Free Republic

A name makes all the difference in the fight between Ford and Toyota over who has the top-selling car in the world. Ford on Wednesday claimed that crown for its Focus compact during the first half of the year, based on registration data gathered by the R.L. Polk & Co. research firm. … But Toyota disputes Ford’s leadership. The Japanese automaker has said it sold a Corolla hatchback under the Matrix name, and it sells cars that are nearly identical to the Corolla under different names in countries outside the U.S. …

Late last week, Forbes magazine released its annual list of the 100 World’s Most Powerful Celebrities. Seven of the top ten on the list were women — including the top two, Jennifer Lopez and Oprah Winfrey. On Sunday night’s “The Adam Carolla Show” podcast, comedian and host Adam Carolla said chastising America as a discriminatory country is bizarre when members of minority groups can attain such a high status in society. “Let me hear the top 10 or 15 and then let’s all just close our eyes and picture what a horrible sexist, racist society we live in,” Carolla asked...

Toyota faces a US investigation into complaints of steering problems in the Corolla, the world's best-selling car, in a fresh setback to the auto giant's efforts to restore trust in its brand. The Japanese maker, already pulling more than eight million cars worldwide over defects linked to more than 30 deaths, said Wednesday it was looking into the issue and would recall the Corolla if it found a dangerous flaw. Another recall would deal a heavy blow to efforts by the world's biggest automaker to bounce back from a string of safety issues and criticism that it was slow to...

2/17/2009 - The Toyota executive in charge of quality control said the company is reviewing fewer than 100 complaints about power steering in the Corolla. Toyota sold nearly 1.3 million Corollas worldwide last year, including nearly 300,000 in the United States, where it trailed only Camry as Toyota's most popular model. WATCH VIDEO...

Federal officials review Toyota Corolla complaints The Associated Press Tuesday, February 9, 2010; 11:54 AM WASHINGTON -- Federal safety officials say they will look into complaints from Toyota Corolla drivers about difficulty with the steering on their vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received about 80 complaints from drivers of 2009 and 2010 Corollas. Many say their cars can wander when they drive on the highway, making it hard to stay in lanes. NHTSA says it will determine if a formal safety investigation is warranted. But agency officials also stress that it is standard procedure to review the...

Last call at Jimmy Kimmel's new ABC talk show NEW YORK (AP) - It's last call at Jimmy Kimmel's new ABC talk show. After a boisterous premiere during which actor George Clooney passed around a bottle of vodka and an audience member vomited, the bar that serves drinks to audience members has been shut down. Kimmel's late-night talk show, to run regularly on weeknights, premiered early Monday two hours after the end of the Super Bowl and was seen by an average of 4.8 million viewers. Besides Clooney pouring drinks, rapper Snoop Dogg tested censors by several times making an...