see if Toyota offers two-wheel- and all-wheel-drive iterations of its vehicles. The move to share technology underlines the conundrum facing Toyota and other global automakers, which are competing to develop new vehicle technologies including all-battery electric cars and self-driving cars, which require massive investment. "Subaru and Toyota believe that it is necessary to pursue a business model that goes beyond convention, crossing over industrial boundaries," the automakers said. Toyota is looking to partnerships with rival automakers and tech firms to reduce its capital outlay for developing these new technologies. In April, it announced it would supply other automakers with its hybrid technology, an area it has led since it pioneered the Prius in 1997. It also recently released the 2020 Toyota Supra, which shares a majority of its powertrain and chassis, among other things, with the 2020 BMW Z4. Toyota also provided hybrid development assistance to Subaru on the Crosstrek plug-in hybrid. Subaru, although experiencing massive, continual sales success, particularly in crossover and all-wheel-drive obsessed America, is still a small car company in the grand scheme of things. As such it's struggling to independently invest in and develop lower-emission vehicles and on-demand transportation services widely seen as necessary to survive technological upheaval in the global auto industry.

NHTSA investigating 561k Toyota Prius hybrids for possible steering shaft defect

The Detroit News is reporting that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will investigate some 561,000 Toyota Prius models for potentially defective steering shafts. The affected hybrid models are from the 2004-2009 model years. The story indicates that NHTSA is weighing whether or not to grant a defect petition, which claims that Toyota incorrectly assembled the hatchback's steering linkage.
As of this writing, there is no recall. However, a recall based on the Prius steering shaft would be the third related to steering issues for the model since 2006. Seven years ago, Toyota recalled 170K Prius models for potential cracking of the intermediate shafts, and in November of 2012, the automaker recalled 670K units to replace the steering shaft extension assembly.
We'll be monitoring NHTSA's signals to see if this investigation turns into a full-fledged recall. For now, stay tuned.