An automated enforcement company is turning to an unelected branch of government to re-write Arizona law regarding proper service for traffic tickets. Redflex Traffic Systems of Melbourne, Australia convinced John D. Wintersteen to file a petition earlier this month that asked the Arizona Supreme Court to modify the state’s rules of civil procedure to better accommodate red light cameras and speed cameras.

“Unlike the majority of other jurisdictions that have implemented photo enforcement, Arizona’s rules governing service of process have not been simplified to accommodate the unique challenges presented by the widespread use of photo enforcement equipment,” the petition prepared by Redflex lawyers stated. “Rule 4.1 does not currently allow defendants in photo enforcement proceedings to be validly served with a copy of the summons and pleading by first-class mail.”

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The Ford Motor Company [full results in PDF format here] earned net income of $2.7b last year, on pre-tax operating profits of $454m. The company enjoyed a strong fourth quarter with $868m in net income and an after-tax operating profit of $1.6b (excluding special items). Ford Motor Credit [full release in PDF format here] earned $1.3b in net income and $2b in pre-tax operating profit last year. Ford Credit’s receivables were down at the end of 2009 compared to 2008, with $93b receivable compared to $116b at the end of 2008, and leverage of 7.3 to 1.

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GM is cautiously putting its toes back in the shark-infested waters of Europe and plans to sell Cadillacs and Corvettes to EU buyers, says Das Autohaus. When their previous importer, Kroymans in the Netherlands, went belly-up in summer of 2009, sales had ceased. At the time, GM had more pressing matters on their plate. (Read More…)

Here is a round-up of the Toyota news that is flowing furiously out of all news outlets. Everybody, from the Wall Street Journal to Al Jazeera weighs in on the issue. Grab a cup of coffee. Or something stronger.

More recalls: Toyota announced late Wednesday that it must recall another 1.1 million vehicles “to address the risk that floor mats could trap accelerator pedals and cause bursts of sudden acceleration,” says Reuters. According to Reuters, “Toyota now has recalled nearly 6m vehicles for problems with the accelerators used across its lineup.” This is not counting the 2m vehicles in Europe that will be recalled.

EU recall official: Toyota Motor said today that it definitely will be expanding the recall to Europe, says AFP via Google. “Toyota will implement a recall in Europe,” said company spokesman Paul Nolasco. “We are still not sure about the models and the number of vehicles.” Initial estimates, published by The Nikkei [sub], spoke about another 2m cars in Europe. Plants will not be closed in Europe, because different parts already are being used in new production.

Recall spreads to China: China’s quality watchdog agency said “bu hao” to Toyota and ordered  the  recall of “at least 75,000 vehicles  in China,” says London’s Times. (Read More…)

I know some of you are getting tired of hearing about Eugene’s eccentricities. But where else can you order up a genuine Curbside Classic to deliver your pizza? That is, as an alternative to bicycle delivery, which is also on tap (oops, sorry). Well, Dominos does claim to be the Pizza Delivery Experts, and if you call the River Road store and ask for Josh to deliver your Cheesybread and Cinnastix, you’ll have a chance to check out his haulin’ 1971 Galaxie 500. Who knows, for the right price, he might even deliver long distance. Just be generous with your tip, because his beast is lucky to break single digits in the mileage department, the way he drives. Which is undoubtedly a lot gentler than I drove the exact same car when I was his age. (Read More…)

I apologize about the irregularity of the CC Clue. I’ve been cranking up the production of CCs substantially, hopefully without the same loss of quality and consequences as Toyota. So sometimes I’m up late writing, and it’s too late for the Clue, or I’m too tired. But today I set a personal best: wrote this morning’s Malibu CC and tomorrow’s mystery CC all by 4 PM! Time for quick Clue and head for a hunting walk beofre it gets dark. Enough about that; the Rabbit’s radio hole was going to be recognized by a former loving owner, and that would be Chuck Goolsbee. I promised him a prize of an un-rusty Toyota Tercel tailgate. I guess I better take some tools along, but I know I won’t have to walk far; there’s several a few blocks away.

