Finally some good news for Toyota. At least, for the time being.

Toyota announced a profit of 153.2 billion yen (US$1.7 billion) in the third quarter ending Dec. 31, 2009. That’s an increase from the 164.7 billion yen (US$1.8 billion) loss over the same quarter in 2008.

Vehicle sales reached 2.07 million units over the quarter, an increase of 227,000 units from 2008.

Toyota won’t be celebrating those positive results too much however as they don’t include the expected fallout from the recent recall and the sales stoppage of some of Toyota’s top models. We’re going to go out on a limb here and say Toyota’s fourth quarter results won’t be as rosy.

See more Toyota recall news at the AutoGuide.com Toyota Recall News Hub.

Only yesterday the AutoGuide team was discussing the fact that with all the recent Toyota recalls, the next thing to be recalled might be the automaker’s Prius iPhone App. Well, truth may be stranger than fiction as the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has now said it will look into whether electronic interference from cell phones could be the cause of unintended acceleration issues with several Toyota models.

Electromagnetic interference, or EMI, has become a concern as electronic gadgets have become a part of every day life. At the same time, cars have become increasingly reliant on electrical, rather than mechanical, components. It has been suggested that the issue over Toyota’s “unintended acceleration” problem could be due to electronic interference and not a mechanical fault as many modern vehicles use electronic throttle sensors, rather than a mechanical system where a pushing the gas pedal actuates a wire than opens the engine’s throttlebody.

Fear over electrical interference is what has prompted airlines to ask passengers to turn off electrical equipment.

Toyota currently has a recall out for 2.3 million vehicles due to what it calls a potentially faulty mechanical brake pedal. The recall includes the 2009-2010 RAV4, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Matrix, 2005-2010 Avalon, 2007-2010 Camry, 2010 Highlander, 2007-2010 Tundra and 2008-2010 Sequoia.

See more Toyota recall news at the AutoGuide Toyota Recall News Hub.

[Source: Wall Street Journal]

With the recall focus aimed squarely at Toyota these days, now would be a great time for an automaker to issue a recall and go unnoticed by the media. General Motors may be in just such a situation, as the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced it is investigating the Chevy Cobalt for faulty steering.

The NHTSA has decided to take action after receiving 1,132 complaints about a loss of power steering in Chevy Cobalt models from 2005-09, as well as the Cobalt SS model from 2008-09. In total, 11 of those cases have been related to crashes due to temporary loss of steering. The recall could affect as many as 905,000 vehicles.

The Cobalt is current in its last year of production as Chevy plans to replace it with the Cruze in 2011.

[Source: Automotive News via Autoblog]

As Chevy gets set to launch its potentially revolutionary new Volt at the end of this year, the automaker has released this helpful video to educate consumers. Hybrid fanatics will likely know everything discussed in the video, but the vast majority of consumers don’t and have plenty of questions like: How far can it travel? How long will it take to charge? Is it an electric car or a hybrid?

The big question it doesn’t answer is: How much will it cost? We’ll ave to wait for GM to release that number later this year.

In the mean time, check out the video after the jump:

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Ferrari’s latest track-only machine, the 599XX, has finally made its debut on the tarmac, at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit in Spain. Driving the car for the first time was F1 pilot Felipe Massa, who commented: “I really enjoyed testing this car, I think it’s extremely powerful and has an exceptional stability. Considering that it has been planned for the track it’s really easy to drive.”

That is quite a testament to the car’s capabilities, especially considering it makes an unwieldy 700-hp at 9000 rpm, from its 6.0-liter V12 engine and runs on racing slicks.

Ferrari debuted the car ahead of its first official 2010 season Formula One test at the Valencia track, and brought out all the 599XX owners to participate. Ferrari will organize a series of track events for 599XX owners over the course the next year in Europe, America and Asia.

GALLERY: Ferrari 599XX Track Debut in Valencia

See after the jump for video of the first official track test of the 599XX

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Kia has released one more teaser photo of the Ray plug-in hybrid concept that it will debut at the Chicago Auto Show next week. As with all modern Kia’s it has a sporty, if not downright aggressive look and we’re eager to see what the whole package looks like.

We expect that the Ray will use the same hybrid setup as found in parent-company Hyundai’s Blue-Will concept, with a 152-hp 1.6-liter direct-injection 4-cylinder engine and a 100kW electric motor that achieves a 50-55 mpg in standard hybrid mode, or as much as 106 mpg in plug-in hybrid mode.

This same hybrid setup is also rumored to be what will power the upcoming Hyundai Sonata hybrid, although the Sonata won’t get the plug-in capability.

For complete 2010 Chicago Auto Show coverage click here

GALLERY: Kia Ray PHEV Concept

Toyota‘s popular Prius model is now officially under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for potentially faulty brakes. In a statement released by the NHTSA, it said it will launch a formal investigation into whether the popular hybrid has a brief loss of braking capability when traveling over bumpy or icy roads.

