Beck/arnley 042-1691 Air Filter on 2040-parts.com

Akio Toyoda waves family flag, heir makes crisis personal challenge

The reclusive Akio Toyoda is taking the rare step of waving the family flag, as the scion to Toyota Motor Corp.’s founding dynasty tries to steer the world’s largest car company out of a spiraling safety crisis. In testimony prepared for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, President Toyoda pursues a rare personal tack on the emergency, saying “my name is on every car.” “As you well know, I am the grandson of the founder, and all the Toyota vehicles bear my name,” Toyoda says in prepared comments circulated ahead of Wednesday’s committee hearing in Washington. “For me, when the cars are damaged, it is as though I am as well.” The intimate reflection is a departure for Toyoda, who has spent most of his career sidestepping public discussion of his lineage.

Police officers help deliver baby

TWO POLICE OFFICERS have helped deliver a baby after being flagged down by a father-to-be in Ipswich. Pcs Jerry Cohen and Andy Masterson, from Suffolk Police's roads policing and firearms unit, had been called to the Orwell Bridge to deal with a broken down car in the early hours of the morning. As they went about their job, they saw a man, Andrew Mackie, running towards them, saying his wife had gone into labour.

Ford Escape and Ford Focus output boosted to meet clunker demand

Ford Motor Co. is boosting third-quarter production of the Escape and Focus to replenish inventories depleted by cash-for-clunkers demand. Ford is adding another 10,000 units in the third quarter, primarily Escape and Focus, bringing planned North American production for the period up to 495,000 vehicles, up 18 percent from year-earlier levels.