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Sales incentive growth clustered around brands with few CUVs, trucks

While it's arguably been around the longest, the dominance of the four-door sedan has been under threat for many years. As a further sign of the hurtin' that SUVs and crossovers have put on today's four-doors, a new report from Automotive News points to the increasing use of incentives by brands reliant on cars and light on CUVs and pickups.
Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen and Kia have all been stung by double-digit increases in their incentives-to-transaction price ratio, according to AN, which cites data from TrueCar. Honda's ratio is up 14 percent, while Toyota, VW and Kia are up 18, 15 and 19 percent, respectively.
"Most of the incentive growth we have seen is in product segments with low demand - midsized or large sedans," TrueCar CEO John Krafcik told AN. "As this trend goes on, the brands with three-sedan strategies are going to be in worse shape on incentive spending than the crossover brands."

Recharge Wrap-up: Toyota Prius, V earn IIHS awards, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV approved for V2H

The Toyota Prius and Prius V have earned IIHS 2015 Top Safety Pick+ ratings. The Prius V was singled out for its improved performance in the small overlap crash test. Lexus CT models built after September 2014 were also given the distinguished safety rating. In all, eight vehicles from Toyota and Lexus earned Top Safety Pick+ awards, while four more from Toyota and Scion were named Top Safety Picks. Read more in the press release below. The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV can now provide power to the home in Japan. The vehicle-to-home capability requires the CHAdeMO quick charging socket and either Mitsubishi's own Smart V2H system, or the EVPower Station or Tsubaki eLINK system. The Outlander PHEV gained vehicle-to-home approval alongside all-electric vehicles because its electric motor doesn't run when used in for this purpose. The system allows owners to power their homes during outages and emergencies, and the Outlander PHEV can also directly power appliances with its 1500W AC100V power feeder. Read more at Green Car Congress. The Electric Vehicle Institute has published an updated "Plug-In Around the EV World" poster. The poster depicts the various connector types used by EVs. It shows the standard AC connectors for the US and Europe, DC and combination connectors for fast charging and, of course, Tesla's own charging connector for the Model S. It also shows the standard plug types used around the world, which are color coded by country on a world map. See the Electric Vehicle Institute's poster here, or read more at Green Car Reports. Toyota Decks the Halls with IIHS 2015 'Top Safety Pick' Awards Eight Toyota and Lexus Models Earn Institute's Highest Top Safety Pick+ Four Toyota and Scion Vehicles Named Top Safety Picks December 23, 2014 TORRANCE, Calif., Dec. 23, 2014 - On the 12th day of Christmas, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gave to Toyota, 12 awards awarding. In fact, the automaker won more awards than any other automaker, including the most of the Institute's highest honor. In all, eight Toyota and Lexus vehicles earned a Top Safety Pick+ rating. IIHS in particular recognized the Prius V for its significantly improved performance all-around in the small overlap crash test – naming it a Top Safety Pick+. The Toyota Sienna was also the only minivan awarded the 2015 Top Safety Pick + designation. IIHS also recognized four additional Toyota and Scion vehicles as 2015 Top Safety Picks.

Toyota settles first wrongful death suit related to unintended acceleration

Toyota's sales seem to have rebounded from the unintended acceleration issues from 2009 and 2010, but the automaker is far from done dealing with this situation. Following a settlement worth up to $1.4 billion for economic loss to affected vehicle owners, Toyota has settled rather than going to trial in a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from an accident in Utah in 2010 that left two passengers dead. This isn't the first case in which Toyota has settled, but it was the first among a consolidated group of cases being held in Santa Ana, CA.
According to The Detroit News, this case was scheduled to take place next month, and it was for a November 2010 incident in which Paul Van Alfen and Charlene James Lloyd were killed in a Camry when, based on findings by the Utah Highway Patrol, the accelerator got stuck causing the car to speed out of control and hit a wall; the terms of the settlement were not announced.
The article says that while Toyota will settle on some cases, it doesn't plan on settling on all of them as it still wants to be able to "defend [its] product at trial." This will probably be the case in suits claiming that software for the drive-by-wire accelerator was the cause of an accident in a Toyota or Lexus vehicle. The question of whether or not the electronic accelerator played any role in this problem has been a hot-button topic since the beginning. Toyota has issued recalls in the past to attempt to prevent unintended acceleration caused by trapped floor mats and faulty accelerator pedals, but it also says driver error was to blame in some instances.