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Toyota celebrates 30 years of 4Runner with... incentives?

Many Americans view their 30th birthdays as significant milestones, even though the average life expectancy here is more than 2.5 times that age. So you might think Toyota would be keen to party over the 30th anniversary of its 4Runner, since most models don't even live to half that age. You can put that idea away unless you consider discounts of $500 to $1,000 something worthy of cake and kazoos, since it appears that's all the birthday SUV will get. That's right, not even a trim-and-tape special edition or so much as a sticker. We asked Toyota for comment and were told they had "No other 30th anniversary 4Runner items to announce at the time."
So, about those incentives: they climb from $500 on the SR5 and Trail editions to $750 on Premium models and $1,000 on the Limited trims. Toyota says they're available at dealerships now and will last for the entire year. There's a press release below with a little more background, and there's a sad violin playing somewhere in the distance.
Disappointed, party of one, your table is now ready...

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.

Which car companies are creating new jobs in America?

Since January, automakers have announced investments totaling $9.5 billion in U.S. plants, creating or retaining more than 12,000 jobs. Some of those companies have yet to announce just how many jobs will be created given their investments, with the location of many of those jobs still to be determined. Specifically, the 4,000-job Toyota-Mazda joint venture plant still hasn't announced its location, with numerous states jockeying for it. Hyundai has plans to invest $1 billion but has not announced a jobs number yet. And likewise Ford is investing $1.2 billion in Michigan without specifying a number of jobs. Volvo this week announced plans to add a second line to its factory under construction in South Carolina, spending another $500 million and adding 2,500 jobs to the 2,000 it was already trying to fill. Then Thursday, Daimler announced a $1 billion expansion to its facility in Tuscaloosa, Ala., to produce EV batteries and electric SUVs, a move that will add 600 jobs to its hiring this year. Above, we've created a handy pie chart showing you which companies have announced new jobs and how many there will be. Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit News Source: Reuters Plants/Manufacturing BMW Chrysler Ford GM Honda Hyundai Mazda Mercedes-Benz Toyota Volvo jobs