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Sweden's Market Court (Marknadsdomstolen) has ruled that Volvo Car's marketing of its XC60 vehicle as the "safest in the world" is misleading and lacks supporting evidence. "Volvo has not presented any proof at all which verifies or even indicates that the XC60 is the safest in the world. Volvo's claim is a general one and clearly lacks substantiation," the court said in its ruling on a case brought by Japanese firm Toyota. Volvo has been warned that it will incur a fine of one million kronor ($140,000) if it does not desist from making the claims. The court based its...

In about 13 years Toyota has gone from a brainstorming session to creating and selling and teaching the world there is another way. 1993 - Toyota initiates the G21 project to develop a small car with better mileage that can be sold anywhere in the world. 1994 - Executive VP Akirhiro Wada insists the car needs to set a new standard for mileage and recommends a hybrid engine. 1995 - The Prius prototype debuts at the Tokyo motor show-- but will NOT start. Toyota responds by moving up the production deadline by one year. 1996 - Toyota's US division wins...

Business Financial News reported Japanese dealers have cut the number of GM dealerships that handle GM cars. The question is what took them so long - GM cars have never been popular in Japan. The reason is simple - they don't fit! The streets are too narrow, and American cars are too fat. Yanase & Co. has about 26 dealerships of their 160 total that try to sell GM cars. The exact number that they will cut has not been determined. GM, for its part, says it will stop selling Opel models in Japan - I think it's because those...

According to a JD Power and Associates' 2006 Initial Quality Study, Toyota and its upscale Lexus division took 11 of 19 vehicle-category top spots. Toyota's Camry and Corolla sedans, its high-priced Lexus LS430 model, and four of its SUVs also took top spots. However, the best their Prius could muster in the compact car division was fourth. It was beat out by two Japanese cars (no surpise) - the Corolla (1st) and the Honda Civic (3rd). Surprise second-place finisher was the Hyundai Elantra. Maybe Elantra wasn't surprised, but I was. The problem with the Prius seems to not be a...

J.D. Power and Associates Ranked the different classes of cars by quality. There were 19 classes of cars. Asian car makers too 14 of the top spots in the 19 classes. Japan was on top in 12 classes. 11 of those were taken by Toyota alone! The last Japanese spot was taken by Mazda. South Korean car makers Kia and Hyundai each took a top spot. Subcompact: Kia Rio Compact: Toyota Corolla Compact Sporty: Mazda MX-5 Miata Entry Premium: Lexus IS 250/350 Mid-size Premium: Lexus ES 330 Large Premium: Lexus LS430 Premium Sporty: Lexus SC 430 Mid-size sporty: Toyota Solara...