Toyota, Cars | featured news

Toyota's Prius has toppled the Honda Civic from its two-year reign as the bestselling vehicle in California.

In a remarkable turnaround, Toyota is likely to set a record for auto sales this year. It has focused much effort on the U.S., refreshing its lineup and expanding its manufacturing in the country.

Japan’s two largest automakers appear to be locked in a race to achieve the dubious distinction of having recalled more vehicles than any other automaker during 2012 for an array of safety-related problems.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it is recalling about 550,000 vehicles worldwide -- mostly in the United States -- for problems that could make it harder to steer.

Two weeks after Japan’s March 11 earthquake knocked out more than 650 of Toyota Motor Corp.’s suppliers, halting worldwide production, the automaker had to decide where to focus its resources. It picked the Prius.

Toyota recalled 106,000 first-generation Prius hybrid cars globally on Wednesday for faulty steering caused by a nut that may come loose.

Toyota has agreed to pay more than $32 million in penalties after two federal investigations that faulted the Japanese automaker for its handling of recent auto recalls, the U.S. Transportation Department announced Monday night.

The car manufacturer is rewarding those who purchase a new Toyota by January 3 with a $500 debit card for tweeting about it.

Toyota is recalling 1.53 million Lexus, Avalon and other models, mostly in the U.S. and Japan, for brake fluid and fuel pump problems, the latest in a string of quality problems for the world's No. 1 automaker.

Among the Toyota recalls are 373,000 2000-4 Avalon models for a steering problem that could cause a crash, and 39,000 2003-7 Lexus LX 470 S.U.V.'s for a steering defect.