TOYOTA RECALLS AGAIN: 2003 SEQUOIA THIS TIME

Toyota seems to be in deep trouble this year, and its continuously loosing customer`s faith. There has been another recall on Wednesday  for thousands 2003 model Toyota  Sequoia SUV to repair a potential vehicle stability control (VSC) program.

The VSC system helps control a loss of traction during turns and in vehicles without the upgrade, the VSC system could, in some situations, activate at low speed and, as a result, the vehicle may not accelerate as quickly as expected. This recall is for about 50000 vehicles manufactured in 2003. Though there has been no accidents reported till date, It is a major issue as far as customers are concerned.Another Toyota SUV, the Lexus GX 460, was also recalled earlier this month because of a stability-control problem.

FORD POSTS $ 2.1 BN PROFIT: EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS

Here comes the good news again, Ford has posted a net profit of $2.1 bn in the first quarter. And friends here I am not talking about Ford India, its the global industry picking up and sales are booming all around the world. This is happening after six long years after 2004 that Ford has posted more than $ 2 bn profit. Back then the company sold nearly 17 million vehicles in US alone. This year however the sale for the  entire industry is below 12 million. Still the automaker plans to produce nearly 625,000 vehicles to sell in U S and Canada in the next quarter. This will be 9% more than first quarter and 39 % more than last year.

Company has deeply shrunk the operations by closing plants and the staffs are very less compared to last year. This was company`s fourth consecutive quarterly profit, shows how much Ford has managed to pick up the momentum with the new products. The net profit was equal to 50 cents a share, compared with a loss of $1.4 billion, or 60 cents a share, one year ago. Based on its first-quarter results, Ford expects solid profits and positive cash flow from its automotive operations for all of 2010, a year ahead than it had forecast.