Weir Canyon Acura has received the Precision Team Dealer of Distinction status and is a current Precision Team Member

The Precision Team Dealer of Distinction status is the most prestigious and coveted honor that Acura can grant to its dealerships. The status recognizes those dealership teams that demonstrate superior achievement in customer satisfaction, new-car-unit sales volume, business management, customer follow-up, sales and service training.

Acura dealerships that received the Precision Team Dealer of Distinction status realize what this honor demands – excellence, which can only be achieved by working as a team. The status reflects a total commitment to customers; it is the highest praise that an Acura dealership can receive because it demands the highest personal investment and stimulates the greatest results – satisfied, loyal customers.

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David Wilson, biggest OC-based auto dealer with seven Toyota dealerships, welcomes NASA’s finding that there is no electronic flaw that would cause sudden acceleration in Toyotas. He says it’s a boost for a brand that has been rebounding from last year’s barrage of allegations. Not that he expects the lawsuits to go away entirely:

“Don’t trial lawyers think that they’re smarter than rocket scientists?”

But Wilson echoes others who speculate the government report will take steam out of big class action suits being litigated in Santa Ana before U.S. District Judge James Selma; OC’s Mark Robinson is leading the personal injury litigation with Wylie Aitken working on the economic impact of Toyota’s recalls.

“Wylie Aitken said in your column (last June) the cases could be a tsunami or a puddle,” Wilson says. “I’m giving a hundred to one against the tsunami and taking even money on the puddle.” “I’ll bet on the tsunami and let Wilson have the puddle,” replies Aitken, who says the NASA report “is seriously flawed, and we’ll have a chance to prove it.”

Maybe we will find out who’s smarter …

Courtesy of ocbj.com

Toyota launches new ad theme: ‘#1 for a Reason’

Toyota will launch a new advertising campaign highlighting the brand’s leadership position as the best-selling retail brand in America. The “#1 For A Reason” campaign will remind people why Toyota continues to be the top brand consumers turn to when buying a new vehicle.

“For three consecutive years, people have purchased more Toyota vehicles than any other brand,” said Bob Carter, group vice president and general manager of Toyota Division for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. “We look forward to maintaining this momentum in 2011 as we continue to focus on fuel efficiency, value, quality and safety.”

The “#1 For A Reason” campaign will highlight some of the sales accomplishments Toyota vehicles have achieved throughout the years, as well bring attention to some of the notable third-party awards Toyota has received for its leadership in safety and overall value. Featured in the commercials will be Toyota’s segment leading products—Camry, Corolla, Prius, RAV4 and Tacoma.

With a full lineup of passenger cars, SUVs and trucks, the Toyota brand offers something for everyone, including Camry, the number-one selling car in America. Camry has retained its sales leadership crown for nine straight years, with more than 90 percent of Camrys sold over the past 15 years still on the road today.

The mid-size Corolla sedan holds the title of best-selling car of all time with more than 8.6 million sold in the U.S. since it launched in 1968. Equipped standard with the advanced safety features of the STAR Safety System, Corolla and four other Toyota vehicles, including Avalon, Venza, Highlander and Sienna, were named as Top Safety Picks by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety for 2011.

With more hybrids on the road than all other manufacturers combined, Toyota is no stranger to fuel efficiency. The best-selling hybrid in the world, the Toyota Prius, achieves an average of 50 miles per gallon, helping make Toyota the most fuel-efficient lineup of any full-line manufacturer.

For consumers that need cargo and towing capacity, Toyota also offers the best-selling compact truck, Tacoma. IntelliChoice named Tacoma the Best Overall Value in its segment for 2011 along with six other Toyota vehicles, including Tundra, 4Runner, RAV4, Sienna, Prius and Avalon.

The “#1 For A Reason” campaign will begin running at the end of the holiday weekend and continue throughout the month of March. Broadcast commercials and online media will roll out nationally on February 21, with print ads beginning in March. Regional-specific broadcast spots will also run during the same timing and will call out some of the special interest rates and zero-percent financing offers customers can take advantage of throughout the month.

Courtesy of iewy.com

People Beyond Politics – Product Beyond Politics

“We believe this rigorous scientific analysis by some of America’s foremost engineers should further reinforce confidence in the safety of our vehicles.”

“All the scientific evidence to date confirms what millions of Toyota drivers prove day in and day out – that they can rely on their vehicles for safe and reliable transportation.”

“Our ETCS-i is well-designed and well-tested to ensure that real world, un-commanded acceleration of the vehicle cannot occur.”

“Toyota’s ETCS-i system has performed reliably in more than 40 million cars and trucks sold around the world – including more than 16 million here in the U.S. – and we hope this important study will help put to rest unsupported speculation about our system.”

“Even after months of intense publicity and multiple investigations, no one has identified any specific defect in Toyota’s ETCS-i or presented any valid scientific evidence that ETCS-i can cause unintended acceleration in a real world scenario.”

“Electronic throttle control systems have long been standard across the automobile industry because they provide great benefits and have made significant safety advances possible.”

” These advances include vehicle stability control and traction control, which are among the five sophisticated accident-avoidance
technologies in our Star Safety System.”

“Our Star Safety System and our Smart Stop Technology braking system are now standard on all the new vehicles we manufacture for the North American market.”

“We are grateful to Toyota drivers for their continued confidence in our brand – and we’ll continue to earn that customer loyalty with even
greater dedication to qualify, safety and customer care.”

“Despite the challenges of 2010, Toyota was the #1 retail brand last year, Camry was the #1-selling car in America, and Lexus remained the #1 luxury brand. We are beginning 2011 in a good position.”

“We’re optimistic about our future because we have one of the strongest dealer networks in the industry, more flexible plants and 10 new or updated products to introduce this year, including the all-new Prius v and Lexus CT hybrids.”

“Everyone at Toyota – all 30,000 of our team members in the United States and the many thousands of Americans at our dealers and suppliers – is focused on listening to our customers and constantly improving our products and service.”

“We will continue to develop and equip Toyota and Lexus vehicles with industry-leading safety technologies, including many based on
breakthroughs in sophisticated electronics systems.”

“We also will continue to cooperate fully with NHTSA and respected outside experts to help ensure that our customers have the utmost confidence in the safety and reliability of our vehicles.”

Regarding the safety and reliability of Toyota vehicles with ETCS-i, the company also noted:

• Electronic throttle control systems have long been standard across the automobile industry, and they provide great benefits to consumers.
• Toyota’s ETCS-i has performed reliably in more than 40 million cars and trucks sold around the world, including more than 16 million in the United States.
• This system has also made possible significant safety advances such as vehicle stability control and traction control, which are among the five sophisticated accident avoidance technologies in Toyota’s Star Safety System.
• These enhancements, along with Toyota’s Smart Stop Technology braking system, are now standard on all the new vehicles Toyota manufactures for the North American market.