Toyota said Tuesday it had asked dealers to temporarily suspend sales of the SUV while it conducts its own tests on the GX 460. About 6,000 GX 460s from the 2010 model year have been sold since the vehicle went on sale in late December, and an estimated 1,600 of the SUVs are at dealerships.
The carmaker issued the temporary “stop sale” within hours after the popular consumer magazine raised the handling problem. It reflects Toyotas attempt to respond more quickly to safety concerns after being castigated by the federal government for dragging its feet on recalls to address faulty gas - - - - >

Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, is to speak on the morning news and talk program before holding a conference call with other media organizations, said a company official who declined to be identified because the plan isnt public. Lentz may also appear on Bloomberg Television.
The TV appearances will be the first for a U.S. audience after the automaker ran an informational ad in newspapers today and President Akio Toyoda gave a 75-second apology last week in Davos, Switzerland, in contrast with other Japanese - - - - >

Buckley, 43, is in charge of Citibank Japan Ltd., said the person, who declined to be identified because the appointment hasnt been publicly announced.
Buckley will oversee slimmed-down operations, after Citigroup sold assets in Japan to focus on repaying a government bailout. Citigroup agreed in May to sell its Japanese retail brokerage and parts of its investment-banking unit to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. for 545 billion yen ($5.8 billion).
The Wall Street Journal - - - - >

Goldman Sachs may have a stake of much as 2.4 percent in Sumitomo Mitsui after the transaction, according to a statement filed with the Finance Ministry in Tokyo today. Japans second- largest bank by market value also said it aims to raise as much as 889 billion yen selling common stock this month.
Sumitomo Mitsui President Teisuke Kitayama is under pressure to boost capital that trails the average among global rivals, according to Standard & Poors. Kitayama said last month he doesnt want to be “slow off - - - - >

Buying a 50 percent holding may stretch the finances of Europes second-largest automaker, which had 2 billion euros ($3 billion) in net debt in the manufacturing and sales divisions as of June 30 and bonds rated below investment grade by Standard & Poors. The companies have similar market valuations of about $8.5 billion, while Peugeot sells three times as many vehicles and garners four times as much revenue.
“Peugeot doesnt have the liquidity to take a major Mitsubishi stake in cash,” said Jens Schattner, a Frankfurt- based - - - - >

The discussions are intended to extend an alliance that involves developing four-wheel-drive vehicles, electric cars and a joint venture in Russia, Paris-based Peugeot said in an e-mailed statement. An equity tie-up with Peugeot is one of several options Mitsubishi is considering, Kazuhiro Yamana, a spokesman for the Japanese carmaker, said today.
“This would be great news for Peugeot,” said Eric-Alain Michelis, a Paris-based analyst at Societe Generale. “This deal has been widely expected for many years and if it were to materialize it would definitely propel Peugeot - - - - >

Housing starts fell 0.4 percent to an annual rate of 530,000 after jumping 17 percent in May, according to the median forecast of 73 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Building permits probably increased to a 524,000 annual rate.
Lower borrowing costs and plunging prices are making houses more affordable, helping to stem the decline in sales and alleviating the worst housing slowdown since the Great Depression. Stabilization would rid the economy of the drag from declines in residential construction that have shaved almost a percentage point - - - - >

NEC Electronics is considering options to improve competitiveness including a tie-up with privately held Renesas and hasnt come to a decision, Shinichi Kaede, a spokesman at the Kawasaki, Japan-based chipmaker, said today. The shares rose the most in almost four months after Kaedes comments, made in response to a Nikkei newspaper report.
Renesas, a semiconductor venture of Hitachi Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp., and NEC Electronics, the chip unit of NEC Corp., aim to reach an agreement this month and combine by April 2010, the Nikkei said. - - - - >