Back when GM was going through its recent bankruptcy bailout-related unpleasantness, Toyota’s Yasuhiko Ichihashi told the AP that “Toyota was only hoping for an overall recovery for the U.S. auto industry, including GM.” Months later, then-Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe even suggested that “it’s not something we would bring up on our own, and we don’t know enough about the restructuring plan, [but] if some talk about supporting GM comes up, we would like to consider it earnestly.” Now that Toyota is in a spot of PR trouble over its unintended acceleration woes, you might expect that GM would show the same class and tact that Toyota did just months ago… but you’d be wrong.

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BMW is playing some PR roulette  at the DC Auto Show [via Autoblog Green] with a “study” ostensibly proving that people who lease an electric MINI are “delighted” with the car. As if self-selection weren’t already an issue in a study of people who voluntarily spend $850 per month on a small hatchback, the 57 respondents (out of 450 MINI E guinea pigs) were (you guessed it) self-selected. Why the University of California Davis allows its name to appear on this blatant PR fabrication is difficult to fathom. Especially considering the MINI E rollout was a disaster, the product was compromised, and there are plenty of MINI E critics out there.

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Walking around some blocks of the student neighborhood near the University of Oregon on a gray winter’s day can be as depressing as recalling much of GM’s decline and fall products from the seventies on. It’s a sea of dull and cheap apartments already looking shabby and run-down rental houses, fronted by waves of drab colored hand-me-down Toyotas, Nissans, and the like. But every so often, a cheery sight appears, like this cherry-red 1979 Malibu coupe. It’s there to remind me that GM was still able to hit a few high notes while cranking out Vegas, Monzas and Citations; and that it hadn’t yet totally forgotten the magic formula that it first hit upon in 1955 and reprised with the ’64 Chevelle: a trim and tidy RWD coupe weighing about 3,000 pounds and powered by the SBC V8. Quite the mood elevator indeed. (Read More…)

Japan surely can use some good news, what with pedal-gate and Standard & Poors warning that they might downgrade Japan’s sovereign debt rating from stellar to less than stellar. CSM to the rescue: They think, vehicle sales in Japan could grow by 4 percent in 2010. Honto? What’s driving sales go motto-motto? Government stimulus money. (Read More…)

The search for “potential synergies” between Alfa Romeo and Maserati has already yielded its first bitter fruits, as Auto Motor und Sport reports that a special edition Alfa will be built as a loaner for Maserati owners who bring their cars in for service. Because there’s nothing Sergio Marchionne can’t fix with a special edition…

Mamma mia! Fiat’s order book looks “worse than in the beginning of 2009, when we were deep in the economic crisis,” said Sergio Marchionne. Cosa facciamo? Eccola: Fiat will close all of their Italian plants for two weeks, from February 22 to March 5, reports Das Autohaus.

That doesn’t bode well for the company. (Read More…)

CSM Worldwide thinks that car sales in Europe are in for a nasty drop as governments in the West discontinue scrappage schemes that propped up demand in 2009. That would the third consecutive drop.

CSM is forecasting that 2010 sales in Europe will fall 7.9 percent to 16.7 million units. According to CSM, this “follows declines of 13.4 percent in 2009 and 5.1 percent in 2008, when total European sales were 21.0 million units.”

Careful with those numbers. (Read More…)

TTAC Commentator sastexan writes:

Hi Sajeev,

Long time fan, never called in.  Here’s my problem hope the TTAC community can help with – my sister’s ’01 Escape 2WD 68k miles with the Duratec 3.0 V6 threw a P0304 (Cylinder 4 misfire) as she was driving up to Dallas from Austin for Thanksgiving (as she was stuck in traffic around Temple).  She said car was running fine, so I said no worries keep driving but keep engine speed down.  Indeed, the misfire was apparent when the engine hit around 4000 RPM – violent stuttering.  Replaced the ignition coil, no effect, and the spark plug was clean.  Ford dealer pulled valve cover off and said no springs broken, so did compression test – one of the exhaust valves is leaking, 22%.  Rest of the engine is fine.  Maintained perfectly.

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