Toyota Motor Co. said Tuesday it was suspending U.S. sales of eight recalled models to fix accelerator pedals that stick, the latest quality problem to confront the world's No. 1 automaker.
The "stop sale" involves a significant portion of Toyota's fleet and some of its most popular vehicles, including the Camry and Corolla. As part of the plan, Toyota is halting production at five manufacturing facilities for the week of Feb. 1 "to assess and coordinate activities." There are 2.3 million vehicles involved in the recall, which was announced last week.
"This action is necessary until a remedy is finalized," said Bob Carter, Toyota's group vice president and general manager.
The Japanese automaker said the sales suspension includes the 2009-2010 RAV4, the 2009-2010 Corolla, the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2009-2010 Matrix, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the 2010 Highlander, the 2007-2010 Tundra and the 2008-2010 Sequoia.
Aaron Bragman, an auto analyst for the consulting firm IHS Global Insight in Troy, Mich., said Toyota typically sells about 65,000 Camry's and Corollas per month, and the suspension of sales could strike the company's bottom line and reputation for quality.
"That's huge if they can't sell these and they don't have a fix identified. They need to go and get a solution to this fast," Bragman said.
Toyota sold more than 34,000 Camry's in December, making the mid size sedan America's best-selling car, with 3.4 percent of the market. Sales rose 38 percent from a year earlier. Sales of the Corolla and Matrix, a small sedan and a hatchback, totaled 34,220 last month, with 3.3 percent of the market and sales up nearly 55 percent from December of 2008.
It was unclear how long Toyota would suspend production of the vehicles. In an e-mail to employees, company officials said, "we don't know yet how long this pause will last but we will make every effort to resume production soon." Toyota officials did not immediately return phone messages.
By KEN THOMAS Associated Press Writer January 26, 2010 (AP)
Arnell Chevrolet
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
2011 Chevrolet Volt!
CHEVROLET VOLT PRODUCTION BEGINS IN 2010
(Credit: GM Corp)
(Credit: GM Corp)
It’s tomorrow’s technology from Chevrolet – the Electric Vehicle that’s set to redefine the automotive world and introduce transportation without limits. Get ready for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt.
(Credit: GM Corp)
Volt will not only change how we drive, but it will also affect the impact we have on the environment. It is an electric car that can create its own electricity. Let it charge up and it’s ready to run on pure electricity for up to 40 miles – gas free with no tailpipe emissions. After that, Volt keeps going, even if you can’t charge it up. It uses a range-extending gas generator that produces enough energy to power it for hundreds of miles.
(Credit: GM Corp)
Volt will be functional, efficient and fun-to-drive with quick acceleration. It also incorporates a beautiful aerodynamic design that helps to improve both fuel economy and driving performance. Inside, you can expect cutting-edge features, surprising intuitiveness and the comfort, convenience and safety expected from Chevrolet.
(Credit: GM Corp)
(Credit: GM Corp)
Volt will not only change how we drive, but it will also affect the impact we have on the environment. It is an electric car that can create its own electricity. Let it charge up and it’s ready to run on pure electricity for up to 40 miles – gas free with no tailpipe emissions. After that, Volt keeps going, even if you can’t charge it up. It uses a range-extending gas generator that produces enough energy to power it for hundreds of miles.
(Credit: GM Corp)
Volt will be functional, efficient and fun-to-drive with quick acceleration. It also incorporates a beautiful aerodynamic design that helps to improve both fuel economy and driving performance. Inside, you can expect cutting-edge features, surprising intuitiveness and the comfort, convenience and safety expected from Chevrolet.
(Credit: GM Corp)
Monday, January 18, 2010
We have your Saturn Tech here!
If you have a Saturn vehicle and you're looking to get it serviced we have TWO Certified Saturn Technicians available for you!
Our service hours are as followed:
Monday - Friday 7:30am - 5:30pm
Saturday 8:00am - 4:00pm
We're conveniently located right off of 80/94 highway and Route 20 (Melton Road) in Burns Harbor, IN
Please give us a call to set up your service appointment!
219-787-9200
You can also be our fan on Facebook!
Twitter is a great way to keep in touch also.
Our You Tube Channel hosts some of our great customers who have done video testimonials!
