toyota recall

On Thursday, February 18, 2016 Toyota announced a recall of about 2.9 million sports utility vehicles.

The recall covers RAV4 SUVS from the 2005 through 2014 model years, the RAV4 electric vehicle from 2012 through 2014, sold in North America, and the Vanguard sold in Japan from 2005-2016.

In a severe frontal crash, the seat belts in both second - row window seats could come into contact with a metal seat cushion frame. If this were to happen the seat belts could be cut and not restrain passengers.

The company says it will add plastic covers to the metal frame at no cost to customers. The recall also affects 625,000 vehicles in Europe, 434,000 vehicles in China and 177,000 in Japan.

The New York Times was a source for this post.

toyota, texas

Reported late last week, Toyota Motor Corporation is moving their U.S. headquarters to Plano, Texas. This is moving the entire headquarters staff. Toyota has manufacturing facilities in San Antonio which builds the Tundra and Tacoma. This is a big win for Texas, as Governor Rick Perry has made an ongoing attempt to get Toyota's headquarters in the Lone Star State.

Click here to view the entire story from businessweek.com

One question that comes to mind is how this affects the Toyota brand. Texas has not been the center of auto maker activity and several auto marketing watchers are curious if there will be many changes. Toyota has made several moves in their marketing department and their official new marketing "situation" starts May 1st.

Toyota has enjoyed an increase in North American sales. With this move to Texas, I can't help but think Toyota's marketing campaigns will get a big, fresh breath of new ideas. Just a change in geographical location can do wonders for creative minds.

According to a story on pando.com Toyota was unsure of which jobs might stay in California. 

Click here to view the pando story