Autoblog

Toyota's Matrix wagon, Corolla sedan and its mechanical twin the Pontiac Vibe sport wagon are all in hot water after motorists have begun to issue complaints about their power side-front windows. Reports indicate the windows are getting stuck, making popping noises, and in some cases shattering and injuring passengers. To date, more than 503 complaints have been received by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which is currently looking into the issue. Ultimately, the investigation may trigger a recall affecting 676,747 vehicles manufactured during the 2003 and 2004 model years at NUMMI, the GM-Toyota joint-venture plant that found itself in a pot of hot water after an employee accused her superiors last November of letting defective vehicles leave the facility.

Interesting to note: This may become the first windows recall that doesn't require PC owners to download a patch. (Hardy har har.)

[Source: Detroit News]

A faulty seatbelt that traps an occupant in a vehicle and leads to his death is a horrible tragedy. If the defect were given a pass at the manufacturing plant, it goes beyond tragic to criminal. Toyota is now facing two lawsuits in California, both centered around manufacturing defects that may have been ignored at its joint-venture New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant.

We reported earlier on the first lawsuit filed by Katy Cameron, a NUMMI worker who alleges that vehicles with serious problems were passed out the door, even though the NUMMI plant purportedly subscribes to the "Toyota way" of manufacturing. Instead of empowering workers to spot and correct defects, even stop the assembly line to make things right, management at the NUMMI plant allegedly discouraged Cameron by demoting her.

A second lawsuit has also been filed by the Singh family, who are blaming the seatbelt latch in their 2002 Corolla for the death of Raminder Singh. The Singhs were involved in an accident that led to an engine fire, and while 19-year-old Gurinder Singh was able to exit the vehicle, his father remained trapped by his seatbelt despite Gurinder's efforts to unlatch it.

A spokesman for Toyota has been quoted as saying, "as heart-rending and tragic as this collision was, Toyota has an altogether different view of the facts." The facts will hopefully come to light during this civil trial, which heard opening statements on Tuesday.

Thanks for the tip, Jon!

[Source: Money/CNN]

The evidence: rumor had it at the LA Auto Show that customers would soon have the option of buying a hybrid Toyota Matrix and a hybrid Pontiac Vibe; the 2009 Pontiac Vibe is made at NUMMI, a GM-Toyota joint venture manufacturing plant where the Matrix is also made; Toyota's already got its hybrid synergy drive -- so is GM working on a hybrid with Toyota, or will they use Toyota's hybrid tech to work in the Vibe?

The evidence is circumstantial, certainly. But it's possible. Lutz said at the recent Reuters Auto Summit that, no matter what GM thinks of hybrids, the company made a mistake letting Toyota get so far ahead with hybrids such that now the Japanese brand has become practically synonymous with hybrids and is perceived to be atop a green moral high ground. True, there's the Volt, and GM might not be doing anything with Toyota at all and it could just be a rumor. Or GM could surprise us with something completely new -- it wouldn't be the first time.

[Source: AutoblogGreen]

A certified auditor working at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) plant in California that's run jointly by General Motors and Toyota has stepped forward to file a lawsuit alleging that her managers knowingly permitted defects on cars to go unfixed. Katy Cameron claims that her superiors routinely overlooked problems including broken seat belts, faulty headlights, inadequate braking, mirrors falling off, engine oil leaks and steering wheel alignment problems, though there's no evidence that any of these have resulted in an accident. Cameron's lawsuit not only alleges that her managers failed to report these defects, but that she was also routinely harassed for being a whistleblower. The Associated Press reports that she is now on medical leave receiving treatment for stress, depression and other mental problems resulting from being mistreated at the NUMMI plant.

The NUMMI plant produces the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Tacoma and Pontiac Vibe, and while it's considered a joint-venture between Toyota and GM, the plant is run using Toyota's manufacturing process. From what we can tell, it operates much like a training ground where GM managers can go to learn Japanese manufacturing techniques. Thus, these allegations appear to be aimed more at Toyota than GM. The response from Toyota has been that it's "tackling quality problems as a top priority," while GM wasn't aware of the lawsuit at the time the linked article was written.

Toyota's sterling reputation for quality has been tarnished lately with recalls becoming more common and Consumer Reports removing a few of the Japanese automaker's vehicles from its recommended list. We imagine their must be tremendous pressure at the plant level to fix any quality issues that arise, which could encourage managers to make some questionable decisions. While we don't know for sure what happened at the NUMMI plant in California, the idea that some managers would choose to hide defects rather than report them doesn't seem that far fetched considering the pressure to be perfect.

[Source: AP via Wheels.ca via ImportCarCanada, photo via Inside Line]

Pontiac officially unveiled the 2009 edition of the Vibe hatchback yesterday, and a question has been raised by several commentors about the powertrain lineup. As we all know, the Vibe shares a platform with the Toyota Corolla and all of its derivatives. The question of why the Vibe uses the Toyota engines rather than GM's own Ecotec lineup was raised during the press conference. After all the 2.4L EcoTec as used in the Cobalt is rated at 173hp and yields EPA numbers of 22/32 mpg according to the 2008 EPA tests. That's 15 hp more, and it bests the 21/27 mpg of the Toyota 2.4 in the Vibe GT.

According to a Pontiac spokesman, the deal with Toyota allows GM to provide product performance requirements, and do the styling, final calibration and tuning. The base engineering responsibility falls to Toyota, and they select the major component suppliers and subsystems, including engines. So, as long as GM maintains this relationship with Toyota, they will have limited control over whatever vehicles are produced. When you consider GM's recent products, it may be time for the General to create the next generation Vibe from its own Delta platform instead. Dropping the 260 hp turbo DI 2.0 Ecotec from the HHR SS (and Cobalt SS, and Solstice GXP, and Sky Red Line) into the AWD Vibe might make a pretty sweet alternative to the new Caliber SRT-4 from Dodge.

[Source: General Motors]

Gallery: 2009 Pontiac Vibe GT

Toyota's success over the past decade has come at the cost of quality at times, and now, it's affecting employees and their families. In a document obtained by Automotive News, ToMoCo engineers and managers are getting worn out, whether it's from cross-country trips in close succession or the daily rigors of constant expansion. The result is five-percent of employees leaving the automaker in 2006, and 10-percent leaving in 2005.

The remedy seems to entail increasing the number of places around North America for Toyota's employees to conduct business, including new satellite branches in Fremont, CA, Los Angeles, British Columbia, Baja Mexico and throughout the Midwest, South and Great Lakes area.

With an average of one new plant coming on line every year, Toyota expects to have most of these new locations setup by 2010, which will hopefully stem the tide of workers leaving the company.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]