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DoJ fines Japanese parts firms $740M in massive automotive price-fixing scandal

Nine Japanese suppliers have pleaded guilty in US court over charges of price fixing in the automotive parts industry, resulting in the Department of Justice doling out a total of $740 million of fines, according to a report from Bloomberg. The scandal, which has resulted in General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Chrysler spending up to $5 billion on inflated parts and driving up prices on 25 million vehicles has sent the DoJ hustling into investigations. "The conduct this investigation uncovered involved more than a dozen separate conspiracies aimed at the U.S. economy," Attorney General Eric Holder (pictured above) said during yesterday's press conference.
As the investigation stands, the DoJ has issued $1.6 billion in fines against 20 companies and 21 individual executives, with 17 of the execs headed to prison. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Scott Hammond said, "The breadth of the conspiracies brought to light today are as egregious as they are pervasive. They involve more than a dozen separate conspiracies operating independently but all sharing in common that they targeted US automotive manufacturers."
Big-name suppliers indicted in the investigation include Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hitachi Automotive and Mitsuba Corporation. A list of fines and other corporations named in the investigation is available at Bloomberg.

Thieves still love older Hondas and pickups most, says NICB [w/video]

No one wants to have their car stolen, but a new study by the National Insurance Crime Bureau has some bad news for older Honda owners and pickup drivers. Fortunately, it has better news for drivers overall. The group is reporting that according to preliminary data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, thefts were down 3.2 percent in 2013 (versus 2012) to fewer than 700,000 cars. That's the lowest figure since 1967. That's also less than half of the peak of over 1.66 million thefts in 1991. "The drop in thefts is good news for all of us," says NICB President and CEO Joe Wehrle. "But it still amounts to a vehicle being stolen every 45 seconds and losses of over $4 billion a year."
Honda drivers might not find it such good news with older Accord and Civic models topping this year's theft study. Toyota and Dodge can't really celebrate, either, with two models each on the list, as well. Overall, this year's list was split evenly between foreign and domestic models, which were mostly pickups.
The 10 most likely vehicles to be stolen in 2013 were:

Scion FR-S Convertible (in Toyota GT86 form) spied in South Africa

Though the eventual existence of a convertible version of the Toyota GT86 (and its Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ versions for America) is a no-brainer, we've yet to get a glimpse of the real-deal car until now.
Spotted in Cape Town, South Africa, of all places, this completely undisguised GT86 convertible seems to be in a remarkably advanced state of development. The image seen here was obviously sniped from quite a distance and without the aid of a powerful lens, but we can still make out a production-ready looking piece of rear bodywork for the convertible top to hide away in, as well as a functioning trunk lid. It's hard to make out with any certainty, based on this evidence, but there does seem to be space retained behind the front seats for two, small rear chairs.
With the first car spotted, we'd expect to seem some more and better images of it flow through in the near future, and if not, Toyota has already confirmed a concept version for next month's Geneva Motor Show, dubbed FT-86 Open, so stay tuned. For now, click through to the FT86Club.com forum to have a slightly closer look at the images.