Our service hours are as followed:
Monday - Friday 7:30am - 5:30pm
Saturday 8:00am - 4:00pm
We're conveniently located right off of 80/94 highway and Route 20 (Melton Road) in Burns Harbor, IN
Please give us a call to set up your service appointment!
219-787-9200
You can also be our fan on Facebook!
Twitter is a great way to keep in touch also.
Our You Tube Channel hosts some of our great customers who have done video testimonials!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Camaro Vs. Mustang Sales & Productions.
The Chevrolet Camaro beat the Ford Mustang for the 7th Month in a row!
Production Stats:
Camaros produced in December 09: 8,368
Total Camaros produced to date (since March 16, 2009): 82,188
Delivery (sales) Stats:
Camaro December Deliveries (actual sales): 7,548
Total April - December Deliveries: 61,648
Compared to Competition:
Mustang sold 6,327 units in December 09.
Challenger sold 2,536 units in December 09.
Overall, the Camaro sold 61,648 units in 2009
compared to the Mustang’s 66,623 units,
an impressive stat considering that Camaro
deliveries did not start until April of 2009!
(courtesy of Camaro5.com)
Arnell Auto Group did a great job this year with selling 25 Camaros!!
We also sold the 2010 2ss White limited edition Camaro. Only 300 were produced!
We had a great 2009 and only hope for the best in 2010. We have a great team that will always give their best when it comes to our customers.
Here is the proof!
Production Stats:
Camaros produced in December 09: 8,368
Total Camaros produced to date (since March 16, 2009): 82,188
Delivery (sales) Stats:
Camaro December Deliveries (actual sales): 7,548
Total April - December Deliveries: 61,648
Compared to Competition:
Mustang sold 6,327 units in December 09.
Challenger sold 2,536 units in December 09.
Overall, the Camaro sold 61,648 units in 2009
compared to the Mustang’s 66,623 units,
an impressive stat considering that Camaro
deliveries did not start until April of 2009!
(courtesy of Camaro5.com)
Arnell Auto Group did a great job this year with selling 25 Camaros!!
We also sold the 2010 2ss White limited edition Camaro. Only 300 were produced!
We had a great 2009 and only hope for the best in 2010. We have a great team that will always give their best when it comes to our customers.
Here is the proof!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Cline Ave Bridge to be Demolished
Born in tragedy and recently found to be gravely weakened, the Cline Avenue bridge over the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal will be permanently closed and demolished, a state transportation official announced Monday.
Another month of inspections and consultations with engineers has revealed significant problems in every component of the span, which was closed temporarily Nov. 13, according to Bob Zier, chief of staff to Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Michael Reed.
Now, businesses, local government and the public will be invited to come up with ideas for "further construction" to get goods to steel mills, patrons to casinos and facilitate traffic around Cline Avenue, Zier said.
"That may include the rebuilding of portions of Cline Avenue, but it would not include the rebuilding of the Cline Avenue bridges as we have them today," Zier said.
INDOT has not yet planned or scheduled the demolition of the span.
The portion of Cline Avenue from the Borman Expressway to Michigan Avenue will remain open, Zier said.
INDOT plans to meet with local business and government leaders in February to gather input, Zier said. There will also be a public hearing.
In the short term, INDOT will move forward with all local improvement projects for streets that are bearing the brunt of the closure, Zier said. It also plans to come up with new ones such as turn-off lanes and additional traffic lights where needed.
Local businesses, government officials and organizations were briefed by Zier on conference calls that went on for most of Monday.
The 1.25-mile bridge is part of a key industrial artery that leads to steel mills along Lake Michigan and the Majestic Star Casinos, in Gary, and Ameristar Casino, in East Chicago.
Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce Executive Director David Ryan said his organization was told in a conference call with Zier that the arching bridge will not be re-opened, repaired or replaced.
Ryan said Zier said the 30,000 vehicles per day using the elevated highway would not justify the expense of the replacement. In the 1980s, up to 80,000 vehicles per day used Cline Avenue.
"But to not do anything with it at all?" Ryan said. "I mean, 30,000 cars is 30,000 cars. And the heavy truck traffic is the other use -- all the steel rolling out of there."
The average bridge in Lake and Porter counties carries about 17,000 vehicles per day, according to 2008 federal bridge inventory data. The most heavily traveled bridge in the two counties is on Interstate 80/94, and it gets 200,000 vehicles per day.
