2010 Toyota Fj Cruiser Trail Teams Local Trade In on 2040-cars

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Toyota Prius gets higher clearance, better suspension in Pakistan

It's been 16 years since the Toyota Prius launched in Japan. Finally, the world's most popular hybrid is becoming the first hybrid car to show up in Pakistan. This version of the Prius has been customized by Indus Motor Company (IMC) in order to deal with, well, let's just say some challenging road conditions. IMC knows what it's doing, and has modified Toyota and Daihatsu vehicles for the Pakistani market for over 20 years. The Prius brings with it the iconic shape and Parvez Ghias, CEO of IMC, told The Technology Times that the car's arrival, "is indeed a great milestone, not only in the history of IMC, but, of the entire nation." Pakistan Today says that IMC is beefing up the ground clearance of the imported Priuses and adds a "robust suspension system." Why would this be important? Well, the US Department of State warns travelers to beware of crowded roads, aggressive and poorly trained drivers and bad roads that could include potholes and sharp drop-offs. Then there's the "donkeys, cattle, horse carts, and even the occasional camel [that] can pose roadside hazards in some areas." There's also the big problem of terrorism-related violence in Pakistan, but we haven't heard that the Pakistan Prius has been bullet- and shrapnel-proofed.

Kayaba, Sumitomo to pay millions for price-fixing in US

Kayaba Industry Co, which does business in the US as suspension parts maker KYB, and Sumitomo Electric Industries are facing payments in the millions to settle price-fixing cases about the components that they make. As part of the Department of Justice's ongoing crackdown of price fixing in the auto industry, KYB agreed to pay $62 million and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to set the cost of shock absorbers from the mid '90s through 2012. The company allegedly worked with co-conspirators to keep the cost of the parts high, and those components then made it into vehicles from Honda, Kawasaki, Nissan, Subaru, Suzuki, and Toyota. "Any collusive agreement among competitors to restrict price competition undercuts our free enterprise system and violates the law," said Carter M. Stewart, US Attorney of the Southern District of Ohio, in the DoJ's announcement. Over the past few years, the DoJ has brought cases against 37 parts suppliers and 55 executives, leading to over $2.6 billion in fines. The investigations haven't always been so successful – some of the Japanese execs fled from the US to avoid prosecution. Critics allege that price fixing is simply how business is done. According to Automotive News, Sumitomo Electric Industries is also facing a $50 million settlement in a civil lawsuit that's related to price fixing of parts like wiring harnesses and heater control panels. The plaintiffs include owners and dealers that purchased vehicles with these parts. The company asserts that the violations are from before 2010, and it now has different process in place to avoid further violations. KYB Agrees to Plead Guilty and Pay $62 Million Criminal Fine for Fixing Price of Shock Absorbers Kayaba Industry Co. Ltd., dba KYB Corporation (KYB) has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $62 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix the price of shock absorbers installed in cars and motorcycles sold to U.S. consumers. According to charges filed today, KYB conspired from the mid-1990s until 2012 to fix the prices of shock absorbers sold to Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (manufacturer of Subaru vehicles), Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Nissan Motor Company Ltd., Suzuki Motor Corporation and Toyota Motor Company, including their subsidiaries in the United States.

2014 Toyota Tundra Platinum 4x4

The Toyota Tundra is the automotive version of off-brand Cheerios: it doesn't dominate the market, and it's not the first model people think of when they hear the term "pickup truck."
Ford, General Motors and Ram dominate the segment with vehicles that offer ridiculous levels of towing and payload capacities and models loaded with luxury items and primed with tech-rich engines. The off-brands, meanwhile, are led by the Tundra, which while still accounting for six-figure sales (112,732 units in 2013, up from 101,621 in 2012), sits well behind the F-150s and Silverados of the world. After our first drive of the revamped 2014 Tundra, we came away thinking this truck is a total underachiever, aimed at placating Toyota loyalists and doing little to win over new customers.
But everybody deserves a second chance, and we thought a week's drive in a different environment might lead to a different - or at least a more fully realized - opinion. While the Tundra might not be an industry leader, it still makes it on many truck buyers' shopping lists. So, should you consider this off-brand pickup truck? To find out, we borrowed a top-of-the-line Tundra Platinum for a week. Read on to see what we found.