The fallout from Toyota's massive recalls has begun to ripple through the industry. Edmunds has lowered its sale forecast for Toyota and reassigned that market share to other automakers. Toyota residual values and used car prices are already feeling the effects, dropping significantly since the beginning of the year.
Insurance Auto Auctions has a little more presence in the Midwest with the opening of the company's newest location in Portage, Wisconsin. Services include salvage remarketing and storage for buyers and sellers. The new facility is the 20th Midwest location for IAA.
Kelley Blue Book has twice dropped resale values for Toyota vehicles affected by the recent recalls. With safety issues in the spotlight, Toyota faces increasing risks of losing customers and jeopardizing its reputation for quality.
Communications technology too seductive to resist is creating dangerous distracted driving. Technology which automatically detects motion at over 10 mph is being developed to block all but outgoing 911 calls and store incoming voice, text and email messages to review later.
Kelley Blue Book says vehicles that compete directly with Toyota models affected by recalls could see a jump in used values. The recall problems may prompt some buyers to look at other models, and rental companies may be adjusting fleets to account for loss of Toyota inventory.