Three days after the Cline Avenue bridge was closed, INDOT released a draft four-year transportation plan that called for spending $90 million on replacing the superstructure of the bridge, which is basically everything above the massive upright piers that hold it up. That was slated to take place in 2012.
Zier said that plan has been scratched.
INDOT wants to replace it with something that will have a broader impact on economic development in the region. But the plan could possibly still include a bridge over the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal.
He said the state's budget shortfall had nothing to do with the decision to rethink the $90 million project.
"We have this money due to the Major Moves program and leasing of the Toll Road," Zier said, referring to the $3.8 billion payment the state received in 2006 from leasing the Indiana Toll Road to private investors.
INDOT's announcement comes one week after Gov. Mitch Daniels said he would accelerate the bridge's scheduled 2012 replacement with money available from his Major Moves highway program.
Contacted just after the INDOT announcement Monday, the governor's spokeswoman, Jane Jankowski, said Daniels agreed with INDOT's plan to get input from local stakeholders.
"I think all he said last week was, that what he wanted to see done, was that this be expedited," Jankowksi said. "And so, INDOT is now doing that.
"They're meeting with folks as quickly as they can, and whatever the ultimate decision is, they plan to move that forward quickly. So I think everybody's on the same page here: to consult locally, find out what the best plan is to move forward, and make that call by the end of February."
Certain intersections and streets will receive priority in getting improvements in the short term, Zier said.
Those include Dickey Road at the railroad crossing; Riley Road and 129th Street; 129th Street at Indianapolis Boulevard, Michigan Avenue at Dickey Road; and U.S. 12 and Cline Avenue ramps that connect with ArcelorMittal.
Current detours will remain in place. Westbound Cline Avenue traffic will continue to take U.S. 12 west to Indianapolis Boulevard, then west to southbound Calumet Avenue. Eastbound traffic will continue to take northbound Calumet Avenue to Indianapolis Boulevard, then east to U.S. 12 and back to Cline Avenue.
The bridge has a tragic history. As it was being built in 1982 a portion collapsed, killing 14 construction workers and injuring 16 others.
The bridge was closed in November, one week after the state received a report from an engineering firm telling INDOT to ban trucks greater than 18 tons and not to allow any vehicles on the shoulders of the elevated roadway.
The Cline Avenue bridge is what is known as a post-tensioned, concrete box girder bridge. Its poured-in-place girders are supported by thick cables stretched through ductwork within the concrete.
Concerns about such bridges were raised nine years ago when it was discovered cables had come apart in three major bridges in Florida due to corrosion.
On Nov. 13, INDOT closed the Cline Avenue bridge as a precaution, based on the report's findings.
Subsequent inspections have shown even more problems, Zier said.
"We found issues with the cables, we found issues with the concrete, we found issues with the beams and where they contact with the support piers," he said.
By Keith Benman keith.benman@nwi.com, (219) 933-3326 Posted: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 12:10 am
Another month of inspections and consultations with engineers has revealed significant problems in every component of the span, which was closed temporarily Nov. 13, according to Bob Zier, chief of staff to Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Michael Reed.
Now, businesses, local government and the public will be invited to come up with ideas for "further construction" to get goods to steel mills, patrons to casinos and facilitate traffic around Cline Avenue, Zier said.
"That may include the rebuilding of portions of Cline Avenue, but it would not include the rebuilding of the Cline Avenue bridges as we have them today," Zier said.
INDOT has not yet planned or scheduled the demolition of the span.
The portion of Cline Avenue from the Borman Expressway to Michigan Avenue will remain open, Zier said.
INDOT plans to meet with local business and government leaders in February to gather input, Zier said. There will also be a public hearing.
In the short term, INDOT will move forward with all local improvement projects for streets that are bearing the brunt of the closure, Zier said. It also plans to come up with new ones such as turn-off lanes and additional traffic lights where needed.
Local businesses, government officials and organizations were briefed by Zier on conference calls that went on for most of Monday.
The 1.25-mile bridge is part of a key industrial artery that leads to steel mills along Lake Michigan and the Majestic Star Casinos, in Gary, and Ameristar Casino, in East Chicago.
Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce Executive Director David Ryan said his organization was told in a conference call with Zier that the arching bridge will not be re-opened, repaired or replaced.
Ryan said Zier said the 30,000 vehicles per day using the elevated highway would not justify the expense of the replacement. In the 1980s, up to 80,000 vehicles per day used Cline Avenue.
