Biz.PeanutButterNews.com

Full Story at money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The car company that is off to the worst start of 2010 isn’t Toyota. It’s Chrysler Group.

Industry experts say that even though Chrysler’s overall sales are down only 3% during the first two months of the year, estimates show more than half of Chrysler’s sales have been to fleet customers, such as rental car companies.

Full Story at msnbc.com

The Great Recession cleared the country’s roads, but a recovering economy and stimulus-fed construction projects will lead to worse delays.

Got satellite radio in your car? Now might be a good time to think about installing it, as you’re likely to be spending more time in traffic as the economy recovers.

Although high gas prices and lost jobs during the 2007-2009 recession led to a decrease in the number of Americans on the road, congestion is poised to increase as workers return to the nation’s highways and stimulus-funded construction projects create bottlenecks.

Full Story at money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Shuttered General Motors dealers hoping to get their business back should stay near the phone. General Motors is in the process of calling 661 dealers targeted for shutdown to offer them their franchises back, company executives said Friday afternoon.

That represents more than half of the dealers who lodged an arbitration appeal last month to fight their planned termination.

Full Story atmoney.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Federal safety regulators said Wednesday they have received 10 complaints from drivers alleging sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles that have already been repaired under the automaker’s recent recall.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it has reached out to the consumers in question to gather more information about the complaints, which were not immediately verifiable.

Full Story at msnbc.com

WASHINGTON – A House lawmaker said Friday that internal Toyota documents show the automaker deliberately withheld key vehicle design and testing evidence in lawsuits filed by Toyota drivers injured in crashes.

In a letter to Toyota’s top North American executive, House oversight committee Chairman Edolphus Towns accused Toyota of shielding its testing data on potential problems with Toyota vehicles.

Full Story at msnbc.com

WASHINGTON – Toyota officials claimed they saved the company $100 million by successfully negotiating with the government on a limited recall of floor mats in some Toyota and Lexus vehicles, according to new documents shared with congressional investigators.

Toyota, in an internal presentation in July 2009 at its Washington office, said it saved $100 million or more by negotiating an “equipment recall” of floor mats involving 55,000 Toyota Camry and Lexus ES350 vehicles in September 2007.

Full Story at msnbc.com

WASHINGTON – Complaints of deaths connected to sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles has surged in recent weeks, with the alleged death toll reaching 34 since 2000, according to new consumer data gathered by the government.

Complaints to a database maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the popular Toyota Prius hybrid grew by nearly 1,000 in just over a week.

Full Story at msnbc.com

WASHINGTON – Toyota is recalling about 8,000 Tacoma pickup trucks from the 2010 model year to fix a problem with the front drive shaft that could cause the vehicle to lose control.

The automaker told dealers Friday that a crack could develop that could lead to the front driveshaft separating and falling from the truck, causing the vehicle to lose control.

Full Story at CNNMoney.com

Porsche revealed images late Wednesday of its first hybrid sports car, a track car it plans to unveil at the Geneva Motor show next month.

While you won’t be able to park this car in your driveway — it’s a race car intended for LeMans endurance racing — it is based on the same production 911 you can buy today. A future 911 hybrid for public consumption is “open for discussion,” a Porsche spokesman said.

Full Story at msnbc.com

TOKYO/DETROIT – Honda Motor Co said it would recall another 440,000 cars around the world for faulty airbags as rival Toyota Motor Corp faced further probes over its largest-ever safety crisis.

Honda, Japan’s No. 2 automaker, has now recalled close to 950,000 vehicles for airbag problems linked to one fatality and a total of 11 injuries in the United States.

Full Story at msnbc.com

DETROIT – Toyota Motor Corp. plans to start sending parts to dealers in the coming days to fix a sticky gas pedal problem that has tarnished its image and led to the recall of 4.2 million cars and trucks on three continents, according to people briefed on the matter.

Toyota plans to reveal details of the fix on Monday morning, according to two dealers who asked not to be identified because the plan had not been announced

Full Story at money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — State laws that ban drivers from talking on hand-held cell phones seem to have no effect on crash rates, according to a study released Friday.

The Highway Loss Data Institute compared collisions of 100 insured vehicles per year in four different jurisdictions before and after bans on handheld cell phone use took effect. The study was done in New York, Washington, D.C., Connecticut and California.