Toyota President Lists his Favorite Cars Made by Domestic Rivals

Toyota President Akio Toyoda is not one your typical automotive CEOs, as believe it or not, the 56-year old grandson of the Japanese company's founder actually likes cars [...]. He is a full-time car guy and a weekend racer who has even competed in the Nürburgring 24 hour endurance race.

And like any other car buff, Toyoda's list of favorite cars is not restricted to one brand. However, unlike other automotive executives, Toyoda has no problem revealing which cars he likes from Toyota's domestic competitors in public.

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Euro NCAP Crash Tests Pick-Up Trucks: Results Disappoint

The European equivalent of the American NHTSA in terms of crash tests, Euro NCAP, revealed today the results for three pick-up trucks, the Nissan Navara, the Isuzu D-MAX/Rodeo and the Mitsubishi L200. It’s the first time that Euro NCAP has performed crash tests in this specific vehicle category. Surprisingly, Euro NCAP notes in an official statement it released that the crash tests reveal that the safety of vehicles in this category is not a high priority for some carmakers.

Both the Nissan Navara and the Isuzu D-MAX/Rodeo received poor scores in Euro NCAP’s adult occupant rating. In particular, Nissan’s Navara achieved an extremely poor rating of a one star strikethrough while the Isuzu D-MAX/Rodeo also received a disappointing two star strikethrough rating in adult occupant protection with an unacceptably high risk of life-threatening injury to the chest region. -Continued

The best of all the pick-ups tested by Euro NCAP was the Mitsubishi L200, which received a respectable four star result in adult occupant protection. All the vehicles received disappointing child and pedestrian protection scores.