"But to not do anything with it at all?" Ryan said. "I mean, 30,000 cars is 30,000 cars. And the heavy truck traffic is the other use -- all the steel rolling out of there."
The average bridge in Lake and Porter counties carries about 17,000 vehicles per day, according to 2008 federal bridge inventory data. The most heavily traveled bridge in the two counties is on Interstate 80/94, and it gets 200,000 vehicles per day.
Three days after the Cline Avenue bridge was closed, INDOT released a draft four-year transportation plan that called for spending $90 million on replacing the superstructure of the bridge, which is basically everything above the massive upright piers that hold it up. That was slated to take place in 2012.
Zier said that plan has been scratched.
INDOT wants to replace it with something that will have a broader impact on economic development in the region. But the plan could possibly still include a bridge over the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal.
He said the state's budget shortfall had nothing to do with the decision to rethink the $90 million project.
"We have this money due to the Major Moves program and leasing of the Toll Road," Zier said, referring to the $3.8 billion payment the state received in 2006 from leasing the Indiana Toll Road to private investors.
INDOT's announcement comes one week after Gov. Mitch Daniels said he would accelerate the bridge's scheduled 2012 replacement with money available from his Major Moves highway program.
Contacted just after the INDOT announcement Monday, the governor's spokeswoman, Jane Jankowski, said Daniels agreed with INDOT's plan to get input from local stakeholders.
"I think all he said last week was, that what he wanted to see done, was that this be expedited," Jankowksi said. "And so, INDOT is now doing that.
"They're meeting with folks as quickly as they can, and whatever the ultimate decision is, they plan to move that forward quickly. So I think everybody's on the same page here: to consult locally, find out what the best plan is to move forward, and make that call by the end of February."
Certain intersections and streets will receive priority in getting improvements in the short term, Zier said.
Those include Dickey Road at the railroad crossing; Riley Road and 129th Street; 129th Street at Indianapolis Boulevard, Michigan Avenue at Dickey Road; and U.S. 12 and Cline Avenue ramps that connect with ArcelorMittal.
Current detours will remain in place. Westbound Cline Avenue traffic will continue to take U.S. 12 west to Indianapolis Boulevard, then west to southbound Calumet Avenue. Eastbound traffic will continue to take northbound Calumet Avenue to Indianapolis Boulevard, then east to U.S. 12 and back to Cline Avenue.
The bridge has a tragic history. As it was being built in 1982 a portion collapsed, killing 14 construction workers and injuring 16 others.
The bridge was closed in November, one week after the state received a report from an engineering firm telling INDOT to ban trucks greater than 18 tons and not to allow any vehicles on the shoulders of the elevated roadway.
The Cline Avenue bridge is what is known as a post-tensioned, concrete box girder bridge. Its poured-in-place girders are supported by thick cables stretched through ductwork within the concrete.
Concerns about such bridges were raised nine years ago when it was discovered cables had come apart in three major bridges in Florida due to corrosion.
On Nov. 13, INDOT closed the Cline Avenue bridge as a precaution, based on the report's findings.
Subsequent inspections have shown even more problems, Zier said.
"We found issues with the cables, we found issues with the concrete, we found issues with the beams and where they contact with the support piers," he said.
By Keith Benman keith.benman@nwi.com, (219) 933-3326 Posted: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 12:10 am
Saturday, December 19, 2009
OnStar OnBoard Santa’s Sleigh
Santa Claus’ sleigh got a technology upgrade this Christmas season with OnStar. In partnership with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), OnStar allows subscribers to follow Santa’s global journey beginning at 6 a.m. EST on Christmas Eve.
Subscribers simply push the blue OnStar button in their vehicle and request a “Santa Update." An OnStar Advisor will give children and the kid-at-heart updates on Santa’s journey.
Want behind-the-scenes Santa preparation footage? Check out the video link below to see Santa picking up his OnStar-equipped sleigh and visiting the OnStar Command Center:
http://communicator.gm.com/v5/sites/features/2009/newsline/video/onstar2.wmv
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Tuesday Specials in Service!
If you're a Fan or a Friend of ours on Facebook and Myspace you'll know that every Tuesday we've been giving away $5 oil changes for LIFE of your vehicle.Head over to our sites and join the Arnell Community for your chance to save big money on your next service visit!
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