This announcement may, however, be a moot point as Toyota has already admitted to knowing there was a problem with the brakes on the 2010 Prius (a model previously unaffected by any of Toyota’s other recalls). Toyota has said it knew of a problem that caused a brief loss of braking during the transition from the car’s regenerative braking (which serves to power-up the car’s hybrid battery) to its traditional friction braking. Toyota refers to this as “slight unresponsiveness” and says it usually lasts less than a second.

The NHTSA has received over 100 complaints about the Prius’s brakes, including four where crashes resulted.

Toyota has said the issue has been solved on all models produced since late January but has yet to issue a recall for all 2010 models built and sold before that point. The NHTSA’s investigation is likely to ensure a recall.

See more Toyota recall news at the AutoGuide.com Toyota Recall News Hub.

[Source: Automotive News]

After pressure from the U.S. and Japanese governments, Toyota has admitted that there was an issue with the brakes on the all-new 2010 Prius hybrid. Over 100 complaints about braking related issues have been reported to the NHTSA and roughly a dozen such reports to the authorities in Japan.

According to Toyota, Prius models sold before the end of January have an electrical defect whereby there is a brief loss of braking during the transition from the car’s regenerative braking (which serves to power-up the car’s hybrid battery) to its traditional friction braking. This only occurred when braking on icy or bumpy roads. Toyota refers to this as “slight unresponsiveness” and says it usually lasts less than a second.

The automaker has corrected the problem on all Prius models built since the end of January but has not issued a recall for consumers. A recall is being considered.

The 2010 Prius is not currently covered under any of Toyota’s recalls, while the 2004-09 model is covered under the floormat recall.

See more Toyota recall news at our Toyota Recall News Hub.

[Source: New York Times]

Along with two major recalls, one for Floor Mat Entrapment and another for Sticking Accelerator Pedals, a Federal government committee will investigate whether other models, including the Toyota Tacoma and Prius, might be in need of recalls.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over 100 complaints have bee made by Toyota Tacoma owners related to issues of unintended acceleration. The Tacoma, however, uses a Denso pedal assembly and not the CTS Corp. pedal assembly found in the 2.3 million recalled models for Sticking Accelerator Pedals. CTS Corp. is based in Indiana, while Denso pedal assemblies are manufactured in Japan.

The Ministry of Transportation has said it will look at whether the problem of sudden acceleration is electronic and not mechanical.

“What explains the seemingly high number of complaints in NHTSA’s database regarding sudden acceleration in this model?” the committee asked. “Is it Toyota’s opinion that most of these can be explained by driver error, erroneous reporting, or faulty floor mats?”

“Has Toyota examined the possibility that the sudden acceleration problems are not caused by the floor mats or gas pedal in some models, but by problems with the electronic sensors or the computer system which govern the accelerator? Is Toyota confident that the electronics are not involved in this problem?”

Toyota has continually denied that the issue is electronic, saying in a statement that, “After many years of exhaustive testing—by us and other outside agencies—we have found no evidence of a problem with our electronic throttle control system that could have caused unwanted acceleration. Our vehicles go through extensive electromagnetic radiation testing dynamically. We have our own test facility in Japan, we are also building one in Ann Arbor. The testing examines microwave radiation and every other type of magnetic wave and we have never been able to force our systems to fail through any of the tests that are done on them. There are many redundancies and fail safes that are built into our system.  If the accelerator pedal and the throttle on the engine don’t match in their communication to each other the throttle returns to an idle position.”

The committee will also look at the 2010 Toyota Prius as a candidate for a recall, after the Japanese Ministry of Transportation asked Toyota to investigate complaints from owners for potentially faulty brakes.

The committee has asked Toyota North American president, Yoshimi Inaba to answer several questions ahead of a Feb 10th hearing, which has been titled, “Toyota Gas Pedals: Is the Public At Risk?”

[Source: Detroit News]

BMW and French automaker Peugeot Citroen have signed a new agreement to work together to develop a new generation of improved 4-cylinder engines. The new powerplants will be used in BMW’s MINI lineup as well as in Peugeot’s 207 and Citroen’s C3 Picaso.

BMW recently made several changes to the 2010 versions of the engines in Europe, delivering improved power and fuel economy. MINI also did away with the smaller 1.4-liter four-cylinder in its MINI One and MINI First models in favor of a larger but more efficient 1.6-liter engine.

The new engine lineup is being created to meet Europe’s upcoming 2014 “EU 6″ emissions regulations, and should deliver impressive fuel economy. Currently, the MINI Cooper achieves an impressive 28-mpg city, 37-mpg highway fuel economy rating in the U.S.

BMW and Peugeot Citroen also said the two automakers would look to work together in other areas, including production and development of select components.

BMW rival Mercedes-Benz is currently also engaged in talks with a French automaker, Renault, over a potential partnership on platforms and engines for a new line of small cars, including the next A-Class and B-Class.

[Source: Canadian Business]