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Autoblog Minute: VW Q3 financial woes, 2015 Tokyo Motor Show

Consumer Reports pulls its Tesla recommendation, the U.S. Copyright Office offers a ruling affecting car owners, VW gets hit hard with third-quarter losses, and lots of exciting news from Tokyo. Autoblog senior editor Greg Migliore reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] Consumer Reports pulls its Tesla recommendation, the U.S. copyright office offers a ruling that affects car owners and gear heads, VW gets hit hard with third-quarter losses, and lots of exciting news from Tokyo. I'm senior editor Greg Migliore and this is your Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. After a week away testing vehicles for Autoblog's Tech of the Year award, we're back in the office to recap the week in automotive news. [00:00:30] One of the things you might have missed was Consumer Reports pulling its recommendation of Tesla's Model S sedan. The blemish for Tesla comes after a tally of reviews from customer surveys. The most common problem areas for the Model S as cited by survey takers included: the drivetrain, power equipment, charging equipment, body and sunroof squeaks, rattles, and leaks. So lots of stuff. Though they could not ignore a score of "worse-than-average", Consumer Reports still [00:01:00] highlighted the fact that the Model S was "the best performing car" they've ever tested. Telsa CEO Elon Musk took to social media to defend his sedans saying: "Consumer Reports reliability survey includes a lot of early production cars. Already addressed in new cars." And, "Tesla gets top rating of any company in service. Most important, CR says 97% of owners expect their next car to be a Tesla (the acid test)." In Financial news, Volkswagen took a hit and reported an operating loss of [00:01:30] $3.84 billion. This is the first such loss for VW in 15 years. Toyota reclaimed the crown as the world's largest automaker as well. It's important that it's not all doom and gloom for VW though in Q3. Sales revenues were up and the company's automotive division boasts $30 billion dollars in liquid assets. It's a sizable war chest that will no doubt come in handy, as the company has yet to feel the full brunt of the diesel emissions scandal. Good news for gear heads. The US copyright office [00:02:00] ruled in favor of mechanics and car owners by granting an exception to existing copyright law. The law was originally meant to prevent software pirating and bootlegging of Hollywood movies.

Toyota to pay $11 million after trial for fatal Camry crash

Years after Toyota's unintended acceleration fiasco, the company is still making headlines for cars with sticky gas pedals. A federal jury in Minnesota decided yesterday that Toyota should pay $11 million for its role in the crash of a 1996 Camry that resulted in three deaths and sent a man to jail. A stuck pedal caused the Camry of Koua Fong Lee to accelerate uncontrollably and impact an Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, killing its driver and his nine-year-old son, and paralyzing a six-year-old girl, who later died of her injuries. Two other passengers in the Olds were seriously injured. Lee spent nearly three years in prison on a charge of vehicular homicide, until the unintended acceleration recall erupted. He filed a motion for a new trial and won, and then joined the suit against Toyota filed by the victims and their families of the 2006 crash that left him imprisoned. The jury found Toyota 60 percent responsible for the accident, with the remaining 40 percent of blame going to Lee. Toyota has denied that the 1996 Camry, which wasn't included in the company's sweeping accelerator pedal recalls, was at fault. Toyota released a statement saying the company respects the jury's decision but believes the evidence clearly showed the vehicle wasn't the accident's cause. The company said it will study the record and consider its legal options. Under Minnesota law, the way the jury allocated fault means Toyota is responsible for paying all damages, minus 40 percent of the amount awarded to Lee, said Lee's attorney, Bob Hilliard. That brings Toyota's total liability to $10.94 million. Lee will receive $750,000 of that total. During the trial, Hilliard, told jurors there was a defect in the car's design. He said the Camry's auto-drive assembly could stick, and when tapped or pushed while stuck, it could stick again at a higher speed. He also accused Toyota of never conducting reliability tests on nylon resin pulleys that could be damaged under heat and cause the throttle to stick. "This is what makes the car go. This is what turns it into a torpedo, a missile, a deadly weapon," Hilliard said during his closing argument. Toyota said there was no defect in the design of the 1996 Camry. The company's attorney, David Graves, suggested that Lee was an inexperienced driver and mistook the gas pedal for the brake. Toyota also noted that Lee's car was never subject to the recalls of later-model Toyotas.

Volvo, Kia and BYD duke it out in the finals for World Car of 2024

Three electric vehicles — none produced by an American manufacturer — will compete next month for the title of 2024 World Car of the Year, it was announced Monday. The finalists are the Kia EV9, the Volvo EX30 and the BYD Seal (shown above). The latter two are built in China. The three top finalists in five other categories were also named at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland. The winners in all six categories will be revealed live during an awards ceremony at the New York International Auto Show on March 27. This year marks the 20th year of the World Car Awards and the partnership with the New York show. Besides car of the year, the other finalists are: Electric vehicle: BMW i5, Kia EV9, Volvo EX30; Luxury car: BMW 5 Series/i5, Mercedes Benz E-Class, Mercedes Benz EQE SUV; Performance car: BMW M2, BMW XM, Hyundai Ionia 5 N; Urban car: BYD Dolphin, Lexus LBX, Volvo EX30; World Car Design: Ford Bronco, Ferrari Purosangue, Toyota Prius. Only Ford among U.S. companies has an entry in the final selections, and only in one category, design, for the Bronco. BMW has four vehicles in the finals, Volvo has three, Kia and Mercedes have two each. BYD from China has two entries as well. The Seal went on sale in in its home market in 2022 and is now available in most of the rest of the world. The BYD Co. (which stands for Build Your Dreams) has surpassed Tesla to become the worldÂ’s biggest maker of electric vehicles, and has its sights set on the U.S. The selection process for World Cars involves 100-plus automotive journalists from 29 countries who vote, as they review and test-drive the eligible vehicles for the 2024 awards. Their journey is captured virtually on World Car TV. Design/Style Geneva Motor Show BMW Ferrari Ford Hyundai Kia Lexus Mercedes-Benz Toyota Volvo Best Cars World Car of the Year